From London to the Lagoon: Anish Kapoor's Magenta Brings the World to Vero Beach Museum of Art
- Vero Minute
- May 26
- 2 min read
You don’t have to live in a major metropolis to encounter the kind of art that stops you in your tracks. The Vero Beach Museum of Art (VBMA) continues to redefine what a regional museum can offer—most recently with the acquisition of Magenta, a mesmerizing mirrored sculpture by the internationally renowned artist Anish Kapoor.
Kapoor, born in Mumbai and based in London, has long captivated the global art world with his bold, enigmatic creations. From the iconic Cloud Gate in Chicago to his visually disorienting Sky Mirror series, Kapoor’s work blends material innovation with philosophical depth, challenging viewers to engage deeply with form, color, and perception. Magenta is no exception.
This recent addition to VBMA’s collection, made possible by the Athena Society, represents not just a coup for the museum, but a cultural milestone for Vero Beach. With its luminous, shifting surface and rich, otherworldly hue, Magenta evokes both beauty and mystery. It invites viewers to see themselves—and their surroundings—anew, offering a kind of experiential meditation in saturated color.
Kapoor’s fascination with pigments and perception is well-documented. He famously secured exclusive rights to use Vantablack, the blackest black ever created, prompting widespread debate about artistic ownership. His playful, high-profile feud with artist Stuart Semple—centered around the “Pinkest Pink” and its deliberate inaccessibility to Kapoor—only fueled his reputation as both a provocateur and a staunch protector of artistic control.
But beyond the headlines, Kapoor’s work remains deeply spiritual and philosophical. He once described color as “something that resides in us,” a sensory and psychological phenomenon that Magenta brings vividly to life in the heart of Vero Beach.
Alongside Kapoor’s sculpture, VBMA’s expanding collection also features works like Bo Bartlett’s cinematic Mermaid Cove and Ana González’s haunting textile photograph QUIMBAYA (SACRED HOUSE)—each piece offering new ways to connect with art that reflects the global human experience. Yet it is Kapoor’s Magenta that perhaps most boldly signals the museum’s curatorial ambition and commitment to challenging, world-class art.
