Glow with the flow: Cerith Wyn Evans sets White Cube Bermondsey alight

A fantastical force is coursing through White Cube Bermondsey’s South Gallery, which is hosting new works by the Welsh conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans this autumn.
The artist found an inspirational spark in the flow of energy in conduits (both material and immaterial), circuitry and choreology. To that end, the site-specific intervention comprises a dazzling ballet of neon pieces, spinning palm trees, a sound sculpture and a Morse code lighting installation.
Taking centre stage, an arrangement of three neon sculptures cuts vividly through air, borrowing movements from traditional Japanese Noh theatre. These new works hark back to Evans’ earlier sculptures, tracing a complex medley of gestures, motions and shapes in light.
A fourth neon piece, The Illuminating Gas…(after Oculist Witnesses), uses Marcel Duchamp’s The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (1915-23) as a springboard. A skewed trio of vast neon discs echoes Duchamp’s artwork, projecting it into multi-dimensional objects.
Meanwhile, an otherworldly soundtrack reverberates through the space, emitted from a large sculpture made up of 19 ‘breathing’ glass flutes. Each flute, connected to a long tube suspended from the ceiling, is mechanically operated, exhaling a breath-like sound. In an adjacent corridor, the artist has hacked one of the existing light fixtures to broadcast a message in Morse code, narrating the transit of the moon during a solar eclipse.
Palm trees, perched atop rotating on turntables, punctuate the space. These tropical carousels conjure an unexpected natural counterpoint to the stark, artificial glow of the neon sculptures – just one of Evans’ many bright ideas.
'Neon Forms (after Noh I)', by Cerith Wyn Evans, 2015.
The site-specific intervention comprises a dazzling ballet of neon works, spinning palm trees, a sound sculpture and a Morse code lighting installation.
INFORMATION
Cerith Wyn Evans’ exhibition runs until 15 November 2015
ADDRESS
White Cube Bermondsey
South Galleries
144-152 Bermondsey Street
London SE1 3TQ
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
-
All-In is the Paris-based label making full-force fashion for main character dressing
Part of our monthly Uprising series, Wallpaper* meets Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø of All-In, the LVMH Prize-nominated label which bases its collections on a riotous cast of characters – real and imagined
By Orla Brennan
-
Maserati joins forces with Giorgetti for a turbo-charged relationship
Announcing their marriage during Milan Design Week, the brands unveiled a collection, a car and a long term commitment
By Hugo Macdonald
-
Through an innovative new training program, Poltrona Frau aims to safeguard Italian craft
The heritage furniture manufacturer is training a new generation of leather artisans
By Cristina Kiran Piotti
-
The motion of the body through space: Rebecca Horn in Munich
Six decades of Rebecca Horn's work are currently being exhibited at Haus der Kunst in Munich, Germany
By Hannah Silver
-
White Cube at Arley Hall: contemporary sculpture meets the English country house garden
White Cube’s first outdoor sculpture exhibition puts the work of 12 modern and contemporary artists, including Tracey Emin, Antony Gormley and Danh Vo, on view in the grounds of Cheshire’s Arley Hall
By TF Chan
-
Wang Gongxin at White Cube: hidden cameras, eerie minimalism and grey matter
Wang Gongxin’s show at White Cube Mason’s Yard explores cultural polarities and in-between states through 13 captivating new multimedia works
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith
-
Meet emerging artists from Oppo Renovators 2021 Project
Technology innovator Oppo announces the winners of its Renovators 2021 emerging artists project and says, ‘Everyone can be, and is, an artist’
By Simon Mills
-
Theaster Gates: London, urban reform and exemplars of Black excellence
The American artist and urban planner returns to London for a cultural takeover on a grand scale, and – as one of five visionaries invited to nominate creative leaders of the future for ‘5x5’, Wallpaper’s 25th anniversary project – picks five exemplars of Black excellence leading the way for social and creative change
By TF Chan
-
Architectural futurism and urban ‘nudity’: Liu Wei at White Cube
What is urban space without bodies? Chinese artist Liu Wei describes his eerie exploration of deserted cityscapes at White Cube Bermondsey
By Harriet Lloyd-Smith
-
Cerith Wyn Evans puts the concept of mechanism through its paces in White Cube show
The Welsh artist’s latest exhibition is a captivating continuation of his exploration of transcendence, translation and temporality
By Phoebe Gardner
-
Jeff Wall’s monumental photographs loom large at White Cube
Renowned for his meticulously composed tableaux, the Canadian artist strikes out in a new direction at the London gallery
By Tom Seymour