Tony Cragg United Kingdom, b. 1949

Tony Cragg (b. 1949, Liverpool) is a British sculptor whose practice is driven by a sustained investigation into form, figuration, and material transformation. His sculptures explore how new forms emerge from the interaction between material, process, and perception, offering sculptural interpretations of structures drawn from organic life, scientific imagery, and the manufactured world. Across his work, Cragg examines fundamental relationships between body, object, and space, developing a formal language that remains both expansive and internally consistent. 

Cragg studied at the Gloucestershire College of Art and Design and Wimbledon School of Art before completing his education at the Royal College of Art, London. Prior to his formal art training, he worked as a laboratory technician in biochemical research, an experience that informed his enduring interest in structure, process, and transformation. His early work emerged in dialogue with Minimalism and Land Art and often incorporated found materials; over time, he transitioned to working with a wide range of sculptural media, including stone, iron, glass, and bronze. Since the late 1970s, he has developed an extensive and sustained international exhibition practice. 

Cragg represented Great Britain at the 43rd Venice Biennale in 1988, the same year he was awarded the Turner Prize. His contribution to contemporary sculpture was further recognized with the Praemium Imperiale for Sculpture in 2007. His work has also been presented at documenta, Kassel, as well as the São Paulo Biennial and the Sydney Biennial.

Recent and significant solo exhibitions have taken place at institutions including the Musée du Louvre, Paris; the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg; the CAFA Art Museum, Beijing; and the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. His sculptures have been prominently displayed in major outdoor and public contexts, notably at the Boboli Gardens, Florence, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park, UK. 

Cragg’s works are held in major public collections worldwide, including the Tate, London; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Centre Pompidou, Paris; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Städel Museum, Frankfurt; the Museum Ludwig, Cologne; the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; the Art Institute of Chicago; and the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo. 

Cragg lives and works in Wuppertal, Germany.