Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons

The first major survey of work by internationally acclaimed British artist Mike Nelson featured his psychologically charged and atmospheric installations.

Nelson’s installations take the viewer on enthralling journeys into fictive worlds that eerily echo our own. Constructed with materials scavenged from salvage yards, junk shops, auctions and flea markets, his immersive installations have a startling life-like quality.

Weaving references to science fiction, failed political movements, dark histories and countercultures, they touch on alternative ways of living and thinking: lost belief systems, interrupted histories and cultures that resist inclusion in an increasingly homogenised and globalised world.

Extinction Beckons utterly transformed the spaces of the Hayward Gallery, taking over the gallery’s many spaces with sculptural works and new versions of key large-scale installations, many of which were shown here for the first time since their original presentations.

Nelson represented Great Britain at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 and has shown in leading galleries around the world. He has also been featured in numerous international exhibitions, including the 13th Biennale of Sydney, the 8th Istanbul Biennial and the 13th Lyon Biennale.

‘It’s disorienting, dizzying, scary… the whole show is genuinely brilliant’

Time Out

‘Dense, absorbing, atmospheric… beautifully judged and perfectly paced’

Evening Standard