Roni Horn
21 May – 1 August 2026
London
For her first exhibition in London in a decade, Roni Horn will present never before exhibited works on paper from her new Seizure of Hope series, which explores Horn’s preoccupation with repetition and the utilization of the written word as a medium. Accompanying her drawings is one of her renowned glass sculptures; taking the form of a cube, the work is a rare example of Horn’s cast objects.
Underpinning her wider practice, drawing is a primary activity that has been integral to Horn’s oeuvre for nearly 40 years. Featuring throughout the works on view, the phrase ‘I am paralyzed with hope’ comes from a monologue by the stand-up comedian Maria Bamford, which Horn describes as a ‘poignant connection to our time with regards to politics and the environment and now, of course, in relation to the pandemic.’ Bamford’s quote was first used by the artist in her 2021 work ‘LOG (22 March 2019 – 17 May 2020),’ a large-scale installation comprised of 406 individual works on paper that function as a record of the world around her, and evolved into the Seizure of Hope series on view.
Evoking water damaged ink, the text is at once legible and blurred. Her cast-glass sculpture ‘Untitled (“What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?”)’ (2022) similarly balances solidity and fluidity, its glossy top recalling the crystal-clear surface of an undisturbed pool of water. Water is a constant theme for Horn, stating she is ‘fascinated by this idea of water as a form of perpetual relation, not so much a substance but a thing whose identity was based on its relation to other things [...] Rather than an object, water becomes a metaphor for consciousness—of time, of physicality, of the human condition.’—‘Roni Horn aka Roni Horn’ (Steidl & Partners, 2009)
The exhibition is accompanied by the limited-edition title ‘Seizure of Hope’ (2026) by Hauser & Wirth Publishers, an artist’s book that reproduces her drawings in precise detail.
Image: Roni Horn, Seizure of Hope (71) (detail), 2025 © Roni Horn. Photo: Ron Amstutz
Roni Horn: Seizure of Hope
This meticulously designed, limited-edition publication collects a series of drawings that were inspired by a line from a monologue by the American comedian Maria Bamford: ‘I am paralyzed with hope.’ Horn felt that the statement resonated with contemporary anxieties, and she began to write and rewrite it, drawing over the words with a wax crayon that caused their letters to bleed.
‘Seizure of Hope’ is a spectacular record of Horn’s arresting meditation on language, emotion and the nature of hope.
About the Artist
Roni Horn
L’obra de Roni Horn es caracteritza per la incertesa i la impossibilitat de concloure-la. En tota la seva obra és important el seu interès per la naturalesa mutable de la identitat, el significat i la percepció, així com la noció de duplicitat, qüestions que continuen impulsant la pràctica de Horn.
Current Exhibitions
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