Phillip Lai: Besides at Camden Arts Centre, London, from April 11 to June 29, 2014

London-based artist Phillip Lai will respond to the space of Gallery 3 at Camden Arts Centre with new sculptural works. He is known for a diverse practice often emphasising spatial experience, situation and encounter as materials. A sense of itinerancy and estrangement are always present in his work, triggered by a particular use of familiar objects. These are often arranged incongruously or reproduced, pushing them to the point of abstraction and activating different ways of experiencing them. The new works in this exhibition propose states of enclosure and containment, reflection and symmetry, as well as modes of inhabitation. Phillip Lai opens at Camden Arts Centre on 11 April and admission is free.

http://vimeo.com/92949942

Lai’s new commission for Camden extends ideas from his recent work, such as Co-presence (2012) in which swathes of jute fabric are hung over a suspended rope line as if in a work-type space. A kind of occupancy of place is proposed by the subtle exaggeration of this apparently habitual or offhand arrangement, with cymbals hanging at intervals marking the potential for noise, disobedience and play. The disruptive effect of these contrary aesthetics introduces implausible moments that unexpectedly open it up to our imaginative involvement.

Phillip Lai will be showing at Camden Arts Centre at the same time as an exhibition by Moyra Davey.

Phillip Lai (b. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 1969) lives and works in London. He completed his MA at Chelsea College of Art & Design, London (1993-94) and BA Fine Art, sculpture, Chelsea College of Art & Design, London (1990-93). His recent solo exhibitions include Stuart Shave | Modern Art, London (2012, 2009); Galleria Franco Noero, Turin (2012, 2007); Introduction and Jargon, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow (2009); Open Container, Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin (2008). His work has been included in group exhibitions including: London Twelve, City Gallery Prague, Prague, Czech Republic (2012); No Soul For Sale: A Festival of Independents (Mousse Magazine contribution, curated by Jonathan Griffin), Tate Modern, Turbine Hall, London (2010); Seven Times Two or Three, Cubitt, London (2008); In the Poem about Love you don’t write the word Love, Overgaden, Institute for Samtidskunst, Copenhagen, Denmark, Midway Contemporary Art, Minneapolis, Artists Space, New York (2006-07).

Camden Arts Centre is a venue for contemporary visual art and education, where ideas are made visible and people of all ages and abilities can engage in the creative process of making art. Camden Arts Centre’s pioneering and varied programme of artist-led courses and other education activities has gained an international reputation as a model of good practice. It is known as a forward-thinking organisation where artists and others can see, make and talk about art.

photos: GalleriesNow.net