Olafur Eliasson’s enormous glowing sphere ‘Presence’ floods us in a single vivid colour
Olafur Eliasson, Denmark b.1967 / Presence 2025 / Stainless steel, aluminium, monofrequency lights, printed textile wedges, aluminium perforated sheets, mirror foil, glass mirror, wood / © 2025 Olafur Eliasson / Courtesy: The artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; and Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles / View full image
Presence 2025 seems to move and shift with energy, flooding us in a single vivid colour. The enormous glowing sphere hovers in space, its patterned yellow surface rippling and changing as you move around it.
Go on a multi-sensory journey with Olafur Eliasson and explore expansive site-specific installations, and artworks seen for the first time, developed especially by the Berlin-based Icelandic-Danish artist. Now at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA) until 12 July 2026.
Watch | Olafur Eliasson discusses Presence 2025
In Presence, Eliasson uses yellow monofrequency light to limit our perception to shades of yellow, black and yellow-toned grey. Layers of pattern, first printed onto fabric then created via a double layer of aluminium mesh, create a dynamic moiré effect — an optical phenomenon activated by our motion. Mirrors expand the gallery beyond the actual space it occupies, creating the impression of a complete sphere from only one-eighth of its full volume.
Eliasson heightens our perception of how we move on this planet and are connected to space beyond. We are small in comparison to the scale of the artwork yet if this was the Sun, we'd be much smaller again, as 109 Earths fit across the Sun’s diameter. A key reference for Eliasson in making the work was an animation of the surface of the sun produced by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory.
The artist is not only interested in the relationship between Sun, Earth and life, but also in how we understand ourselves and our relationships to one another.
Delve into the work of Olafur Eliasson — immersive installations that play with light, colour and perception.
‘Presence’ is accompanied by an expansive publication produced in collaboration with Olafur Eliasson and his studio, as well as a range of exhibition merchandise.
The exhibition is complemented by QAGOMA’s interactive mobile companion, which includes an exhibition guide with curatorial insights, images, and behind-the-scenes videos, and a sense trail that invites visitors to experience selected artworks through gentle sensory prompts. When you buy your ticket to 'Presence', you’ll immediately get access to enhance your visit, so bring your headphones.
Olafur Eliasson: Presence
6 December 2025 – 12 July 2026
Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA)
Gallery 1.1 (The Fairfax Gallery), Gallery 1.2 & Gallery 1.3 (Eric and Marion Taylor Gallery)
Brisbane, Australia
Get tickets to 'Olafur Eliasson: Presence’