A case of art mirroring art

Contrary to the title, Anish Kapoor's new solo show doesn't feature any paintings. However, like paintings, his new sculptural works are all about the illusory surface. They are also about confounding perception.

Five large concave saucers, each with highly reflective, lacquered surfaces, hang from the wall. Swirling and fragmenting shapes dance upon each plate, while two tall, cylindrical towers, curved metal sheets with walk-through gaps, display their reflective surfaces inside dully metallic exteriors. Once inside, your eyes restlessly flit across the dizzying surface, until they quickly begin to ache and disorientation sets in.

In the front gallery, a mound of blackish powder pigment sits in the middle of the room. The gallery's glass frontage has been covered with a red Perspex sheet, bathing the room in a pinkish glow. At regular intervals the lights come on, revealing the pale blue of the pigment, only to return it to its former blackness a fraction of a second later.

This show is fresh from Kapoor's triumph of Marsyas, the 550mlong membrane-like structure that spanned the entire length of Tate Modern's Turbine Hall. As with so much of his earlier work, it was audacious and joyful.

But, unlike his usual virtuoso showmanship, there is almost something quite perfunctory in how he sets out his tools here. Perhaps we are jaded. Or perhaps the magician is running out of tricks. I hope not. Fisun G¸ner

Anish Kapoor: Painting, is showing until Jun 28, Lisson Gallery, 52-54 Bell Street NW1, Mon to Fri 10am to 6pm, Sat midday to 5pm, free. Tel: 020 7724 2739. Tube: Edgware Road