Posted on October 11, 2004 at 1:25 p.m.

BIRMINGHAM, AL — The Visual Arts Gallery of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has been presented with two original paper sculptures by renowned British artist Sir Anthony Caro, announced Brett Levine, director of the gallery.

The sculptures, the gift of an anonymous donor, will be featured in an exhibition of recent acquisitions at the Visual Arts Gallery in February 2005. The works, “Blume 1431” from 1981-82, and “Column # 33” from 1993, are excellent examples of Caro’s explorations of this seemingly simple medium, Levine said.

“It is a remarkable gift,” Levine said. “Sir Anthony, who turned 80 this year, is the subject of three major exhibitions, including a retrospective at the Tate Gallery, London, that opens in January, 2005.”

“Blume 1431” is a wall-mounted relief work in multicolored paper. Its strong geometric forms explore aspects of three-dimensional design. “Column #33,” a freestanding sculpture, shares a lineage with Caro’s pedestal-based works of the 1960s and 1970s.

Caro has exhibited worldwide. He has been the subject of major exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, the Serpentine Gallery, the Storm King Art Center, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo and the Venice Biennale, Levine said.

The gift enhances a collection that includes small holdings of major modern and postmodern artists.

“The works form a complement to our existing collection of pieces by Donald Judd, James Rosenquist and Dennis Oppenheim,” Levine said.