THE SHOPHOUSE is pleased to present Prelude of Gaze, a group exhibition featuring Reuben Beren James, Joseph Jones, Bartosz Kowal, Li Chuangli, and Wu Yumo. With a curated body of works on canvas and photographs, the exhibition explores the varied states of uncertainty that occur in the in-between - it asks: What precedes the moment of seeing and exists prior to the enlightenment? What happens in the transition rather than the resolution?

The works of Reuben Beren James investigate the latter through the idea of the simulacra and the liminality between human and technology. His paintings portray the moment in which an unknown threshold is revealed as it is transgressed. Within this interstitial space, rational and conclusive boundaries are not only blurred but dissolved, as is the differentiation between the real and the simulated.

The contemplation of intermediate states is echoed in works of Wu Yumo, wherein she displaces the finality of traditional perceptions. Her photographic artworks play on viewers’ instinct to see image negatives as positives, a reaction prompted not only by the desire to align with reality, but the cognitive intuition to finish an incomplete process. Using a large-format digital camera, the specific scenes she captures mimic the visual quality of photo negatives, causing confusion in its comprehension.

Li Chuangli disrupts perception in a different manner. His artworks portray ordinary and everyday objects yet are disjointed in their depiction. Closer inspection would reveal that the composition of each painting has been divided into three portions, with the center panel slightly differing in scale. Through this minimal act of manipulation, Li challenges the false sense of security evoked by what is often perceived as familiar or natural.

Also using familiar imagery, specifically flora and fauna, Joseph Jones reflects upon the relationship between the subject and the object. His paintings respectively depict a single flower and a cat whose point of gaze falls beyond the frame. As the viewer enters into the relationship, the roles of subject and object are shifted.

If the intention of Jones’ artworks is to involve the viewer, then the works of Bartosz Kowal pushes them away. Kowal’s paintings depicts close-up inspections of a figure’s face, though always averting their gaze. Merely missing their eyes by either displacing the frame or peering only as the figure’s eyes close, his images are engaged in a to-and-fro between looking and looking away. Successively building suspense with each glance, the artworks are as if a prelude – always almost, but never there.

THE SHOPHOUSE 欣然呈獻群展「目光的序章」（Prelude of Gaze），展出Reuben Beren James、Joseph Jones、Bartosz Kowal、李創李，及武雨墨的新作。展覽以精心策展的架上及攝影作品，探討介乎目光與凝視之間的不確定狀態—— 提出了問題：視線觸及與固定之前存在著什麼？在過渡之間又有什麼發生了變化？

Reuben Beren James 的作品透過模擬的概念以及人類與科技之間的臨界點，探討後者。他的繪畫描繪了一個未知的臨界點在被跨越時被揭示的時刻。在此間隙空間中，理性與決定性的邊界模糊不清，逐漸被消解，真實與模擬之間的區別也是如此。

對中間狀態的思考亦在武雨墨的作品中呼應，她在作品中取代了傳統觀念的終極性。她的攝影作品利用觀者們不自覺將影像底片視為正片的本能，這種反應不僅是由與現實接軌的慾望所引起，也是完成未完成過程的認知直覺。她使用大型數位相機，捕捉特定場景，模仿照片底片的視覺品質，造成理解上的混亂。

李創李以另一種方式破壞感知。他的作品描繪平凡的日常物件，但在描繪上卻是不連貫的。每幅畫的構圖都被分成三部分，中間的畫板在比例上略有不同。透過這種最小限度的操作，李創李挑戰了人們通常認為熟悉或自然的事物所誘發的錯誤安全感。

Joseph Jones也使用特別是植物及動物等熟悉的意象，反思主體與客體之間的關係。他的繪畫分別描繪了一朵花和一隻視線落在畫布之外的貓咪。當觀賞者進入這種關係時，主體與客體的角色也隨之轉移。

當Jones 作品的意圖是要讓觀者參與其中，Bartosz Kowal 的作品則將觀者推開。 Kowal 的繪畫描繪人物臉部的特寫，儘管他們總是移開視線。透過移動畫框或在人物眼睛閉合時才窺視，他的畫面只是錯過了他們的眼睛，在看與不看之間來回穿梭。每看一眼都會讓人產生懸念，這些作品彷彿是序章—即將開始，但尚未出現。