No, there hasn’t been an accident, and yes, you did read that title correctly: one of London’s pre-eminent art galleries has had its top floor flooded with engine oil. But if you’re at all interested in the art world, you’ll likely recognise this as an art piece from the description. That’s because this ‘oil room’ is in fact the latest iteration of an iconic art installation by Richard Wilson, 20 : 50.
Under various guises (aka, taking over different rooms), Wilson’s artwork is the only piece of permanent artwork to consistently be on show at the Saatchi Gallery. It has been present in each of the gallery’s venues from 1991 to 2015, and now it returns with a top-floor perch.
20:50 aka the oil room
Named after the type of recycled engine oil that is used to flood the rooms it inhabits, 20 : 50 creates a thick, pitch-black new surface on the floor. And thanks to its perfect stillness, it truly turns the brain upside down. The installation “creates a mirrored environment that both disorients and captivates. In the context of today’s climate crisis, the work takes on renewed resonance, inviting reflection on the fragility of our surroundings, community, and environmental uncertainty.”
Confounding logic, the oil transforms the rooms it inhabits into a whole new environment. All at once, it is “a polished floor, infinite clear pool, an expansive and indefinable virtual space that clinically absorbs and mirrors the gallery architecture.”
Tempting though it may be, you do not want to touch this artwork. (As is the case, to be fair, with 99.99% of all artworks in galleries anyway.) While it may be hard to believe that the perfect layer is a liquid, it well and truly is engine oil. And it will stain you and your belongings. But you can prove its presence by blowing gently on the surface of the oil pool.
The Long Now
Richard Wilson’s 20:50 piece comprises part of a new group show celebrating 40 years of the Saatchi Gallery. The show, entitled ‘The Long Now’spans two floors and nine major exhibition spaces. Throughout the gallery’s rooms, visitors will find “new works by iconic artists closely associated with the Gallery’s dynamic history, alongside fresh voices from a new generation.” The pieces range across a variety of mediums, from painting to sculpture and immersive installations.
Among the other pieces on display are the likes of Conrad Shawcross’s Golden Lotus (Inverted)which “transforms a vintage car into a kinetic sculpture”. The show also highlights pieces that explore themes such as “modern life, and modern bodies”, technology and AI, fragility and climate change, and more.
The Long Now will run at the Saatchi Gallery until March 1, 2026.
Find out more about 20:50 and ‘The Long Now’ here.
