The glistening light of a Fresnel lens in the depths of the Pacific Ocean, gigantic underwater glacier landscapes, and divers who appear to float weightlessly in Mexican cenotes—theMidnight Zoneexhibition by French-Swiss artist Julian Charrière (*1987) presents a fascinating exploration of the mysterious world of water in the large hall of the Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg.
Julian Charrière's impressive multimedia works combine art, nature, and technology in a highly aesthetic way. The exhibition focuses on the most important element of life on Earth: water. It is the basis of our planet's largest biosphere, the habitat of countless organisms, and at the same time a highly contested resource. The "midnight zone" – the term used by experts to describe the area of the ocean that is completely devoid of light at depths of 1,000 meters or more – is a submarine ecosystem that reveals the complexity of ocean water in a special way and is the focus of Charrière's current artistic work.
Julian Charrière. Midnight Zoneis the largest solo exhibition to date by this internationally active artist. Realized in cooperation with the Museum Tinguely in Basel, Switzerland, the show highlights not only sensual and metaphorical levels, but also political references, such as man-made global water pollution, the melting of glaciers and polar ice caps caused by climate catastrophe, and the threat to the seabed posed by deep-sea mining.
March 14 to July 12, 2026
Julian Charrière, Midnight Zone (video still), 2024, © the artist / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2026
