Phillip Lai (Kuala Lumpur, 1969) lives and works in London.

Intrinsic to Lai’s practice is the notion of getting to the heart of the object: what it is, how it is created, how it is perceived, what kind of value we’ve been tuned to assign to it. Through a systematic process of observation and identification Lai tends to extract the object from its societal context, a construction rooted on our impulse to categorise in order to understand and use.

His work has been shown in solo exhibition in international public and private Institutions, including: Camden Arts Centre, London, UK (2014); Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, UK (2009); The Showroom, London, UK (1997).

He has also taken part in many group exhibitions in Institutions such as: Southampton University, Southampton, UK (2015); Nottingham Contemporary, Nottingham, UK (2014); City Gallery Prague, Prague, Czech Republic (2012);  Tate Modern, London, UK (2010); GAM - Galleria Civica d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Torino Galleria  d’Arte Moderna, Turin, Italy (2010); Cubitt, London, UK (2008); Institut for Samtidskunst, Copenhagen, Denmark (2007); The Saatchi Gallery, London, UK (2006); CCA, Glasgow, UK (2005);  The Drawing Room, London, UK (2005; 2003); Herefordshire College of Art & Design, Hereford, UK (2000); Hayward Gallery, London, UK (1999); MoMA, New York, USA (1998); Tokyo Big Sight Exhibition Centre, Tokyo, Japan (1996); The Old Turbine Hall, Copenhagen, Denmark (1996); Institute for Contemporary Arts, London, UK (1995); Tate, London, UK (1995), among many others.

In 2018 the artist was shortlisted for the Hepworth Prize for Sculpture.

Artist's CV
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