Phillip Lai Solo exhibition at Spike Island

About

Spike Island presents a major solo exhibition of new work by Phillip Lai (b.1969, Kuala Lumpur), bringing together a body of sculptural commissions that continue the artist’s exploration of the material world around us. This will be the most significant institutional presentation of Lai’s work to date.

Lai’s sculptures combine everyday objects with his own intensive re-makings of them to create a parallel imprint of the real world. Within this familiar visual landscape derived from our technology-determined culture, he isolates moments of sculptural potential, often by intervening into the industrial processes used to make the things that facilitate and comfort our daily lives. These interventions effect some form of transformation in the object – a shift, a turn, a slippage – that erodes the logic of its material grammar and leaves you wondering what, exactly, you are looking at.

At Spike Island, Lai returns to familiar typologies of objects that denote containment: trays, dishes and other receptacles that typically carry food or water, as well as larger vessels like beds or cages that might even hold bodies. While Lai’s forms might point to questions of sustenance and survival, these questions do not come into focus around any individual human agent. Rather, the materials carry the score. The sculptures feel anonymous and transient, located in an uncertain zone where time and space feel somehow out of joint.

How much are tickets?

Entry to Spike Island and the exhibition is free for all.

Is the exhibition accessible?

Spike Island and the exhibition have level access throughout.

Sensory packs are available at reception and are available to everyone. These packs offer a range of interactive toys.

Image credit: Phillip Lai, 'Drunken Sailor' detail (2021). Courtesy the artist and Modern Art. Photo by Ben Westoby / Fine Art Documentation.