Ebb & Flow by Louis Thompson
Tuesday 21 June – Saturday 20 August 2022
SCULPTURE EXHIBITION
LOBBY OF 1 CANADA SQUARE
The monumental and majestic cathedrals of glass at Canary Wharf pierce the skyline of London with their gleaming facades; dazzling glass structures architecturally dividing light and space. What better place to celebrate the United Nations ‘Year of Glass 2022’ than to showcase one of London’s most exciting, multi award winning glass artists, Louis Thompson, in the spectacular lobby of One Canada Square.
Louis exploits the inherent properties of glass using diverse methods of making which include blown and solid sculpted glass. The installations range from flamboyantly colourful, tactile, and organic installations where forms precede and are followed by accumulations and gatherings, while other displays are cogent, offering an impactful architectural aesthetic and narrative statement. His work is not only commanding and enchanting, but also powerfully conceptual. Every artwork tells a story.
Images: Courtesy of Louis Thompson
View the exhibition catalogue by Vessel Gallery
Curator with Jerwood Commission
Ore and Panicum
Seven Stages of Degradation
Ore and Panicum
Enchanted
Louis Thompson with Ore
Seven Stages of Degradation
Ore Installation
Altar with DNA Bottles
Cryptograph
Brocken Ocean Installation - Image: Agata Pec and Vessel Gallery
Brocken Ocean Installation
Dew Drops
Hanne Enemark with Ore Installation
Section of Jerwood Commmision
Seven Stages of Degradation - Image: Agata Pec and Vessel Gallery
Image: Agata Pec and Vessel Gallery
Image: Agata Pec and Vessel Gallery
Ebb & Flow presents thirteen installations, including Broken Ocean, DNA Taxonomy, Broken Thames and the Jerwood Installation. These works explore three decades of the artist’s journey and underline the themes that define his personal iconography of narratives, groupings, collections and archives. Louis states that his aim is to make an intervention in a space that allows us to experience that space in a new and exciting way. Through each installation we observe him developing and refining his techniques and forms. He explains that he is always learning something new, each piece he makes requires, skill, care, attention and thought. Louis says, “I love the material, its physical challenges, its intellectual rigour. It stretches my imagination and my ability. Glass is my visual language.”
The intrinsic purity of glass fascinates him. Louis is like an alchemist, transforming sand into magnificent crystalline objects and generating a sense of wonder that accompanies this moment of transformation from molten mass to a precious, jewel-like, solid form which commands awe and respect.
Asked to select an artist who has been a major influence on his career, Louis replied that he has always been drawn to Mark Rothko’s abstract colour field paintings. He feels that Rothko’s use of colour in conjunction with scale and composition powerfully expresses human emotion and evokes a very personal response. Louis brings this same human connection to his colourful, tactile creations which elicit wonder, transmitting, reflecting and refracting light. Glass is a captivating, versatile medium, which touches our lives in many ways. It possesses transcendent qualities beyond its physicality, with its unique characteristics capable of transforming our environment and the way we see things. Glass is a material to look through in order to see out, but Louis Thompson’s glass sculptures draw us into their depths, where DNA helixes and delicate golden filaments sit magically suspended, animated, frozen in elegant glass forms.
Blowing is used to inflate glass using a metal blowpipe. The sculpting process is entrancing, yet extremely challenging as the glass bubble inflates, it looks effortless, however the flow of air pressure must be consistent, incredibly difficult when the temperature is a scalding I,090 degrees Celsius. This technique requires a team approach. Louis enjoys the sharing and exchange of ideas, knowledge, and skills which he embraces as he collaborates with many glass artists such as Sophie Thomas and Hanne Enemark, who have worked with Louis to produce some of the works in this exhibition.
Louis gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1988, followed by an MA degree at Royal College of Art. He has exhibited and worked with artists from around the globe, including at the international exhibition of glass in Kanazawa Japan, The Saatchi Gallery London and SOFA Chicago. His work is held in public and museum collections in Belgium, The V&A Museum London, the Czech Republic, Germany among others. Louis has completed a number of prestigious artistic residencies around the world including Glazenhuis Museum, Belgium and Soneva Art Glass in Maldives.
Louis Thompson’s work is represented by the Vessel Gallery. We would like to thank the gallery for their assistance in staging this exhibition.