Mike Nelson's new show at Modern Art Oxford conjures a 'waking nightmare' of derelict dunes

British artist Mike Nelson has returned to Modern Art Oxford with a new exhibition built around derelict shacks and artificial sand dunes, in a show reviewers have described as an immersive meditation on entropy, dereliction and despair.

The exhibition recreates elements of Nelson's studio alongside rebuilt shacks and desert-like dunes, continuing a body of work the artist has developed since he last showed at the Oxford gallery in 2004, when he presented a crumbling shack appearing to be swallowed by sand dunes.

A return, transformed

The shack from that earlier exhibition reappears in the new show, rebuilt in the same gallery space, but reviewers note it now looks more weathered and broken than before. The dunes, too, are revealed as artificial constructions — a thin layer of sand held up on carpets and a rusted metal frame — exposing the illusion behind the installation's apparent realism.

According to the review, the show is large in scale, ambitious in scope, and deeply immersive, combining physical dereliction with a sense of psychological unease. The exhibition has been described as Nelson working at his most frustrated, introspective and personal, using imagery of rot and collapse to evoke broader themes of hopelessness.

Nelson is known internationally for large-scale installation works that often transform gallery spaces into disorienting, maze-like environments evoking abandoned or forgotten places. The new Modern Art Oxford show continues this approach, inviting visitors to move through a constructed landscape that blurs the line between representation and reality.

The exhibition is running at Modern Art Oxford, with the gallery's programme continuing to showcase contemporary artists working in large-scale installation formats.