World Art Utopia

Exposure

Antony Gormley’s giant crouching steel-lattice figure Exposure on a dike in Lelystad, with two tiny cyclists riding past to its right above the gray water.
Artwork FileLelystad · Netherlands

Exposure

SeenOctober 2022

Antony Gormley · 2010 · Lelystad

Photo: Virtual-Pano / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Resized from the Street Art Utopia archive; full composition retained.

Antony Gormley's Exposure crouches on a breakwater at Lelystad, its body formed from an open steel framework. A Scottish pylon manufacturer built the huge figure, whose scale dwarfs people approaching along the path. Source Checked

💡 4 things to know

  1. A body built like a structureGormley's project account describes thousands of individually positioned elements linked into an open drawing in space. Source Checked
  2. Made by pylon buildersHad-Fab manufactured the sculpture in Scotland. The artist's account records eighteen months for fabrication and installation. Source Checked
  3. On the edge of the polderThe work stands on the breakwater at the Houtribsluizen, where land meets water. Source Checked
  4. A smaller version indoorsA September 2026 report lists Exposure among the 1:200 models in Lelystad's new Land Art Centraal centre. Source Checked

📍 Where it is

Breakwater by the Houtribsluizen, Lelystad, Netherlands Source Checked

Open in Maps

Map location; no clearly framed Street View image was verified.

🗓️ Sightings

  1. 2009Feb

    Production begins, according to the heritage history

  2. 201017 Sep

    Official unveiling in Lelystad

  3. 2011

    Artist publishes a project account and installation view

  4. 202230 Oct

    Two cyclists photographed approaching the sculpture

  5. 202626 Sep

    Scale model featured in new visitor centre; context, not an on-site sighting

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark reports, records or uncertain photo dates. Publication and upload dates are not camera dates.

✅ The facts

Artist
Antony Gormley Source Checked
Unveiled
17 September 2010 Source Checked
Material
Galvanised steel Source Checked
Height
25 metres in the artist’s account; nearly 26 metres in the municipality’s account. The measurement difference is unresolved. Source Conflicting Municipality
Weight
60 tonnes Source Checked
Fabricator
Had-Fab, Scotland Source Checked
Location
Breakwater by the Houtribsluizen, Lelystad Source Checked

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Photo: Virtual-Pano / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Resized from the Street Art Utopia archive; full composition retained.

Last checked: 25 October 2026 · How we verify art