In April 2025, White Cube Mason’s Yard will open an exhibition of Antony Gormley’s early lead sculptures. Originating from the mid-1970s and produced up until the ’90s, the lead sculptures are among the most important of the artist’s career. ‘Witness’ reveals how some of Gormley’s initial experimentations with the material yielded results that laid the foundations for many subsequent bodies of work.

Representing a major breakthrough in the development of Gormley’s visual language, the sculptures function as propositions for embodiment, vulnerability, space and presence. His choice of lead as a primary material was laden with symbolic weight, not just for its historical association with protection and containment, but also for its toxicity which, together, mirror the complexities of human existence, where safety and jeopardy coexist.

Curated by Susan May, Global Artistic Director at White Cube.

, 1986-96, lead, fibreglass, plaster, steel and air, 192 × 548.5 × 57 cm. Photograph by Stephen White & Co.