Olafur Eliasson

Olafur Eliasson has long been fascinated by the things few others notice. He isn't interested in hiding the pragmatism of his materials; instead, he uses them as launching points for something far more ephemeral, with reflections and light effects that emerge within each geometric form. The artistic experience happens in those immaterial spaces, in those combinations of images that remix our immediate surroundings. He designs his works to be slightly destabilizing, to nudge people out of their usual patterns of seeing and moving through space.

His last show, Olafur Eliasson: OPEN, was on view at MOCA Geffen Contemporary in Los Angeles at the same time the January 2025 wildfires ravaged the city on multiple fronts. The show felt especially resonant. Several works literally brought the sky into the gallery through skylights, making the atmospheric conditions outside, including the precarious air quality, visible elements of the works themselves. Instead of excluding this disconcerting reality, Eliasson embraces it as part of each work's meaning.

Even a title like OPEN suggests both accessibility and vulnerability. The audiences must fill in the gaps through their own experience. In a time when certainty feels elusive, Eliasson asks us to find comfort in not knowing, and embrace the unexpected with ourselves and our surroundings.