Sophie Varin: Low Resolution

EVENT DESCRIPTION

MOU PROJECTS is pleased to present “Low Resolution,” Sophie Varin’s first solo exhibition with the gallery as well as in Hong Kong. Featuring a most recent selection of miniature paintings that capture mesmerizing landscapes and uncanny characters as well as two human-sized puppet-like sculptures that serve as custodians to the gallery space, the exhibition beckons viewers on a journey of curiosity and investigation.

A new form of artistic experiment for the artist, a series of long horizontal paintings are unveiled for the first time, encapsulating expansive sceneries and miraculous landscapes. These vistas elicit panoramic views gathered from the summit of a mountain, inviting contemplation and reflection. Evoking East Asian handscrolls by their long, narrow format, the works embrace the aesthetics of shanshui paintings—instead of creating

a focal point, they orchestrate lines of sight that invite continuous, linear reading. With vast landscapes condensed into relatively small compositions, the depicted scenery loses much of its intricate details, resulting in the surfacing of the grainy and slightly rough texture of the canvases while creating a subtle, low-resolution pixelation.

In addition to the paintings depicting long horizons, Varin presents a collection of palm-sized landscape paintings. Rendered on a miniature scale, the works demand meticulous examination due to their scale, ensnaring the gaze and compelling viewers to surrender to the captivating allure. Within these intricate compositions, minuscule figures emerge, their diminutiveness and vagueness deprive them of human
features, engendering a sense of otherworldly intrigue. Anonymity permeates the paintings, shrouding the tiny characters in a veil of secrecy—they exist as nameless entities, inviting viewers to project their own imagination and motivations onto the canvases. The viewers become curious investigators, drawn into a realm where the actions of these enigmatic personalities tantalize and beckon. Yet, rather than offering a conclusive narrative, the works only construct fragments of mystery, inviting imagination to roam freely. In Exit Plan 1 and 2 (2023), two couples of figures, respectively dressed in green and blue, emerge from a plum-colored mountainous landscape as if attempting to reach a destination or escape from something in the dark of night. The purple background of the paintings adds a layer of mystery, while the uncanny resemblance of the two scenarios invites ingenious imagination, prompting viewers to ponder the motivations behind the figures’ need to exit from the mountains. Parallel to her practice as a visual artist, Varin also writes detective novels. Just like how the story in a detective novel unfolds with twists, turns, and rooms for interpretation, the works entice the viewers to speculate and investigate.

In the exhibition, viewers are greeted with two human-size puppets (Welcome Welcome 1 and 2, 2024) quietly reclining against the gallery walls, assuming the roles of both hosts and gatekeepers to welcome the viewers to the exhibition. Seemingly frozen in slumber, they exude a mesmerizing stillness, with their life-size stature in contrast to the diminutive figures found in the small-scale paintings. In juxtaposing the sculptures with the miniature paintings, Varin manipulates viewers’ perception of scale, as if one is transported to the enchanted world of Gulliver’s Travels (1726) to embark on expeditions through the realms of Lilliput. The exhibition’s title, “Low Resolution,” carries a symbolism that extends beyond its literal meaning of pixelated or indistinct imagery. It encompasses the notion of modest expectations and a departure from elevated standards by hinting at the absence of resolutions or outcomes. Lingering between fiction, dreamland, and simulacrum, the exhibition presents a world both familiar and unfamiliar. It constructs a space where the boundaries of reality and imagination merge, where the viewer becomes an active participant in the generation of meanings.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Sophie Varin (b. 1993, France) delves into the intricate interplay between human consciousness and the fabric of reality in her miniature paintings and sculptures of enlarged figurations. Engendering nuanced negotiation between the yearning to behold and the inclination to obscure, her paintings and sculptures manifest seemingly mundane vignettes that embody a mesmerizing sense of ambiguity. Often situating tiny characters within intimate, serene landscapes, Varin's works construct a world of mimicry, inviting active inquiry and investigation into possible narratives and plots. In bestowing much importance upon the perceptive faculties of the beholder, she focuses on how curiosity, desire, and fantasy could fabricate and modulate ways of seeing.

Varin received her DNAP from École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts de Paris in 2015, her BFA from Hunter College School of Fine Arts in New York in 2016, and her MFA from Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam in 2018. Apart from her art practice, she also writes detective stories starring a fictional persona J.P Gutti.