Only four weeks remain to experience ‘Olafur Eliasson: Presence’, exclusively at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until 12 July 2026.

The major exhibition invites visitors to consider how perception, movement and participation shape the way we experience one another and the world around us.

Audiences have described the installations, sculptures and photo series in ‘Olafur Eliasson: Presence’ as pushing the boundaries of contemporary art and making them feel as if they are inside the artwork.

Audience favourites include Presence 2025, a vast glowing sun that seems to pulse with energy; Beauty 1993, a shimmering rainbow emerging from darkness; and Your negotiable vulnerability seen from two perspectives 2025, where the polarisation of light challenges viewers to question the ‘truth’ of what they see.

The final two editions of GOMA Friday Nights: Presence, on 19 and 26 June, offer a unique setting to unwind and connect in a space where art and music fuse. Brisbane's best selectors will take over the Vinyl Listening Bar, DJs set the mood in the River Room, and live performances pop up across the Gallery, all against the backdrop of Eliasson's multi-sensory exhibition.

QAGOMA Director Chris Saines CNZM said: ‘Sharing this uniquely captivating exhibition by one of the world’s foremost contemporary artists has been a real privilege for the Gallery.

‘We are particularly thrilled to have debuted the exhibition’s breathtaking title work Presence 2025, which uses simple materials of mesh and mirrors to create the effect of the enormous hovering sun that oscillates as we move through the space.

‘The exhibition also invites visitors to add their own architectural vision to The cubic structural evolution project 2004, an ever-evolving Lego metropolis of imaginative structures, and traverse Riverbed 2014, an immense, rocky riverscape inside the Gallery.’

QAGOMA Head of International Art Geraldine Kirrihi Barlow said: ‘The exhibition invites audiences to reflect on how we connect with one another and the world around us.

‘Olafur’s work reminds us that we each see the world differently, even when standing side by side, and leads us to playfully reconsider how we make sense of what we perceive.

‘It’s been moving to hear how the exhibition has affected audiences in different ways. We’ve had small children inspired to make their own light installations, and visitors return for repeat visits full of emotion — whether through the polarisation of light in Your Truths 2025, which plays with colour and our sight, or photographs of clouds “being born” in The morning small cloud series 2006, reminding us of the wonder in the everyday.'

The exhibition is accompanied by:

• An expansive publication, available while stocks last, featuring a curatorial essay, an extended artist interview, and creative contributions from celebrated writers Ceridwen Dovey and Robert Macfarlane.
• QAGOMA’s interactive mobile companion, accessible during a visit to ‘Presence’, which includes an Exhibition Guide with curatorial insights, images, and behind-the-scenes videos, and a Sense Trail that invites visitors to experience selected artworks through gentle sensory prompts.
• A video of a conversation between Eliasson and curator Geraldine Kirrhi Barlow, highlighting the artist’s humour and perspective
• The podcast Exploring Presence which offers insights and interviews with members of Studio Olafur Eliasson.

‘Olafur Eliasson: Presence’ is supported by Strategic Partner Tourism and Events Queensland; Major Partners Shayher Group and Viking; Grantors Gordon Darling Foundation and New Carlsberg Foundation; Tourism, Media and Supporting Partners; and a generous group of Exhibition Patrons.

For more information about the exhibition, or to purchase tickets, please visit https://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/exhibition/olafur‑eliasson

ENDS

ABOUT OLAFUR ELIASSON:

Icelandic-Danish artist Olafur Eliasson (b.1967) creates art relevant to the world at large. Since 1997, his wide-ranging solo shows — featuring installations, paintings, sculptures, photography and film — have appeared in major museums around the globe. In 2003, he represented Denmark at the 50th Venice Biennale, and later that year installed The weather project at Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, London. Eliasson's projects in public space include The New York City Waterfalls 2008, Fjordenhus, Vejle 2018; and Ice Watch 2014. In 2012, Eliasson founded the social business Little Sun, and in 2014, he and Sebastian Behmann founded Studio Other Spaces, an office for art and architecture. In 2019, Eliasson was named United Nations Development Programme Goodwill Ambassador for climate action.

Located in Berlin, Studio Olafur Eliasson comprises a team of craftspeople, architects, archivists, researchers, administrators, cooks, art historians and specialised technicians.