Body, 2025
Polyurethane foam and flocking, in 3 parts
Overall dimensions variable
©Urs Fischer / Courtesy the artist and Gagosian
Gagosian Rome will present After Nature, an exhibition by Urs Fischer that opens on September 17, 2025. The show introduces new work by the Swiss-born artist, including a suite of aluminum paintings, a monumental soft sculpture, and a video installation that expands his long-standing focus on transformation, decay, and altered perception.
At the center of the exhibition is a new group of eight dust paintings. Fischer collected debris from his studio floor and reimagined it as imagery printed and painted onto aluminum. These works build on his earlier dust series from 2007 to 2010 but reveal a more tactile quality. The polished grounds reflect both the gallery space and the Roman sky, while the scattered particles create images that resemble parched terrain or clusters of stars. The effect places the viewer between microscopic and macroscopic dimensions, evoking a scale where intimate detail meets cosmic suggestion.
Alongside these panels stands a large soft sculpture of a reclining female figure, treated with brown flocking patterned like camouflage. Two smaller orange-red forms, amoebic in shape and reminiscent of ottomans, sit nearby. Fischer describes the work as an embodiment of gravity, inviting visitors to physically rest on it while engaging with its presence. The piece continues his ongoing dissection of figural imagery, while its hybrid function as sculpture and furniture recalls historical precedents such as She-A Cathedral (1966) at Stockholm’s Moderna Museet, an installation by Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, P.O. Ultvedt, and Pontus Hultén.
A third element of After Nature introduces Fischer’s take on Dan Graham’s seminal Time Delay Room from 1974. His installation employs cameras, monitors, and mirrors to deliver live video footage with a five-second delay. The work confronts visitors with their own image in near real time, provoking consideration of how memory has been compressed into fleeting intervals and how technology mediates perception of the present.
Together, these works present a layered vision of Fischer’s ongoing investigations. Dust, fabric, and video converge to create an environment that reimagines everyday materials through scale and process. The combination of tactile surfaces and mediated images underscores his ability to push viewers into states of both reflection and physical interaction.
In parallel with the gallery exhibition, Académie de France à Rome–Villa Médicis will display Fischer’s new sculpture Dance in its Renaissance gardens. Presented from September 18 through November 22, 2025, the outdoor installation extends the dialogue of After Nature into a historic setting, offering another dimension to his Rome presentation.
URS FISCHER
After Nature
Opening reception: Wednesday, September 17, 6–8pm
September 17 – November 22, 2025
Via Francesco Crispi 16, Rome
