Cerith Wyn Evans: Tate Britain commission 2017

Every year, Tate Britain commissions an artist to respond to its collection with a new work to be housed in the grand, neo-classical Duveen Galleries.

This year, it is the turn of Welsh conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans, whose fluid, seductive installations and sculptures employ light and sound to transform space. They gleam, twist and spin, aiming to confound and inspire.

Wyn Evans began his career as a video- and film-maker, previously working as an assistant to Derek Jarman and collaborating on pop videos with bands such as The Smiths. Since the 1990s, his practice has taken a more conceptual approach, focusing on language and perception, with work often developed out of the context or history of the exhibition site.

His clever theorising isn't for everyone – for example: 'Wyn Evans' work attempts to rupture existing systems of communication – either through the practice of subverting certain given material forms, or disrupting spatial-temporal coordinates.' But his capacity to transform a room is thrilling, as we saw at recent White Cube and Serpentine Sackler shows. We can't wait to see what he has in store for the Tate.