Launch: Saturday 14th November 1pm-3pm

Dates: 14th November – 13th February 2027

Gallery: Upper Gallery & Lower Gallery

Artist Talk: 20th November (TBC)

Golden Thread Gallery will present The Perfect Storm, Ralf Sander’s largest solo exhibition in Northern Ireland to date, from 14 November 2026 to 13 February 2027. Spanning the Upper and Lower Galleries, the exhibition brings together sculpture, photography, sound, film and satellite data to examine how images shape our understanding of reality.

A “perfect storm” describes a rare and powerful convergence of events. Sander uses this idea to consider the forces that shape how we see the world, and our capacity to influence them.

Sander turns satellite imagery and weather data, tools normally used to observe the Earth, into an artistic medium. Treating the satellite as a camera, he transforms scientific information into another way of seeing the world.

The resulting installation creates an illusion through photography, digital imagery and sculpture. It invites us to consider whether every photograph is, in some sense, an illusion: not reality itself, but one version of it. The work asks how this constructed reality differs from the reality we experience in everyday life.

The exhibition builds on Sander’s long-standing interest in testing the possibilities of sculpture across different materials and media. His work has been exhibited internationally, and he has also initiated and curated exhibitions and art projects.

This exhibition reflects Golden Thread Gallery’s continuing commitment to ambitious and critically engaged contemporary art. It extends the gallery’s programme beyond historical enquiry to address wider questions of perception and representation, and the role visual culture plays in shaping our shared understanding of the world.

About the Artist

Born in December 1963, Ralf Sander is an internationally active sculptor and conceptual artist. His practice ranges from large-scale public monuments and figurative sculptures carved from single tree trunks to experimental projects that connect art and science. Originally from Berlin, he is now based in Islandmagee, Northern Ireland.

Accessibility 

The Upper Gallery is accessed via wheelchair accessible lift or by the stairwell.

Large print versions of exhibition texts are available.

Access videos of the gallery are available on our website here, with BSL and ISL signed versions.

Please let us know if you have any questions or additional requirements, we are working hard to make the gallery as accessible as possible for everyone.

Golden Thread Gallery is proud to hold an Arts & Disability Access Award 2025 Venue Accreditation. 

Golden Thread Gallery is supported by: