The world-famous Field for the British Isles, by Sir Antony Gormley is to go to Arts Council Collection National Partner gallery, Firstsite in Essex.
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 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, Longside Gallery, Yorkshire Sculpture Park (see below) 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.
Gormley himself said of the mesmerising artwork: “Twenty-five tons of clay energised by fire, sensitised by touch and made conscious by being given eyes ... a field of gazes which looks at the observer making him or her its subject.”
Firstsite Director Sally Shaw said;
"Field for the British Isles comprises 40,000 figures and there are 40,000 children and young people living in Colchester. This work is an ideal way to represent the scale of the local population and the responsibility adults have to ensure that Colchester’s youngsters are given every opportunity and the necessary support to fulfil their potential.”