The sculptures of Tony Cragg were exhibited throughout summer of 2011 in Lucca, Italy, at the church of San Cristofero (both inside and out), and in the town’s two piazzas – Piazza Anfiteatro.

The exhibition It is, it isn’t curated by Jon Wood, concentrated on Cragg’s fascination for accumulation and stratification through a rigorous selection of important sculptures, including some from the Early Forms and Rational Beings series.

In a show that took place both indoors and out in Lucca, these sculptures had the opportunity to shine and show their magic in an ancient city that is itself a stratification of history, cultural life and material significance.

In the catalogue, Wood discusses these ‘layers of life’, a leitmotiv of the exhibit, introducing the relationship between sculpture and poetry and the role of poetry in Cragg’s sculptural imagination. This catalogue features the poetry of Conrad Aiken, W.H.Auden and Walt Whitman among others, which compliment Cragg’s work.

2011 was a significant year in Cragg’s career as he had major exhibitions of his work in France, Italy, Germany, Scotland and the United States.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Tony Cragg: It is, it isn’t at the Church of San Cristoforo, Lucca, Italy, 26 June – 10 September 2011.