The artist learned of the technology that absorbs nearly all visible light in the Guardian. As two shows featuring it open, he talks of a ‘stupid’ spat, his new foundation and dismay with England
“This fucking place!” The voice of the artist rang out through the elegant halls of the Accademia, Venice’s most important gallery, home of masterpieces by Titian, Veronese and Giorgione. Frustrated, Anish Kapoor gathered up a bucket and other detritus left over from the technicians’ last-minute adjustments and tidied them away.
He was nervous, he said, as he apologised for his outburst. Kapoor – perhaps best known internationally for his wildly popular reflective sculpture in Chicago’s Millennium Park, Cloud Gate – had reason for a little anxiety: he was preparing to open not one but two major exhibitions.