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Lot Essay
‘In my art, I often work with the compass as a navigational tool. It links us both to our destination and to our current location. But it doesn’t simply show us which way to go; it is about how everything else is organised too. Compasses orient us not only geographically but also socially. The particular visual sensation of the compass is something we share; it binds us to one another through our subjective, yet shared experience. This is something I know from childhood: the compass at home obeyed the very same magnetic phenomenon as the one my father, who, a cook on a fishing boat, used to navigate when he was away at sea.’
– OLAFUR ELIASSON
Christie’s and the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Nigeria are collaborating to raise funds for MOWAA and its initiatives to create a cultural ecosystem in Benin City, based on the art of the past, present and future. A number of artists have generously agreed to donate original works of art to the auction, including Yinka Shonibare, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Lakwena Maciver and Victor Ehikhamenor. Proceeds from the sale of the works will go towards MOWAA initiatives including the presentation of the Nigeria Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, 2024—commissioned by the Governor of Edo State and also curated by Aindrea Emelife—and the 20-acre Creative Campus, including the Rainforest Gallery. Designed by the Dakar-based architecture firm Worofila, the Rainforest Gallery will be dedicated to showcasing Modern and Contemporary art, as well as historic exhibitions.
Based in Berlin, Olafur Eliasson is an Icelandic–Danish artist celebrated for his innovative approach to space and the elements. Encompassing installation and sculpture as well as painting, photography and film, his works invite us to reflect on how we interact with our surroundings: the sun, earth, air and water. In 1995 he established his Studio Olafur Eliasson, which he considers a ‘spatial research laboratory’, comprising teams of architects, archivists, researchers, art historians and specialist technicians. His signature use of light—to create moods that range from calming to turbulent—appeals to the viewer’s visceral senses. Interactivity is one of the main tenets of Eliasson’s practice: he invites us to enter into his installation spaces, to become a part of his created environments. Famously, his 2003 The weather project featured a giant artificial sun in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, London. The sun beamed down on the hall, producing a clement, meditative atmosphere in which visitors could bask.
Olafur’s work has gained international acclaim. From his installation at the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in 2007, to his 2008 Public Art Fund commission The New York City Waterfalls, to his recent installations in the Qatari desert, Eliasson has made his mark on many of the world’s major public spaces. He represented Denmark at the 50th Venice Biennale, and led the Institute for Spatial Experiments at the Berlin University of the Arts between 2009 and 2014. His recent major solo exhibitions include Sonnenenergie 22 at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich in 2022, and the touring exhibition Olafur Eliasson: In real life at the Tate Modern, London in 2019.
– OLAFUR ELIASSON
Christie’s and the Museum of West African Art (MOWAA) in Nigeria are collaborating to raise funds for MOWAA and its initiatives to create a cultural ecosystem in Benin City, based on the art of the past, present and future. A number of artists have generously agreed to donate original works of art to the auction, including Yinka Shonibare, Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, Lakwena Maciver and Victor Ehikhamenor. Proceeds from the sale of the works will go towards MOWAA initiatives including the presentation of the Nigeria Pavilion at La Biennale di Venezia, 2024—commissioned by the Governor of Edo State and also curated by Aindrea Emelife—and the 20-acre Creative Campus, including the Rainforest Gallery. Designed by the Dakar-based architecture firm Worofila, the Rainforest Gallery will be dedicated to showcasing Modern and Contemporary art, as well as historic exhibitions.
Based in Berlin, Olafur Eliasson is an Icelandic–Danish artist celebrated for his innovative approach to space and the elements. Encompassing installation and sculpture as well as painting, photography and film, his works invite us to reflect on how we interact with our surroundings: the sun, earth, air and water. In 1995 he established his Studio Olafur Eliasson, which he considers a ‘spatial research laboratory’, comprising teams of architects, archivists, researchers, art historians and specialist technicians. His signature use of light—to create moods that range from calming to turbulent—appeals to the viewer’s visceral senses. Interactivity is one of the main tenets of Eliasson’s practice: he invites us to enter into his installation spaces, to become a part of his created environments. Famously, his 2003 The weather project featured a giant artificial sun in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, London. The sun beamed down on the hall, producing a clement, meditative atmosphere in which visitors could bask.
Olafur’s work has gained international acclaim. From his installation at the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion in 2007, to his 2008 Public Art Fund commission The New York City Waterfalls, to his recent installations in the Qatari desert, Eliasson has made his mark on many of the world’s major public spaces. He represented Denmark at the 50th Venice Biennale, and led the Institute for Spatial Experiments at the Berlin University of the Arts between 2009 and 2014. His recent major solo exhibitions include Sonnenenergie 22 at the Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich in 2022, and the touring exhibition Olafur Eliasson: In real life at the Tate Modern, London in 2019.