A striking outdoor installation of two intersecting spirals that echo the signage of UK roads and connect Somerset House Courtyard to locations across the planet and universe.
This striking outdoor installation is Jitish Kallat first major public commission in the UK. It is over 30 metres in diameter and is conceived as a galactic whorl, spiralling outwards from the centre of the Somerset House courtyard. The work draws upon sacred geometry and alchemical diagrams; like much of Kallat’s work it interlaces the immediate and the cosmic, the past and present. Two vast and extended scrolls form interlocking spirals, a continuum of text and symbols that follow the visual identity of UK road signage. These signs indicate the distance from Somerset House to locations across the planet and beyond, pointing to celestial bodies, such as the Moon, Mars, and distant stars in the Milky Way.
As Kallat’s work playfully reorients the courtyard in relation to a myriad of destinations, visitors are invited to take pathways through the interlaced spirals. Routes through the work map circular movements through space and time.
Whorled (Here After Here After Here) is curated by Dr Cliff Lauson, Director of Exhibitions, Somerset House. The installation will be on display at The Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court, Somerset House.
Whorled (Here After Here After Here) - 16 February to 23 April 2023.
Further Information: Somerset House