LONDON.- Tate Modern and Hyundai Motor today announced that Philippe Parreno will undertake this year’s Hyundai Commission for the Turbine Hall, opening on 4 October 2016. This will be the second in the new series of annual site-specific commissions by renowned international artists.

Philippe Parreno is a French artist who works across film, video, sound, sculpture, performance and information technology. A key artist of his generation, Parreno explores the borders between reality and fiction and is known for investigating and redefining the gallery-going experience. Parreno sees his exhibitions as choreographed spaces that follow a score, during which a series of different events unfold. By creating kaleidoscopic environments, he treats exhibitions as one coherent whole rather than a series of objects within a space.

Having collaborated with many visual artists as well as musicians, architects, scientists and writers, Parreno continues the tradition of the avant-garde artist engaged with many cultural disciplines. Recently he presented a vast installation H{N)Y P N(Y}OSIS at Park Avenue Armory, New York (2015), which fused film, light, sound and performance to create a dramatic sensory journey. At the Palais de Tokyo, Paris, in 2013 he was the first artist to occupy the entirety of the gallery’s expanded space of 22,000 square metres.

The Hyundai Commission is a series of site-specific installations by contemporary artists in Tate Modern’s iconic Turbine Hall. It is made possible by a unique long-term partnership between Tate and Hyundai Motor, confirmed until 2025 as part of the longest initial commitment from a corporate sponsor in Tate’s history.

Chris Dercon, Director, Tate Modern said: ‘We are delighted that Philippe Parreno will be taking on Tate Modern’s Hyundai Commission in 2016. Throughout his career Parreno has sought to transform how art can work, and his desire to create new immersive experiences makes him the perfect choice for the Turbine Hall. We look forward to seeing how he uses this iconic space when the commission is unveiled in October.’

Hyundai Motor said: ‘The focus of the Hyundai Commission is to create better access to art and its aim is to make a difference in the way we look at and understand the world. We believe passionately that the originality and significance of Philippe Parreno will reshape the Turbine Hall with all-encompassing visual surprises. We are thrilled to see him develop his ideas for the second Hyundai Commission to open in October.’

The series began in October 2015 with Abraham Cruzvillegas’ inaugural Hyundai Commission Empty Lot, a vast sculpture consisting of 240 wooden planters filled with over 23 tonnes of soil from parks and gardens across London, currently on display at Tate Modern. Intended to provoke questions about chance, change and hope, the work has come alive with grass, weeds, flowers and other plants which have emerged from the soil through the winter months. It is on display until 3 April 2016.

Since Tate Modern opened in 2000, the Turbine Hall has hosted some of the world’s most memorable and acclaimed works of contemporary art, reaching an audience of millions. The way artists have interpreted this vast industrial space has revolutionised public perceptions of contemporary art in the twenty-first century. The annual Hyundai Commission gives artists an opportunity to create new work for this unique context.

Philippe Parreno lives and works in Paris. He is represented in several major museum collections, including Tate; MoMA, New York; and the Centre Pompidou, Paris. He has participated in multiple Venice Biennales since the early 1990s and in recent years has exhibited at Hangar Bicocca, Milan (2015); Park Avenue Armory, New York (2015); Palais de Tokyo, Paris (2013); The Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture, Moscow (2013); The Serpentine Gallery, London (2010); and the Centre Pompidou, Paris (2009).

The Hyundai Commission: Philippe Parreno will be curated by Andrea Lissoni, Senior Curator, International Art (Film), Tate Modern with Vassilis Oikonomopoulos, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern.