Fog invades the Rotunda of the Bourse de Commerce in Paris: it is the work of Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya (Sapporo, 1933), within which visitors are invited to immerse themselves to appear and disappear in the thick white fog of water vapor. Until September 14, 2026, in fact, the Rotunda space is hosting one of Nakaya’s fog sculptures, titled Cloud #07156, as part of the Clair-obscur exhibition dedicated to chiaroscuro and its legacy in the present.
“Always working in a specific context, the artist has created an exceptional encounter between fog and the interior space of Tadao Ando’s Rotunda,” writes Anne-Marie Duguet in the exhibition catalog. “Fujiko Nakaya does not depict fog; she sculpts it. This amazing artistic material is a natural phenomenon that she produces using a complex system of high-pressure pumps and rows of nozzles that release tiny water droplets identical to those that make up fog. Natural in its composition and development, here it is artificially produced by the artist. Nakaya gave up painting in the mid-1960s to devote the following years to an important experiment: the large-scale production of fog in spaces outside his studio.”
“The Trade Exchange Rotunda is a dizzying space, the upper two-thirds of which are occupied by a marouflage panoramic canvas topped by a dome,” Duguet continues. “At its center, on the ground floor, the concrete cylinder designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando echoes the circularity of the building, remaining open to all possible points of view, both around and within the work. The fog, the main object of our gaze, thus also obstructs its view, albeit momentarily. Its partial and fleeting transparencies create a kind of anti-panopticon that constantly destabilizes and challenges our ability to observe. It is no longer about single or multiple points of view, but about visibility itself. From a balcony on the second floor, a view that encompasses the entire scene allows visitors to contemplate a sea of clouds. Sculpting within the museum is also a way to travel within oneself....”
Japanese artist Fujiko Nakaya gained notoriety in the 1960s as a member of the New York-based collective Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT). From the very beginning of her painting activities, she showed a strong interest in movement and natural phenomena, elements that led her to devise her famous “fog sculptures.” The first of these works was presented at the Pepsi Pavilion during the 1970 Osaka Expo. Since then, Nakaya has created numerous installations around the world, employing sophisticated high-pressure misting technology that has become the hallmark of her artistic pursuit. “In 1969, in collaboration with engineer Thomas Mee, Fujiko Nakaya invented a ”device/system to produce a cloud sculpture from water vapor.“ Although her research testifies to a profound ecological awareness,” Anne-Marie Duguet explains, “it also stems from a strong artistic vision that wants the audience to move within the work so that they can contemplate and experience it, explicitly excluding any artificial chemical process. Even to achieve a partial mastery of this unstable, ephemeral and constantly metamorphosing phenomenon requires knowledge of the physical laws governing the formation and dissipation of fog.”
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| Fujiko Nakaya transforms Paris' Bourse de Commerce Rotunda with one of her mist sculptures |
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