Schema-Sukima at the Laure Genillard Gallery

The Schema-Sukima exhibition is everything you would expect from the Laure Gillard Gallery – a difficult place to find unless you know what you’re looking for. Following in this style, the pieces are subtle and minimalist, contrasting between three Japanese artists and their British contemporaries (Atsuo Hukuda, Yasuko Otsuka, Yoko Terauchi, Tom Benson, Kenneth Dingwall and Gary Woodley). Schema-Sukima, as the name suggests, focuses itself on the importance of form in art and the schema as an integral part of our understanding of art. This Kantian idea refers to the appearance and disappearance of forms in this exhibit: it is not merely what is visible, but what is created through the use of space that bears meaning in these pieces.

The gallery is laid out as an apartment made up of a ground floor gallery, a staircase and a lower gallery, the schema of the gallery itself appearing to be a part of the exhibit. Whilst its minimalist aspect may confuse some, the aim of the exhibit lies in the exploration of the hidden and not the overt, a classic trait of Japanese culture. The deeply philosophical theme of the collection requires the audience to explore beneath the surface of the art as it transcends the realm of entertainment into an arguably more meaningful sphere. However, while the intentions of the artist may be known once researched, one would be forgiven for misinterpreting or indeed finding themselves completely at a loss in understanding what it is they are looking at. Nonetheless, the artists have utilised a living space in such a way as to bring depth to their work of architectonic styles and shapes, which clearly has more to it than meets the eye.

Miriam Karmali

Schema-Sukima is on at the Laure Genillard Gallery from 26^th July until 13^th September 2014, for further information visit here.