Nicole Eisenman:
Perpetual Motion Machine
with Museum Piece con Gas
14 November 2026–11 April 2027
Entry
Free entry, give what you can
Date
14 November 2026–11 April 2027
Time
11am–5pm, Wed–Sun and bank holidays
Location
Sunley Gallery, Turner Contemporary
Nicole Eisenman draws on the language of figurative art and her deep knowledge of art history to create incisive, often humorous, observations on contemporary life.
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Perpetual Motion Machine with Museum Piece con Gas (2019) is comprised of two figures crafted from bronze, plaster, fibreglass and an array of non-traditional, everyday materials, ranging from human hair to coffee cup lids. Slumped and weary, they represent both the struggle of daily life and the labour involved in collective action.
Originating from her monumental, 16-metre-long sculptural assemblage Procession (2019), Eisenman regards Perpetual Motion Machine with Museum Piece con Gas as a dyad: two distinct forms whose meaning is made from its relationship to the other. In both form and material, the work complicates the authority and permanence associated with classical sculpture.
Nicole Eisenman was born in 1965, Verdun, France and raised in the US. She has lived and worked in New York since the 1990s.
Nicole Eisenman: Perpetual Motion Machine with Museum Piece con Gas will be on display in the Sunley Gallery at Turner Contemporary from 14 November 2026 until 11 April 2027.
‘We are delighted to be exhibiting this major work by Nicole Eisenman for the first time in the UK. The presentation builds on Turner Contemporary’s ongoing commitment to sculpture, continuing a series of ambitious projects with leading international artists’
About Nicole Eisenman
Nicole Eisenman lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She is a MacArthur Foundation Fellow and was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2018. Her work was included in both the 2019 Venice Biennale and the 2019 Whitney Biennial. Solo exhibitions include What Happened at the Museum Brandhorst, Munich, Germany (2023), travelling to Whitechapel Gallery, London, United Kingdom (2023) and MCA Chicago, Chicago, IL (2024); Heads, Kisses, Battles: Nicole Eisenman and the Moderns at Kunsthalle Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany (2021), travelling to Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau, Switzerland (2022), Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, Arles, France (2022), and Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Netherlands (2022); Giant Without a Body at the Astrup Fearnley Museet, Oslo, Norway (2021); Sturm und Drang at the Contemporary Austin, Austin, TX (2020); and Baden Baden Baden, at the Staatliche Kunsthalle, Baden-Baden, Germany (2019).
This display is supported by Henry Moore Foundation and those who wish to remain anonymous.
Hero image: Nicole Eisenman: Perpetual Motion Machine with Museum Piece con Gas, 2019 © Nicole Eisenman. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
