Victoria Miro presents 'Shadows of the Mechanism', an exhibition by Conrad Shawcross, from 26 November 2026 to 23 January 2027. The London show, which opens with a private view on Wednesday 25 November from 6 to 8pm, brings together the debut of a significant new body of work, 'Time Pebble', and an immersive, multi-sensory installation of the artist's acclaimed series 'Slow Arc inside a Cube'.

Inspired by maps and diagrams in cosmology and physics, the 'Time Pebble' series explores the paradox of trying to conceive of the universe from beyond itself. The idea began with Shawcross's pilgrimage in 2005 to the Holmdel 'Big Ear' radio telescope in New Jersey, which inadvertently detected the cosmic microwave background radiation left over from the Big Bang. Taking the ovoid maps of that residual heat as his model, Shawcross has attempted to represent the birth of the universe in sculptural form, each work perforated by a constellation of holes and formed from thousands of interlocking plates. A residency at the University of Nottingham, where he observed research into the early universe and black hole mergers, further shaped the works.

The 'Slow Arc inside a Cube' works, first made in 2007, use a small halogen light travelling on an articulated arm inside a mesh cube, throwing ever-changing shadows onto the surrounding architecture. The impetus came from the scientist Dorothy Hodgkin, who compared deducing a structure from its shadow to deducing a tree from its shadow - a link Shawcross connects to Plato's allegory of the cave.

This is the first time such a large display of the 'Slow Arc' works has been shown together, and the installation is augmented by a specially commissioned soundscape from the experimental composer and pianist Edward Chilvers. The gallery walls, the artist says, will be thrown into flux, giving visitors the impression of a constantly shifting space.