Three squid-shaped lamps emitting a mesmerising blue and purple light hang on the walls inside the Massimo de Carlo gallery in Tai Kwun. In front of them, giant eels undulate in mid-air, the lifelike sculptures gleaming with a metallic lustre, like wet skin.
Jean-Marie Appriou, the artist who created them, was born and raised in Brest, a coastal city in France, and has loved the ocean from a young age. He often goes diving to observe the lives of what dwells underwater.
“Magnetic”, his debut exhibition in Hong Kong, is an exploration of the intricate links between nature, science and mythology, and how little we really know about how seemingly opposing forces complement each other.
Appriou’s fantastical, hybrid creatures, made with materials such as aluminium and glass, are both marvellous and slightly terrifying.
He says one of the earth’s mysterious phenomena that he finds fascinating is how the magnetic field emanating from the two poles guides migratory animals as they move around the planet, informing them when and where to be at different stages of their lives.
“Magnetism embodies the fact that animals are linked together with the cycle of life,” he says.
Two Chinese artists hold contrasting solo shows in Hong Kong gallery
Two Chinese artists hold contrasting solo shows in Hong Kong gallery
The works in the exhibition are his first using stainless steel, a material that evokes conflicting emotions in people – that of desire and of cold repulsion – like two poles, he says.
Astronauts is a pair of small human figures in space helmets standing side by side, their shoulders touching. They are like the north and south poles, separate and opposing, yet conjoined like twins. They also bring to mind the start of life, when one cell starts splitting into two, Appriou says – the beginning of a great adventure.
His eels are of the electric kind, he says. They fascinate him with their innate migratory habits and ability to generate up to 600 volts of electricity, and how they challenge the division between nature and science. He says they once inspired an Italian scientist, Alessandro Volta, to create the first battery in 1799.
My art is about creating bridges between different realms in a poetic way
The squid, with its otherworldly qualities, is another favourite of his. The deep-sea creature has delicate bones like feathers, and it makes ink like a writer producing literature, he says.
The squid is also mysterious, featuring in science fiction novels and movies, he says. His squid lights are a tribute to the creature’s mythical nature.
Appriou used to dream about becoming an archaeologist after seeing Egyptian exhibits in the Louvre Museum, in Paris. But as he grew older, he realised that his interest lay in mythology, beliefs and custom, rather than site excavation and studies.
He picks up ideas when he travels, especially with regard to how different cultures view other species and integrate them into daily life.
When he was in Shanghai a few weeks ago, he noticed that people were selling and buying hairy crabs in the airports.
“The strings that bind them are so beautiful. It is interesting that they are proposed to be sold as presents, particularly in this season,” he says, having never come across such a way of dealing with crabs before.
Iranian tattoo artists are leaving their mark on a changing society
Iranian tattoo artists are leaving their mark on a changing society
In summer 2022, he travelled to Greenland and learned how in Inuit culture, people believe that Sedna, the goddess of sea, will be angry and create storms if they overfish. For centuries, local fishermen have only caught and consumed a certain quantity of fish to keep a balance.
In Hong Kong, it was the use of bamboo in the construction of high rises that caught this young French artist’s attention.
“My art is about creating bridges between different realms in a poetic way.”
“Jean-Marie Appriou: Magnetic”, Massimo de Carlo Gallery, Shop 03-205 & 206, 2/F Barrack Block, Central Police Station, 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Mon-Sat, 10.30am-7pm. Until January 13, 2024.