Metaphysical Maze will be the largest exhibition to date in the United States devoted to French conceptual artist Laurent Grasso. Installed in the museum’s iconic Building 5, Metaphysical Maze will take the form of an immersive installation bringing together, for the first time, the artist’s most emblematic films, along with a new commission in progress, Cosmic Drive, produced during his research residency at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California.

Conceived as a journey, the exhibition will immerse visitors in a contemplative state that expands the perception of time. The installation will extend beyond the realm of film to include new works — paintings, sculptures, and architectural interventions — forming a whole. In Grasso’s universe, all lines are blurred: artworks are presented without specific titles, dates, or identifying labels. Within the exhibition time appears suspended, unfolding a carefully orchestrated environment. “Entering my exhibition,” says the artist, “is like walking into a forest — an imaginary landscape where you wander without trying to identify every species of tree.”

MASS MoCA will also partner with Olana State Historic Site (Hudson, NY) and the Thomas Cole National Historic Site (Catskill, NY) to present satellite programming and exhibitions, as well as the Burlington City Arts (Burlington, VT), which will host a film projection. These presentations extend the exhibition beyond MASS MoCA, opening a dialogue between Grasso’s work and historically significant sites.

Recent works from Grasso’s ongoing Studies Into the Past series draw inspiration from the Hudson River School movement founded by Thomas Cole, and in particular from the 19th-century painter Frederic Edwin Church, whose home, Olana, stands directly across the Hudson River from his teacher’s house and studio. The year 2026 marks the bicentennial of Church’s birth (1826–1900), a moment accompanied by renewed interest in his artistic and cultural legacy across the United States. 

Together, these presentations will bring past and present into conversation, placing Grasso’s work in a sensitive dialogue with historical figures of American landscape painting.

About the Artist:

Born in France in 1972, Laurent Grasso has developed a fascination with the visual possibilities related to the science of electromagnetic energy, radio waves, and naturally occurring phenomena. Grasso is the recipient of the Meru Art*Science Award in Bergamo, Italy, the Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and the Marcel Duchamp Prize. He is the subject of a major monograph, Time Travel, published by Rizzoli in 2024. Grasso’s work has been shown in solo exhibitions at international institutions including the Abbaye of Jumièges, in France, Tao Art in Taiwan, the Collège des Bernardins and the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, the Centre Pompidou x West Bund Museum in Shanghai, the Jeonnam Museum of Art in Gwangyang, South Korea, the Palais Fesch, Musée des Beaux-Arts in Ajaccio, France, the Hermès Foundation in Tokyo, the Kunsthaus Baselland in Switzerland, the Musée d’Art Contemporain in Montréal, the Jeu de Paume and Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Bass Museum of Art in Miami, and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C. amongst others. Grasso has been included in many international biennials including the 21st Sydney Biennale, Australia (2018); EVA International, Limerick, Ireland (2018); Kochi, India (2014); Gwangju 9th, South Korea (2012); Manifesta 8, Cartagena/ Murcia, Spain (2010); Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (2009); Moscow, Russia (2009); and Busan, South Korea (2004 and 2006). Laurent Grasso has recently created several permanent installations in public spaces including Solar Wind on the Paris ring road, and a group of sculptures entitled Roots of the Future, which was installed for the 2024 Paris Olympic Village. Grasso was also commissioned to create a permanent site-specific installation for the ceiling of the new train station in Châtillon-Montrouge, as part of the Grand Paris project. Laurent Grasso is represented by Perrotin and Sean Kelly.

Laurent Grasso, Cosmic Drive, film HR, 2026 (in progress). © Laurent Grasso Studio. Courtesy of the artist, Sean Kelly, and Perrotin.

Supported by Etant donnés, a program of Villa Albertine.