What you see is not always what you get with American artist Spencer Finch. In the past, he’s painted shifting shades of grey on Sigmund Freud’s ceiling and the stains from water leaks on his own. He once recreated, with fluorescent tubes, the shadows of clouds passing over American poet Emily Dickinson’s Massachusetts garden. He has also transposed temperature measurements and the light from his studio window into beautifully whimsical works.
Fascinated by the things we see – and might not see – Finch’s painstaking technique relies on an almost scientific level of observation. But his real interest is in the more chimerical and intangible aspects of looking. 'People always consider science to be objective, but there is really a lot of subjectivity in that line of inquiry, by which I mean the scientific method. I think that is where the poetry slips in. Science can only tell us so much, and while it helps us with practical matters, it does not really help us feel and understand what it means to be human,' Finch explains.
His new exhibition – his third at the Lisson Gallery’s London branch – is partly inspired by Dickinson. ('She’s really a genius,' he says. 'She is able to speak so deeply and humanly about big ideas through seemingly minor observations of the very circumscribed world around her.') With a feeling of awe, Finch delves into the ephemeral magic and mystery of perception, using peripheral movement and light to explore experience beyond the limited definitions of optic science.
On show are new watercolours and pastel works on paper, alongside light boxes and an installation that place objectivity and subjectivity in parallel. Here, Finch followed a technically precise process to create his abstract visual poems, tracking the complex flight patterns of bees, recording the fog drifting over Lake Wononscopomuc, and transcribing the light as it falls at certain parts of the day on a vase of tulips. The elusive nature of human sight is at the crux of Finch’s current practice. 'I have been thinking about alternative ways of seeing, sort of beyond the visible spectrum, or beyond the conventions that normally inform our visual experience, seeing the world how others see it, or seeing through a heightened form of subjectivity.'
The exhibition is a glimpse into the artist’s thinking, ahead of the unveiling of his huge new public commission, A Cloud Index – an enormous, multicoloured glass canopy that will cover the new Paddington Crossrail station, planned to open in 2017.
Finch followed a technically precise process to create his abstract visual poems, tracking the complex flight patterns of bees and recording the fog drifting over Lake Wononscopomuc. Pictured: Fog (Lake Wononscopomuc), 2016
On show are new watercolours and pastel works on paper, alongside light boxes and an installation that place objectivity and subjectivity in parallel. Pictured: Sunflower (Bee’s View), 2016
Fascinated by the things we see – and might not see – Finch’s painstaking technique relies on an almost scientific level of observation. Pictured left: Still Life (Tulips) Morning, 2016. Right: Still Life (Tulips) Noon, 2016
The elusive nature of human sight is at the crux of Finch’s current practice. Pictured left: Still Life (Tulips) Afternoon, 2016. Right: Still Life (Tulips) Evening, 2016
INFORMATION
'Spencer Finch' runs from 1 April until 7 May. For more information, visit the Lisson Gallery website
Photography copyright the artist. Courtesy Lisson Gallery
ADDRESS
Lisson Gallery
52 Bell Street
London, NW1 5BU
-
Park Hyatt takes Kuala Lumpur to new heightsMore than a decade in the making, Malaysia’s first Park Hyatt floats between levels 75 and 114 of Asia Pacific’s tallest tower, redefining intimacy in the sky
-
Obakki’s homeware collections tell a story of craft with a humanitarian missionAs Obakki launches its ‘Made in Morocco’ collection, Wallpaper* speaks to founder Treana Peake on how she developed the ethical homeware brand
-
Corten curves and contemporary flair transform this terraced house in LondonCagni Williams Associates’ sensitive refurbishment of a south London Edwardian house features a striking and sustainable Corten steel extension
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekFrom sumo wrestling to Singaporean fare, medieval manuscripts to magnetic exhibitions, the Wallpaper* team have traversed the length and breadth of culture in the British capital this week
-
Viewers are cast as voyeurs in Tai Shani’s crimson-hued London exhibitionBritish artist Tai Shani creates mystical other worlds through sculpture, performance and film. Step inside at Gathering
-
Who are the nine standout artists that shaped Frieze London 2025?Amid the hectic Frieze London schedule, many artists were showcasing extraordinary work this year. Here are our favourites
-
Doc’n Roll Festival returns with a new season of underground music filmsNow in its twelfth year, the grassroots festival continues to platform subcultural stories and independent filmmakers outside the mainstream
-
Out of office: The Wallpaper* editors' picks of the weekThe London office of Wallpaper* had a very important visitor this week. Elsewhere, the team traverse a week at Frieze
-
Chantal Joffe paints the truth of memory and motherhood in a new London showA profound chronicler of the intimacies of the female experience, Chantal Joffe explores the elemental truth of family dynamics for a new exhibition at Victoria Miro
-
Leo Costelloe turns the kitchen into a site of fantasy and uneaseFor Frieze week, Costelloe transforms everyday domesticity into something intimate, surreal and faintly haunted at The Shop at Sadie Coles
-
Can surrealism be erotic? Yes if women can reclaim their power, says a London exhibition‘Unveiled Desires: Fetish & The Erotic in Surrealism, 1924–Today’ at London’s Richard Saltoun gallery examines the role of desire in the avant-garde movement
