Urs Fischer and the fair circuit from Los Angeles to Athens
Published on 08/28/2026 at 13:11 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWS
Urs Fischer has spent the past year moving between Los Angeles, Athens and Tokyo with a dense run of exhibitions that mirror his presence on the fair circuit. His wax figures, dust paintings and hybrid sculptures keep reappearing as galleries and institutions align their programs with major fairs and biennials.
Recent shows and fair rhythms
In Los Angeles, Fischer anchored Jeffrey Deitch’s summer program with the twin exhibition YES and LA DUST, staged across the Orange Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard spaces from June 19 to August 8, 2026, and conceived in dialogue with the city’s fair-heavy calendar. Gallery Platform LA exhibition listing
The Los Angeles show interwove bronze works originally developed for his long-term project with MOCA with new LA Dust paintings, created by transferring studio dust onto aluminum panels in large-format images that echo his interest in the banal and the residual. Earlier in 2026, Gagosian positioned his panel Curiosity (2025) among other large-scale printed and painted aluminum works at Art Basel Hong Kong, giving collectors a fair context for these image-saturated wall pieces.
Athens, Tokyo and the wider circuit
In Athens, Gagosian opened Fischer’s exhibition Eugène Atget on June 9, 2026, presenting new large-scale paintings that fuse borrowed print and digital advertising fragments with smartphone photographs of highways, cars and urban architecture, and keeping the show on view through September 12, 2026 as the city hosts summer cultural traffic. Gagosian Athens exhibition announcement
Tokyo has provided a different, more introspective stop: at Fergus McCaffrey Tokyo, the exhibition Machigai Sagashi – Spot the Difference ran from April 11 to July 4, 2026, marking Fischer’s first solo presentation in Japan and centering wax and bronze works that play with the mechanics of the children’s game while staging slow material transformation. Fergus McCaffrey Tokyo exhibition page
Further news and background on Urs Fischer
For more reports on Urs Fischer’s exhibitions, market results and institutional projects, see the full coverage archive from the AD HOC NEWS Art Desk.
How the practice translates across venues
Fischer’s presence at fairs and fair-adjacent shows rests on his ability to shift a consistent vocabulary of materials and motifs into different scales and formats, moving from wax figures and melting installations to dust-based aluminum paintings and hybrid sculptural objects without losing his focus on everyday matter.
Where the artist stands now
Against this backdrop, Urs Fischer’s practice currently spans multiple continents with recent exhibitions in Los Angeles, Athens and Tokyo, while no additional date within the immediate 30-day window has been formally announced beyond the ongoing run of existing shows.
Key facts on Urs Fischer
- Artist: Urs Fischer
- Medium / Genre: Sculpture and installation, painting and mixed media
- Place(s) of practice: Studio practice between Switzerland, New York and Los Angeles, as indicated by recent exhibition locations and biographies
- Active since: 1990s, with international attention rising in the 2000s
- Key work groups: wax figure installations, dust paintings, hybrid everyday-object sculptures, large-scale aluminum panels
- Current/last exhibition: Eugène Atget, Gagosian Athens, June 9 to September 12, 2026; YES and LA DUST, Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles, June 19 to August 8, 2026; Machigai Sagashi – Spot the Difference, Fergus McCaffrey Tokyo, April 11 to July 4, 2026
- Major collections: Prominent public collections include leading museums in Europe and the United States, with specific holdings frequently cited in institutional biographies and exhibition materials
- Awards: Fischer’s career has been marked more by major exhibitions and biennial appearances than by single headline awards, with recognition coming through large-scale institutional projects
- Next date: The Athens exhibition Eugène Atget remains on view at Gagosian through September 12, 2026, providing a current point of access to his work
Frequently asked questions about Urs Fischer
Where can Urs Fischer’s work be seen right now?
Fischer’s work is currently on view in Athens at Gagosian in the exhibition Eugène Atget, which runs from June 9 to September 12, 2026, and it recently appeared in Los Angeles and Tokyo in 2026 gallery shows.
How does Urs Fischer’s practice connect to fairs like Art Basel?
Galleries such as Gagosian have presented Fischer’s large-scale aluminum panels, including works like Curiosity, within Art Basel Hong Kong booths, integrating his practice into high-profile fair presentations alongside his regular exhibition schedule.
What defines the recent exhibitions in Los Angeles and Tokyo?
In Los Angeles, YES and LA DUST combined bronze works and dust-based paintings across two Jeffrey Deitch spaces, while in Tokyo Machigai Sagashi – Spot the Difference focused on wax and bronze pieces that play with perception and slow transformation in Fergus McCaffrey’s gallery rooms.
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.
