Running from November 1st, 2024, to March 24th, 2025, Borrowed Light Through Metz marks Cerith Wyn Evans’s first large-scale solo exhibition in France since 2006. Hosted at the Centre Pompidou-Metz, the exhibition transforms Gallery 3 and the Forum into immersive environments that combine light, sound, and architecture. Known for his poetic and conceptual approach, Wyn Evans explores themes of perception, technology, and the interplay between nature and culture.
In the Forum, Wyn Evans creates a “winter garden” where plants bask in sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Interspersed among them, two towering columns made from filament light bulbs evoke the paper tubes associated with architect Shigeru Ban. These sculptures, resembling glass trees, stretch towards the 35-meter-high ceiling, embodying the artist’s dialogue between organic forms and technological progress. Nearby, amethyst geodes encased in glass crates symbolize the convergence of natural and industrial worlds.
Gallery 3 offers a contrasting experience with its “stroll garden,” where mirrors line the walls and large windows bring Metz’s exterior into the exhibit. The space features luminous sculptures, including LED columns that slowly “breathe” as they fade between full intensity and transparency. A glass sculpture with crystal flutes emits drone-like sounds, mimicking human breath through programmed algorithms. Suspended neon drawings inspired by Japanese Noh theater seem to dance in frenetic light patterns, adding a dynamic, performative layer to the exhibition.
The exhibition as a whole is a sensory exploration, with reflections, light, and sound creating an ever-changing environment. Wyn Evans’s works engage visitors as active participants, transforming their movement and perception into integral parts of the experience. With Borrowed Light Through Metz, the artist continues his decades-long exploration of ephemeral materials, encouraging viewers to rethink the boundaries between nature, technology, and art.
All photography by LEWIS RONALD, courtesy of CENTRE POMPIDOU METZ
