Thaddaeus Ropac London is pleased to present The sky in the cave, an exhibition of new works by London- and Paris-based artist Oliver Beer, coinciding with London Gallery Weekend. Bringing together large-scale paintings, music, film and installation, the exhibition transforms the gallery space into an immersive environment in which sound and image are experienced as inseparable.

To mark the exhibition’s opening and the launch of a limited-edition vinyl soundtrack, the artist will be in conversation with singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright. The discussion will explore their experience of singing and recording together inside a prehistoric painted cave in the Dordogne, and how this collaboration has informed the works in the exhibition.

Beer is renowned for his large-scale Resonance paintings that make sound vibrations visible, translating the acoustic frequencies of specific sites, spaces and objects into pulsating fields of colour and form. From prehistoric caves to the most advanced contemporary buildings — including the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Sydney Opera House — his work uncovers the harmonies that bind people, spaces and cultures together. Rather than depicting sound, Beer’s paintings are shaped by it: vibrations act directly on pigment, producing lasting, rippling patterns that fix a fleeting moment of sonic activity as a permanent image. The result is a painting practice grounded in listening — not as metaphor, but as a palpable, physical experience that connects voice, music, memory and matter.