Preview ︱ Quarters: PETER PERI solo exhibition

Hong Kong—Following his debut exhibition at PLG Singapore in 2014, Pearl Lam Galleries H Queen’s is pleased to present a solo exhibition by British artist Peter Peri. Peri develops painting, sculpture, and drawing as three distinct bodies of work. He uses this initial creative separation to provoke unexpected interrelations, attempting to open a space of empathic encounter between the audience and the objects displayed.

The exhibition title takes its inspiration from traditional astrological systems that chart the movement of the moon. Quarters refers to the four main phases of the moon: New Moon, First Quarter, Full Moon, and Third Quarter. These quarters are further divided into 28 lunar houses, which are individual segments of the ecliptic through which the Moon orbits around the Earth. Peri states his intention, “Quarters here refers both to the abstract act of division, which involves a certain violence, and also to quarters meaning a space where humans can dwell. The intersection of these two meanings interests me.”

House 12 (Pink), 2018, Paint, marker and spray paint oncanvas, 175 x 140 cm

Using a combination of marker pen and spray paint, the “House” paintings are structured into four sections with rhythmic bands that are determined by a set of processes that in each painting is specific to one of the 28 houses. The placement of each line is originally determined by the empty square in the centre, and the composition is completed by following a precise numeric formula applied to colour that results in an unearthly play of vibrancy and luminosity.

House 5 (Violet), 2018, Paint, marker and spray paint oncanvas, 175 x 140 cm

The three sculptures titled Level, La Paresseuse, and Pern Head are hollow forms made from welded plates of steel. They function ostensibly as fictional “viewers” standing freely in the centre of the exhibition space. These physically weighty objects appear as melancholy protagonists or in Peri’s words “stations holding the promise of interiority”—within an optically charged environment, consciously disorienting our vision between micro and macro levels.

Level, 2018, Patinated steel on a concreteplinth, Sculpture: 139 x 11 x 40 cm, Plinth: 13 x 60 x 60 cm

Lastly, Peri’s drawings of complex circuitous structures most obviously inhabit the microscopic: in each, a single angular line, itself made up of thousands of fine pencil lines, is figured above a cuboid base. The viewers’ effort to trace its labyrinthine path from beginning to end involves a kind of slow looking that opens up a purely imagined space of movement.

Collection, 2017, Pencil on unbleached paper, 43 x 80 cm, With frame: 56 x 92 cm

About the Artist

Peter Peri was born in 1971 in London, UK. He graduated from the MA Fine Art program at Chelsea College of Art and Design, London in 2003. He currently lives and works in London, UK. Peri’s primary media are drawing, sculpture, and painting: three distinct bodies of work that are developed independently by the artist to create a complex set of interrelations. All works are specifically invested in the tension between line and volume, figuration and abstraction, and in the questioning of tradition and influence in Modernism.

His drawings are built-up through the accumulation of tiny hair-like pencil lines that lend an obsessive, congested quality to his strict forms and figures. Peri’s works on paper depict a range of subject matter, including Roman Catholic reliquaries, abstract portraits, and geometric shapes, which coalesce into ambiguous architectural structures and volumes through an uncanny play of light and shadow redolent of Metaphysical painting. The sculptures are engineered replicas in darkened steel of ephemeral assemblages of household boxes scaled up in size to create monumental and confrontational cuboid figures. The rolls of masking tape used to construct the original assemblages often function as absurd hollow “heads”. Peri’s striated paintings are characterized by hard-edged networks of fine pastel-coloured marker pen lines against spray-painted backgrounds. These paintings appear to trace an occult tinged geometric language—a Morse code of shifting lines and shapes—that might be used to describe the world in more elemental terms.

Peter Peri’s selected solo exhibitions include Quarters (2019), Pearl Lam Galleries HK H Queen’s, Hong Kong, China; Uncting (2016), Almine Rech Gallery Savile Row, London, UK; The Reign of Quantity (2014), Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore; Last Family (2013), Almine Rech Gallery, Brussels, Belgium; ART NOW (2007), Tate Britain, London, UK; and Country 10 (2006), Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland. Selected group exhibitions include Classified: Contemporary British Art from the Tate Collection (2009), Tate Britain, London, UK and How to Improve the World, 60 Years of British Art—Arts Council Collection (2006), Hayward Gallery, London, UK. His works are also in the permanent collections of Tate Modern, Saatchi Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, Arts Council of Great Britain Collection, UBS Funds and Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland.

About Pearl Lam Galleries

Founded by Pearl Lam, Pearl Lam Galleries is a driving force within Asia’s contemporary art scene. With over 20 years of experience exhibiting Asian and Western art and design, it is one of the leading and most established contemporary art galleries to be launched out of China. 

Playing a vital role in stimulating international dialogue on Chinese and Asian contemporary art, the Galleries is dedicated to championing artists who re-evaluate and challenge perceptions of cultural practice from the region. The Galleries in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore collaborate with renowned curators, each presenting distinct programming from major solo exhibitions, special projects and installations to conceptually rigorous group shows. Based on the philosophy of Chinese literati where art forms have no hierarchy, Pearl Lam Galleries is dedicated to breaking down boundaries between different disciplines, with a unique gallery model committed to encouraging cross-cultural exchange. 

Further building on the Galleries’ commitment in Asia, Pearl Lam Galleries is delighted to announce the opening of its new gallery space in Singapore at Dempsey Hill in March 2019. The four gallery spaces of Pearl Lam Galleries in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore represent an increasingly influential roster of contemporary artists. Chinese artists Su Xiaobai and Zhu Jinshi, who synthesize Chinese sensibilities with an international visual language, are presented internationally with work now included in major private and public collections worldwide. The Galleries has also introduced leading international artists, such as Leonardo Drew, Jenny Holzer, Carlos Rolón/Dzine, and Yinka Shonibare MBE, to markets in the region, providing opportunities for new audiences in Asia to encounter their work. Pearl Lam Galleries encourages international artists to create new work which engages specifically with the region, collaborating to produce thought-provoking, culturally relevant work. 

Quarters: PETER PERI solo exhibition

Vernissage | Thursday, 23 May, 6 – 8pm

Exhibition Dates | 24 May – 5 July, 2019, Monday – Saturday,10am – 7pm

Venue | Pearl Lam Galleries HK H Queen’s, 9/F, H Queen’s, 80 Queen's Road Central, Central, Hong Kong