THE SHOPHOUSE is pleased to present the first solo exhibition in Hong Kong by British Painter Louis Appleby. Featuring a new body of work in reflection of perception and transcendence, the nocturnal scenery reminds one of the ephemerality in life.

Gestalt refers to the theory of perception that places emphasis on viewing the entire picture holistically rather than as the sum of individual components. The artist extends an invitation to view this new body of work through this lens.

Appleby plunges these new compositions into nightfall; a time when forms can appear to dissolve, merge, or reassemble to suggest new meanings. His keen observation of light is central to these pieces, which are less still lives and more worlds or theatrical stages that teem with atomic life. 

A teapot is not separate from the moon above it. Its pitch-black porcelain is illuminated by it, its steam dissipating into the starry sky. Cast in silhouette, penetrated by darkness, or reflecting sparse moonlight, the objects within these works threaten to dissolve into the ether before they can be fully distinguished. 

Transcendence of physical form is suggested, perhaps most candidly, by silhouetted statues of angels and stacks of destroyed cars that form a strange graveyard. In the foreground we are presented with ceremonial candles that seem to salute the moon with their kindred glow. Above them, a shiny black landline telephone dangles in our field of vision. Viewed in tandem with the angels and totalled cars it is hard not to view this relic as a messenger; as if the call we await might deliver news of our impending obsolescence, or of our bodies destined return to celestial dust.

Appleby’s fascination with the finite utility of objects feels tethered to human mortality and it is the creation and dissolution of matter that sets these paintings quietly ablaze. A candle must sacrifice its matter in order to live out its function. It is the ritual we are here to observe.

THE SHOPHOUSE欣然呈獻英國畫家 Louis Appleby 在香港的首次個展「格式塔」（Gestalt）。展出的新作反映了感知和超然存在，當中的夜景讓人聯想到生命的短暫和易逝。

「格式塔」指的是一種感知理論，強調從整體而非單一組成部分來看整個畫面。藝術家邀請觀眾透過獨有視角去欣賞這組新作品。

Appleby將新作品投入夜幕；在這個時刻，各種形式可能會溶解、合併或重新組合，從而暗示出新的意義。作品的核心是他對光線的敏銳觀察，與其說是靜物，不如說是充滿原子生命的世界或戲劇舞台。 

茶壺與上方的月亮並不分離。漆黑的瓷器被月亮照亮，水氣蒸散在星空中。作品中的物體或被剪影投射，或被黑暗穿透，或反射著稀疏的月光，在它們被完全分辨出來之前，就有可能消散於無形。

天使雕像的剪影和一堆堆被毀壞的汽車構成了奇特的墓地，直白地暗示了物質形態的超越。前景中為儀式用的蠟燭，它們似乎在用自己的光芒向月亮致敬。在蠟燭上方，一部閃亮的黑色座機電話出現在視野中。與天使和被撞毀的汽車一起將這一遺物視為信使；彷彿我們等待的電話可能傳遞著人們即將被淘汰，或者是身體注定要歸於塵土的消息。

Appleby對物體有限效用的迷戀與人類的死亡息息相關，而正是物質的產生和消解讓畫作悄然燃燒。蠟燭必須犧牲它的物質才能發揮它的功能——正是觀者們在此觀看的儀式。


Text by Steve Mallon