Aldehyde

6 December - 15 December

Ontrēp, a project showcasing art and design, presents Aldehyde, a group exhibition of works by UK and international artists.

Aldehydes, naturally occurring chemical compounds, are often synthesised for use in a broad range of industrial applications, aiding the manufacture of resins and dyes, pharmaceuticals and flavourings. Highly perfumed in their natural state, their presence in numerous organic materials give rise to strong olfactory responses. The field of perfumery uses these molecules to enrich scents, giving powdery, clean and metallic characteristics. The objects on display in Aldehyde reflect the dual qualities of natural and synthetic, functional and aesthetic, portraying an attitude of emotive cleanliness, mechanical beauty and primitive earthiness.

In Josephine Baker’s most recent sculptural wall pieces Hydro Electricity: bulkhead (07), Hydro Electricity: bulkhead (08) (both 2024) and Water Table (2023), she transforms the surpluses of industry, such as bitumen, glass, copper wiring and timber, into hybrid objects where utilitarian aesthetics, conductivity and material histories overlap. Arnaud Eubelen’s Panel 1, A Wink To P. (both 2024), Diplomatic Corp and Soft & Clear (both 2023) are created using repurposed materials collected from urban settings that he refers to as a material library. Trained in industrial design, he summons the debris of modern life into artefacts that appear to have been sent to us from the future. The roughly handcrafted ceramics of Rokas Dovydėnas’ series Pinniped and Louhan (2011-ongoing) stem from his research into how, during the colonial period, Chinese porcelain was imitated by Europeans using local materials. These sculptural vessels, populated with colloquial phrases and strange creatures, disclose an interior world of Lithuanian folklore and fictitious histories. The apparently instantaneous marks of Lucas Dupuy’s paintings, Leaves, The place that it feels most still and Shimming Through (all 2024), create compositions that hang together in harmonious order. Their kinetic, atomised arcs and flares intersect with magnetic force and latent energy, evoking the fundamental particles of deep time.

Ontrēp was founded by London-based Lithuanian curator Milda Batakyte. The project presents international artists and designers’ work in periodical exhibitions and online.

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