Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons

Nelson’s installations take the viewer on enthralling journeys into fictive worlds that eerily echo our own.

Constructed with materials scavenged from salvage yards, junk shops, auctions and flea markets, the immersive installations have a startling life-like quality.

Weaving references to science fiction, failed political movements, dark histories and countercultures, they touch on alternative ways of living and thinking: lost belief systems, interrupted histories and cultures that resist inclusion in an increasingly homogenised and globalised world.

Utterly transforming the spaces of the Hayward Gallery, the exhibition features sculptural works and new versions of key large-scale installations, many of which are shown here for the first time since their original presentations.

Nelson represented Great Britain at the 54th Venice Biennale in 2011 and has shown in leading galleries around the world. He has also been featured in numerous international exhibitions, including the 13th Biennale of Sydney, the 8th Istanbul Biennial and the 13th Lyon Biennale.

Mike Nelson: Extinction Beckons is generously supported by the Henry Moore Foundation and the Extinction Beckons Exhibition Supporters Group: 303 Gallery, New York; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Rennie Collection, Vancouver; and those who wish to remain anonymous. The catalogue and public programme is supported by Kingston School of Art, Kingston University.