12.04.2012

Richard Wilson



Richard Wilson is a sculptor and installation artist from London. An internationally celebrated artist, Wilson is praised for creating cult images.

He is a London College of Printing graduate and was twice nominated for the Turner Prize.   ( though he sadly could not receive one )

He mostly plays with the perceptions of his audience by creating illusionary spaces and tends to shock them with his architectural interventions.



With his most famous installation; '20:50', composed of reflective sump oil, he casts the whole space back at the viewer, creating a mesmerizing virtual space. Only by a close-up walk into the waist-high installation, one can wake up from Wilson's dreamlike reality to realize the effect is merely achieved through recycled engine oil. 



I discovered his gripping work during my routine visits to the Saatchi Gallery in London. There is a good chance for everyone to challenge their own perception with this particular piece which has been on display for two decades and never lost that spell.