urs fischer creates a life-size rhinoceros sculpture surrounded by a constellation of 'things'

at gagosian’s midtown gallery on new york’s fifth avenue, swiss artist urs fischer has installed a silver sculpture of a life-size rhinoceros. glimpsed at street level through the venue’s tall, arched windows, ‘things’ considers the ways that objects and forces gather around and pass through our bodies, creating countless versions of reality that are specific to each of us. this sentiment is manifested through the various man-made objects that appear to float right through the giant creature’s core.

things, 2017
milled aluminum, steel, power magnets, two-component epoxy adhesive
125 1/4 x 204 3/8 x 118 1/2 inches 318 x 519 x 301 cm | edition 1 of 3 & 1 AP
image © urs fischer, photo by rob mckeever, courtesy of the artist and gagosian

a car door, a handbag, and a vacuum cleaner — among other objects — form a single continuous aluminum unit anchored by the rhino. urs fischer produced the piece, which now stands at a height of more than ten feet in the gagosian’s ffith avenue location, from a 3D scan of a taxidermy animal. located between between grand central terminal and bryant park, the piece intends to transport unsuspecting passersby, even if just for a moment, into a world that is at once prehistoric, digital, and mysteriously uncharted.

‘things’ (detail) | image © urs fischer, photo by rob mckeever, courtesy of the artist and gagosian

‘like the rhinoceros, we absorb all that comes into our vicinity, and in the process we ourselves undergo a constant, often undetectable metamorphosis,’ says the gallery. ‘existence itself is thus presented as an accumulation, a collective gathering of physical and metaphorical baggage.’ the installation — stationed at at 511 fifth avenue — coincides with sōtatsu, an exhibition of new paintings in nine parts by fischer at gagosian 980 madison avenue, on view through june 23, 2018.

‘things’ (detail) | image © urs fischer, photo by rob mckeever, courtesy of the artist and gagosian

‘things’ (detail) | image © urs fischer, photo by rob mckeever, courtesy of the artist and gagosian