GROUP EXHIBITION

The works presented invite us to encounter the voices of artists from a vast range of cultures, practices, and concerns; at times making usdive deep into their inner world, and at others, urging us to sober upto reality.

The Studies into the Past series by Laurent Grasso transports us into a parallel world existing at the intersection of various temporalities.Executed in a style inspired by Italian and Flemish painters of the 15thand 16th centuries, often depicting celestial phenomena rarelyillustrated before the nineteenth century — eclipses, auroras borealis,meteorites — along with strange clouds of smoke, a rock hoveringover a landscape, and other mysterious sights, the works constitute amajor conceptual project aimed at reconstructing our perception ofthe reality of another era.

On the other hand, Grasso’s Future Herbarium works were inspired by images of daisies that were speculated as having mutated due tothe Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, and envision fossilisedspecimens of such plants, as well as studies of mutant flowersillustrated in the style of nineteenth-century herbariums.

In contrast, Jean-Philippe Delhomme’s domestic flowers welcome the viewer to a safe and peaceful space — a step into somebody’splace of comfort and rest. There is a loose ease about Delhomme’stouch, that perhaps comes from his spontaneous style of depictinghis subjects without preliminary sketching, capturing their energieswith a distinctive informality. As such, Delhomme demonstratesimmense expression through his portraits and still lifes, conveying anauthorly perspective which serves as the common thread throughouthis practice.

ob explores the dreamy filter of the feminine psyche through the recurring motif of a wide-eyed young girl in her delicate, atmosphericpaintings. Drawing inspiration from her roots in the digital age, theartist’s signature style invokes elements of manga, anime, and videogames - as well as Western paintings - and features milky colours andsoft edges. ob has often referred to her creations as different versionsof herself and her friends, as young persons “wandering throughadolescence full of uncertainty”, still unable to fully express their thoughts and dreams.

Similarly drawing on personal memories and lived experiences, Otani Workshop’s innovative works are populated by immemorial figures inwhich subtlety wrestles with strangeness. The faces and figures in hispaintings and sculptures embody a naiveté born from unfiltered emotionsand actions — a childlike quality emphasised by the simplistic formallanguage and childish features of his subjects. Imbued with a brazen vulnerability, these exceptionally gentle characters demand our empathy and quiet engagement.

Constructing an Elysian world unphased by the restrictions of gravity or reality, Aya Takano presents a picturesque imaginary realm inwhich humans are at one with the universe, conversing and living inperfect harmony with other-worldly animals and plants. Takinginspiration and example from classical literature, mythology, andfolklore, Takano presents a fantastical land in which the distinctionbetween humans, animals, plants and other beings seem to dissipate.

The odd yet familiar world of Klara Kristalova seems to have a life of its own. Inhabited by characters who are peculiar, alone, quiet, andperhaps lost, there is a vulnerability and humanity about Kristalova’screations that engrosses our empathy. Drawing from Nordicstorytelling and traditional myths, the artist seeks to convey basichuman emotions such as fear, love, sadness, and guilt, which emergefrom her work like memories from our own childhoods.

Gabriel Rico’s work is characterised by the genesis of a dialogue between seemingly disparate objects. Combining a range of materialssuch as rocks, branches, neon, taxidermy, and household tools, Ricomasterfully recontextualises familiar objects and materials, creatingsculptures that invite viewers to reflect on the relationship betweenhuman society and the natural environment, and their respectiveprinciples.

Also working with earthen materials, Paris-based artist Johan Creten is seen as a pioneer in the resurgence of ceramics in contemporaryart. Working with clay since the 1980s, when the medium was stillmisprized in the art world, Creten creates works that conveyabundance, sexuality, and a sense of the ancient and the primal.

The Glory sculptures succeed Les Vagues pour Palissy — a series created as a tribute to the renaissance ceramic master BernardPalissy, embodying triumphant images of energy, regeneration, andthe cycle of life. These later developed into wall sculptures titled TheGlories that evoke a sense of splendour and prosperity with theirmajestic gold lustre and feminine curvature, whilst invoking a sense ofinner peace through their geometric perfection.

Amidst the eclectic works of these wide-ranging artists, we find ourselves traveling around the globe, and through various epochs,subjects, and lexicons; yet with each exploration we are brought backto the deepest parts of ourselves, whether emotional, intellectual, orpsychological. Head in the Clouds takes the immobility brought on bythe pandemic as an opportunity to address the greater issue of ourcollective reluctance to stay in the present.