Roger Hiorn, All Night Chemist. © the artist

Milton Keynes Gallery (MKG) is currently hosting the first major solo exhibition in the UK by British artist Roger Hiorns. Running until May 28 2006 the show features work produced in the last five years together with a new commission.

Included are his object sculptures and engine works, whilst the exhibition also makes links to his writings and recent use of film.

Blue engines fill the Long Gallery, © the artist

Hiorns belongs to a tradition of British sculptors who try to convey a compelling understanding of the materials used, the subsequent forms created and the processes used to get there. The use of chemical solutions and other experiments on Hiorn's large objects results in some unusual and surprisingly decorative work.

By focussing on the investigation of the transformations that take place when objects are considered part of the everyday, Hiorns attempts to create objects that appear to be unconventional and intriguing.

Roger Hiorns, Finished, 2006. Courtesy Corvi-Mora, London. Private Collection

Featuring three main bodies of work, the first section in the exhibition introduces the largest assembled section, featuring Hiorns’ copper sulphate-dipped car engines. The BMW 8-series engines are presented as coral-like forms with each part cocooned within a crust of blue crystals.

The second element of the exhibition comprises a series of ceramic vessels suspended from the ceiling. Each vessel contains an internal element which facilitates a flow of white foam. This in turn grows into bizarre and delicate columns.

Foamtastic! Roger Hiorns, Done For, 2006. Courtesy Corvi-Mora, London

New work commissioned by MKG forms the final part of the exhibition, in which a group of steel sculptures function as a focus for substances such as disinfectant, saliva, perfume, and detergent. Hiorns has selected these items to explore ideas of the obsessive, repetitive and compulsive.

Accompanying this work will be Hiorns’ film Benign (2005), which will be introducing the good gallery goers of Milton Keynes to his explorations of the possibilities found within transgression and ritual.