Julian Charrière

The glistening light of a Fresnel lens in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, gigantic under­water glacier lands­capes, and divers who seem to float weight­lessly in Mexican cenotes—the exhibi­tion Midnight Zone by the French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière (b. 1987) presents a fasci­na­ting explo­ra­tion of the myste­rious world of water in the large hall of the Kunst­mu­seum Wolfsburg.

Julian Charrière’s impres­sive multi­media works combine art, nature, and science in a highly aesthetic way. The exhibi­tion focuses on the most important element of life on Earth: water. It is the basis of our planet’s largest biosphere, the habitat of countless organisms, and at the same time a highly contested resource.

The “midnight zone” is the term used by experts to describe the area of the ocean that, at depths of 1,000 meters or more, is comple­tely devoid of light. This submarine ecosystem reveals the comple­xity of ocean water in a unique way and is the focus of Charrière’s current artistic work.

Julian Charrière: Midnight Zone is the largest solo exhibi­tion to date by the inter­na­tio­nally renowned artist. Realized in coope­ra­tion with the Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switz­er­land, the exhibi­tion highlights not only the sensual and metapho­rical aspects associated with the element of water but also political issues, such as human-made global water pollution, the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps due to climate change, and the threat of deep-sea mining to the seabed. A richly illus­trated publi­ca­tion has been produced in close colla­bo­ra­tion with the artist to accompany the exhibi­tion. It features essays by Stacy Alaimo, Rachel Carson, Susan Casey, Peter H. Gleick, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Amorina Kingdon, Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow, Sara A. Rich, and Helen M. Rozwa­dowski, as well as an in-depth interview with the artist, conducted by Andreas Beitin and Roland Wetzel. The 272-page publi­ca­tion is available in English (with German trans­la­tions via QR code) in the museum shop and at kunstmuseum.ticketfritz.de for €45.

Curators
Andreas Beitin, Dino Steinhof