Urs Fischer and the exhibition circuit from Los Angeles to Athens
Published on 08/31/2026 at 13:16 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Urs Fischer uses the exhibition format as a laboratory for sculptural instability and image drift. His 2026 season traces a path from clay-turned-bronze figures in Los Angeles to a photographic dialogue with Eugène Atget in Athens, as Jeffrey Deitch and Gagosian underline in their announcements.
The 2026 shows in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, Fischer revisits his monumental clay project with the two-part presentation YES and LA DUST at Jeffrey Deitch, spread across the Orange Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard galleries. The show ran from June 19 to August 8, 2026, placing nineteen bronzes cast from the original clay ensemble alongside new LA Dust Paintings that fold local signage and street fragments into layered, screen-printed surfaces.
The Deitch exhibition explicitly echoes Fischer’s 2013 survey at MOCA Los Angeles, where an entire hall was filled with clay figures that slowly collapsed during the run. At Deitch, the bronzes preserve that earlier moment of entropy as durable sculptural fossils, while the LA Dust Paintings shift the focus to how photographic and printed images sediment in the urban environment.
Athens and the Atget works
Parallel to the Los Angeles show, Gagosian in Athens opened Eugène Atget on June 9, 2026, presenting a new body of work in which Fischer reworks archival photographs associated with the French photographer. The exhibition, his first solo outing in Athens, runs through September 12, 2026, and extends his investigations of how images persist and mutate across media and time, as the Athens art platform AA?thens notes.
In these works, Fischer manipulates Atget-related imagery through printing, collage and overpainting, creating surfaces where documentary photography and contemporary mark-making collide. The show positions his practice within a lineage of artists engaging with historical image archives, while maintaining his characteristic interest in instability and transformation rather than straightforward homage.
Further reporting on Urs Fischer’s exhibitions and projects
Readers can follow how Urs Fischer’s sculptural and image-based work develops across museums, galleries and fairs, from Los Angeles clay bronzes to his photographic explorations in Athens.
The survey logic in Fischer’s practice
Fischer’s Los Angeles and Athens shows continue a survey logic already visible in his earlier institutional presentations, notably the major exhibition at MOCA Los Angeles that spread across both the Grand Avenue and Geffen Contemporary spaces. There, sculptures, installations and large-scale environments were arranged as a shifting landscape rather than a chronological retrospective, underscoring his interest in how works transform when re-sited.
Across these presentations, Fischer repeatedly returns to clay, wax and photographic prints as materials that register time and change. Clay figures slump, wax portraits melt, printed images fade or are overlaid; in each case the exhibition becomes a time-based system rather than a static display.
How the artist works with material and image
Fischer is widely noted for combining traditional sculptural materials such as clay and bronze with everyday substances, digital prints and mechanical structures, producing works that oscillate between solidity and dissolution. He often stages installations as environments where viewers move through shifting scales, from life-size figures to monumental soft sculptures and dense image walls.
His practice is anchored in sculpture and installation but extends into painting, photography and video, with series such as the candle portraits, clay ensembles, LA Dust Paintings and the recent Atget-related works forming recurring nodes in an evolving body of work. These series allow him to test how images and forms alter when re-cast in different supports or re-installed in new spatial configurations.
Where the artist stands now
Against this backdrop, Urs Fischer’s current position is defined by an active exhibition circuit that in 2026 links commercial galleries and institutions from Los Angeles to Athens, with his practice continuing to focus on sculptural transformation, image sedimentation and the temporal dimension of display.
Key facts on Urs Fischer
- Artist: Urs Fischer
- Medium / Genre: Sculpture and installation with painting and image-based work
- Born: 1973, Zurich, Switzerland
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice associated with New York and Los Angeles in recent years
- Active since: Mid-1990s, with international recognition consolidating in the 2000s
- Key work groups: Clay figures and bronzes, candle portraits, LA Dust Paintings, Eugène Atget works
- Current/last exhibition: Eugène Atget, Gagosian, Athens, June 9 to September 12, 2026
- Major collections: Major public collections such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and other international institutions have exhibited and collected Fischer’s work, reflecting his standing in contemporary sculpture.
- Awards: Fischer’s career has been marked more by prominent exhibitions and commissions than by headline awards, with institutional surveys and major biennial appearances serving as key recognition markers.
- Next date: Exhibitions in Los Angeles and Athens structure his 2026 calendar, with Eugène Atget at Gagosian Athens running through September 12, 2026.
Frequently asked questions about Urs Fischer
Where was Urs Fischer on view in Los Angeles in 2026?
In Los Angeles, Urs Fischer presented the two-part exhibition YES and LA DUST at Jeffrey Deitch, occupying the Orange Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard spaces from June 19 to August 8, 2026.
What is the focus of Urs Fischer’s exhibition Eugène Atget in Athens?
The Athens show at Gagosian, running from June 9 to September 12, 2026, presents a new body of work in which Fischer reworks archival photographic material associated with Eugène Atget, exploring how images persist and transform.
How do Urs Fischer’s clay and bronze figures relate to his broader practice?
The clay ensembles, later cast in bronze for presentations such as YES and LA DUST, extend the time-based logic of his installations, preserving moments of collapse while linking to earlier institutional surveys like his MOCA Los Angeles exhibition.
This article was produced with a.i. support and editorially reviewed. All statements without guarantee; auction results, exhibition dates and awards may change at short notice.
