From a 1990 interview with Anish Kapoor by Ameena Meer.

AK But I think abstract art is representational art, at least mine is.

AM Why do you think there’s no such thing as abstract art?

AK In the end, I’m talking about myself. And thinking about making nothing, which I see as a void. But then that’s something, even though it really is nothing. Who can you think of who’s made abstract art?

AM Who’s made abstract art? Well, how about Mark Rothko?

AK I don’t think that’s abstract art at all. I think that it’s deeply spiritual. But there already, it’s something.

AM. But it’s not a picture of something.

AK It’s not a picture of a thing. It’s the cause of it. That’s not abstract. I understand abstract in absolute terms. Anyway, it’s a silly argument.

 

Anish Kapoor sculpture, Millennium Park Chicago