Cornelia Parker has a knack for uniting the poetic and the spectacular. Take Cold Dark Matter (An Exploded View) (1991), better known by its nickname, the exploded shed. Literally a shed, it was blown up by the British Army then gathered up by Parker - its shattered planks and internal contents – paint tins, a tricycle, a bucket, scissors, etc – are suspended on wires, as if caught mid-blast.
Lit by a single lightbulb, they cast dramatic shadows on the floor and walls. Its title relates to undetectable material that may have been produced by the Big Bang and yet Parker brings that sublime astrophysical theory into play with a humdrum shed and the everyday stuff it contains. Modest and monumental, moving and amusing, at the heart of this magnificent retrospective it looks better than ever.
