Walk Through A Rainbow Rainstorm by Urs Fischer

Tabish Khan
By Tabish Khan Last edited 123 months ago
Walk Through A Rainbow Rainstorm by Urs Fischer
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles
Urs Fischer, Installation View, 2013. Photo by Mats Nordman. Image courtesy Sadie Coles

Artists are constantly using more diverse mediums but it's when art has to be experience that it really captures the public imagination. Many of us will remember the hype and the queues that the Rain Room and Dalston House generated.

Sadie Coles has a new and substantial gallery space just off Regent Street. After a (we thought) lacklustre opening exhibition the follow up by Urs Fischer truly takes advantage of this massive space to create an innovative experience.

Visitors will at first be confronted by hundreds of colourful oversized raindrops hanging from the ceiling in all the colours of the rainbow.  There is space to venture into this immersive frozen deluge, venturing from a violet section to yellow via orange.

With all the raindrops facing in one direction this is a uniform yet magical installation but all is not so positive in this exhibition. Scattered within the raindrops are sculptures that look like they've been half burnt to ash.

Mannequins nonchalantly lie across a chaise-longue, but they are missing arms and head. Despite being painted in bright colours these are disturbing sculptures that to us hint at the fact people are often willing to overlook tragedy if something enjoyable and engaging is placed in front of them. This is particularly true when one of these sculptures is viewed through the veil of many colourful raindrops.

This exhibition is a feast for the eyes but also throws in enough ambiguity to remain interesting. It's a surreal installation that visitors will find enchanting and it's an easy one for us to recommend visiting.

Urs Fischer is on at Sadie Coles HQ, 62 Kingly St, W1B 5QN until 10 January. Entrance is free.

Last Updated 09 December 2013