This has been one of London’s hottest summers of recent years, making it the perfect time to install a very gorgeous artwork that’s also a functioning radiator in your gallery, right?
Nicolas Deshayes may be playing with us a little as he asks us to endure sweat lodge temperatures in order to enjoy his artworks. Although it is definitely worth it to closely inspect the bulbous curving sculptures. Another challenge—and one common in a gallery—is to resist touching the works as although they seem tactile, they have boiling water running through them and you may burn yourself.
The separate doughy, foamy-looking iron sculptures are interconnected by the hot-water pipe running along the walls of the gallery.
This come hither/go away dichotomy is one of the most appealing things about this exhibition, which is as much experiential as it is visual. When the weather is warm it’s a great effort to stay inside and view the show in this way, yet once the weather cools, the show is quite literally a port in the storm.
Deshayes’s work, often using aluminum and vacuum-formed plastic, explores industrial processes with a focus on the material. To experience “Thames Water” for yourself, head down this weekend as the show closes on Sunday.
Nicolas Deshayes “Thames Water” is on view at Modern Art, London until September 24, 2016.