KMSKA presents: Antony Gormley. Geestgrond
From 23 May to 20 September 2026, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA) presents Antony Gormley. Geestgrond. This exhibition, created especially for the KMSKA, juxtaposes key works and new creations by Antony Gormley with the museum's collection and the architecture of the renovated building. Geestgrond is curated by internationally renowned Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev, former artistic director of dOCUMENTA (13). The result is an exhibition in which sculpture, body and space constantly interact with each other.
For over fifty years, Antony Gormley (born 1950) has been captivating British and international audiences alike with his sculptures, installations and drawings. In addition to exhibitions at venues such as the Royal Academy of Arts in London, the Uffizi Galleries in Florence and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the British artist is also celebrated for his impactful works in public spaces, such as the monumental Angel of the North (1998) in Gateshead (Northern England) and Exposure (2010) in Lelystad, the Netherlands. At the heart of his acclaimed oeuvre is the human being. Using both minimal and powerful forms and materials ranging from wood to lead, Gormley explores how the body relates to nature and space
My work asks the questions: what can sculpture do and what does it feel like to be alive?
A landmark encounter
This search for humanity's place in the world also forms the starting point for Geestgrond. The exhibition is the fruit of a unique collaboration between Gormley and Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev. For the KMSKA, she has engaged Gormley's oeuvre in a dialogue with the museum's collection and the building itself. However, the Geestgrond exhibition is not confined to the museum building: it extends to the roof, the museum square and even the quays further afield. Visitors will discover more than 100 works, from early sketches to sculptures and enterable works.
This collaboration with a world-class contemporary artist underlines the ambition of the KMSKA. For the first time since its reopening in 2022, the modern galleries will be used entirely as exhibition space. With this project, we are not only exploring the boundaries of the museum building itself, but also venturing into public space.
More than a retrospective
The term 'geestgrond' refers to the fertile, sandy soil that formed in the Low Countries during the Ice Age. Simultaneously, the title connects the spiritual and the material, the human and the earthly. The exhibition explores the connection between our thoughts and feelings and the physical world. Geestgrond offers new perspectives on collection pieces by artists such as Rodin, Ensor and González. As in Gormley's work, humans and their environment, body and consciousness are inseparable.
The architecture of the KMSKA becomes part of the exhibition and, along with the works, forms a continuous spatial experience. Visitors make their way through the museum amongst Gormley's sculptures. They are not merely spectators, but participants where the lived experience of the visitor becomes part of the work.
In the penultimate room lies The Heart, the core of the exhibition and an intimate Wunderkammer that draws visitors closer to Gormley's artistic process. Here, an exceptional presentation of early works, sketches, notebooks, drawings, photographs, books, raw materials and experiments reveals the core of his creativity.
The itinerary culminates in the monumental Cave (2019). The body, also a building, constructed from vast sheets of steel, occupies the entire room and invites visitors to step inside the work – a highlight of the exhibition, prompting one to ask where does the art lie – not simply in the object but in the lived experience of the viewer.
Never before has Antony Gormley’s work been shown in such an ambitious and extensive way on the European mainland. With Geestgrond, the KMSKA brings his oeuvre to Antwerp in an exhibition project that elevates the museum experience to the highest level. The inspiring dialogue with contemporary sculpture sheds new light on the collection. At the same time, this project underlines the DNA of the museum: a place where art and visitors actively meet.
