Artist Shaun Gladwell’s New Sydney Installation Gets You Very, Very Wet

If an artist told you the only way to truly appreciate their art was to get dunked in a shower of water, would you bring on the rain? One of Australia's most significant contemporary artists, Shaun Gladwell, is asking you to get wet for his next major project. Returning to his ol' stomping ground of Sydney in March for two exhibitions, Gladwell will present The Lacrima Chair at the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation. The newly commissioned, site-specific installation blends sculpture, his signature video style and water, water everywhere.

Quite the mystery project, The Lacrima Chair will apparently "engage the poetics of flight, travel and cultural transmission, specifically French cultural influences within Australia and vice versa," according to today's announcement. Gallerygoers will be required to wander through mist screens in the SCAF space, but the brave artseekers can costume-up (in yet-to-be-revealed threads) and sit under a shower of water in order to fully experience Gladwell’s new installation. The team have described this as 'Francis Bacon-style', which possibly means you'll be looking at something like this:

So you'll be well-arted, and very, very wet.

The Lacrima Chair marks the centrepiece of a double-sited project. While SCAF plays Wet 'N' Wild with Gladwell's installation, UNSW Galleries will see a 20-work-strong Collection+: Shaun Gladwell exhibition act as more of a mid-career retrospective of the artist. Filling all three spaces of the recently launched UNSW Galleries at the new Art and Design faculty (formerly known as COFA) in Paddington, the flight-focused show marks the first solo exhibition to be staged at the new UNSW instalment.

The UNSW chapter of the project (curated by Geneva's Dr Barbara Polla and Paris's Prof. Paul Ardenne) is a bit of a homecoming for Gladwell — the artist rustled up a Master of Fine Arts at COFA back in the day. Represented by Sherman Galleries (now SCAF) for nine years, Gladwell is paying serious homage to his Aussie roots after recently repping at the 53rd Venice Biennale.

Pro tip? Don't wear anything suede to the gallery.

Shaun Gladwell: The Lacrima Chair (SCAF Project 24) and Collection+: Shaun Gladwell (SCAF Project 25) will be on show at SCAF and UNSW Galleries respectively from 6 March 2015 until 25 April 2015.