Antony Gormley: Field for the British Isles

An Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme Exhibition.

Experience this vast and iconic artwork at Firstsite, celebrating community, individuality and togetherness.

Field for the British Isles, which consists of 40,000 tiny individual terracotta figures, is the largest single artwork in the Arts Council Collection and its arrival in Colchester will herald the latest stage in the journey of this spectacular piece.

Field for the British Isles was made by Gormley in 1993 with 100 volunteers who were each given a portion of clay and instructions for the size and shape he wanted for the figures.

After being acquired by the Arts Council Collection in 1995, Field for the British Isles has been exhibited at a variety of venues across the UK, including Salisbury Cathedral, Hayward Gallery London and Tate St Ives. At each location, the configuration of Field is changed to suit the space, but the thousands of small figures are always arrayed to resemble a dense carpet, with each figure looking directly at the viewer. In Firstsite the figures will swarm through the rear half of the building, including throughout the main gallery spaces, inescapable and seemingly endless.

Opening hours at Firstsite:
16 November - 31 December 2019 10am - 5pm
2 January - 8 March 2020 10am - 5pm

Find out more at Firstsite's website.

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The Arts Council Collection is the UK's most widely seen collection of modern and contemporary art.

With more than 8,000 works by over 2,000 artists, it can be seen in exhibitions and public displays across the country and beyond. This website offers unprecedented access to the Collection, and information about each work can be found on this site.