Jeppe Hein: 360° Illusion II

The Henry Art Gallery is pleased to present the work of Danish artist Jeppe Hein in his first solo exhibition on the West Coast. Included in the exhibition are the installation 360° Illusion II and SEE LISTEN FEEL, a neon work commissioned by the Henry for its 2009 Gala.

Following in the path of Conceptual artists of the 1970s, Hein redefines the relationship between exhibition space, art, and viewer. Often an element of surprise introduces the viewer to his installation pieces, breaking down the expected interaction of art and viewer and allowing the viewer a new perception of the exhibition space. Hein works in a variety of media, manipulating water, fire, and air, as well as motors, mirrors, metal spheres, and other palpable elements. The artist frequently employs sensors to set objects in motion unpredictably, astonishing and delighting viewers.

In 360° Illusion II the viewer stands before an installation of two rotating mirrors that creates a funhouse effect. The mirrors repeatedly dissolve and modify space in slow motion, only to recompose it again. Challenged to reposition him or herself to spatial transformations and related physical experiences, the viewer becomes a constitutive part of the work of art. Hein seeks to nudge the spectator out of complacent assumptions by enabling the art object to speak back. As the artist declares: “I want to show that the work isn’t anything on its own, it’s only what the public informs it with.”