TEHRAN – A huge marble sculpture designed by Tony Cragg is being created by a group of Iranian artists under the supervision of the British sculptor in the courtyard of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.

The artwork is scheduled to be unveiled within the next month during a special ceremony, which will be attended by Cragg.

“The 3.20cm high sculpture consists of two compound geometric columns inside each other interacting with one another,” Cragg said Sunday in a press conference at the museum, which will showcase artworks by the sculptor at an exhibit on Tuesday.

A number of huge sculptures and a collection of drawings by Cragg will be put on display at the exhibition titled “Roots and Stones”.

“My interest is shapes, from geometry to industrial materials. I make the sculptures from the industrial materials and make them into the forms of what you see today,” Cragg said.

He added that he mostly makes use of large pieces of plastic, bronze or stone in producing his artworks.

“Over the past 150 years, sculptures have had dynamic and dramatic changes. In the past, most of the sculptures were figurative but artists broke out with looking at different materials and not making only copies of figures. Sculpture plays an important role in our lives,” he explained.

He also gave a brief explanation about the evolution of his art.

“As I held more exhibits, I went to different places and found more materials and worked on new projects. I found out that I do not want to make pre-existing forms and I am not interested in copying nature,” he remarked.

He said that he currently spends most of his time making drawings that he really loves. “It is the basis of everything I do before I start to work,” he noted.

Afshin Derambakhsh and Tiel Berkner are the curators of the exhibition, which will be running until January 12, 2018. 

Berkner expressed hope that the project would act as a long lasting friendship between Iran and the world.

A 5-meter-high sculpture is the highlight of the exhibit, which will be inaugurated by Cragg.

Photo: British sculptor Tony Cragg attends a press conference at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art on October 22, 2017 to brief the media about his new exhibit “Roots and Stones”. (Mehr/Majid Haqdoost)

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