Cerith Wyn Evans to Remove ICA Wall for Empty Gallery Show

Cerith Wyn Evans, returning to London's Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) for his first exhibition in a British public space, plans to remove a 70-year-old wall on the Mall and leave the galleries entirely empty. The Welsh artist, who first visited the ICA in 1975 as a seventeen-year-old and exhibited there in 1981, aims to 'subvert by taking things out' and 'kill people' with the show. He describes himself as 'fucking furious' about the trivialisation of culture and cites Roland Barthes's 'The Neutral' as influence. The work, devoid of language and objects, evokes Michael Asher and Gordon Matta-Clark. Wyn Evans, known for encrypted works using fireworks, Morse code, and glitter-balls, now focuses on architectural negation. ICA curator Jens Hoffmann hints there will be 'other things' in the exhibition. The artist, who calls himself 'horny in old age', sees an erotic dimension in exposing the building. The new brickwork will permanently mark the Mall, a corridor of royal power, exposed by a gay Welshman. The exhibition is scheduled for autumn 2006.