I must confess that after years of wandering through galleries filled with hectoring installations, the prospect of another show exploring "invisibility" made me brace for the worst. Yet Pete M. Wyer's new work at the Fitzrovia Chapel offers something quieter and more substantial: a patient mapping of human experience through sound rather than slogan.
The exhibition, which opened today and runs until 24 July, consists of nine new vocal works delivered through a 16-speaker system. These pieces are interwoven with field recordings Wyer made while living in Venice: church bells, footsteps, lapping water, voices, distant streets. The result draws on the spatial music traditions of St Mark's Basilica and on the particular history of the chapel itself, once part of the Middlesex Hospital.
Personal testimony over abstraction
What sets this apart from much contemporary practice is its grounding in actual voices. The installation incorporates personal testimonies of illness, recovery, grief and resilience, alongside accounts of paranormal experiences from former hospital staff. Specific pieces give shape to these themes. One tells of a mother praying for her baby, answered fifty years later when the child, now a woman, returns in thanks. Another depicts a doctor keeping vigil with a patient who cannot be saved. A third follows a patient who, against expectation, celebrates life.
Wyer, born in Cheltenham in 1964, brings considerable craft to the project. He has composed for the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, the Royal Opera House, Juilliard and BBC Television. He has written eight operas and music theatre productions, and most recently created a piece for Sir David Attenborough's 100th birthday. His previous immersive installations have drawn more than 500,000 visitors in New York and Los Angeles. Here he seems less interested in declaring what we should see than in inviting us to notice what we usually overlook.
The performers are Wendy Nieper (soprano), Evelyne Beech (mezzo-soprano), Thomas Mottershead (tenor), William Stevens (bass) and Matthew Shipp on piano. Admission is free. The chapel at 2 Pearson Square is wheelchair accessible, with a ramp to the chancel and an accessible toilet. Opening hours run Monday to Wednesday 11am to 6pm, Thursday until 8pm, Friday and Saturday until 6pm, and Sunday from noon to 5pm. It is closed on Saturday 18 July.
In an artistic climate that often rewards overt messaging over close observation, Wyer's approach feels like a modest rebuke. The work does not lecture; it layers. It trusts the listener to find their own map within the invisible currents of sound, memory and place. That restraint may not generate the same headlines as more confrontational fare, but it leaves more room for genuine encounter.