20th June 2017

WALALA X PLAY at NOW Gallery

Welcome to Walala Land.

Not many artists deliberately get things wrong, but this summer, Camille Walala will be making a lot of mistakes. And, for someone whose work is characterised by geometry and symmetrical patterns, that’s a big thing.

No, she hasn’t lost her eye for precision – she’s playing a game with us.

From 14 July to 24 September, NOW Gallery on the new Greenwich Peninsula development in South London hosts Camille Walala’s new installation WALALA X PLAY – an immersive, maze-like assembly of bold shapes, vibrant colour and eye-popping pattern. Imagine a Walala mural design pulled off the wall and stretched into three dimensions and you’re some way to getting the idea.

Camille Walala at NOW Gallery. Photgraphy by Katy Davies.

Walala x Play model by Camille Walala. Photography by Katy Davies.

Visitors will be free to roam around the work, exploring its twisting paths and open spaces. Mirrors reflect patterns back on themselves; suspended shapes hang from the ceiling; walls seem to close in and open out again… The installation’s curves and corners aren’t random, but mimic both the shape of the NOW Gallery building and the sinuous sweep of the Greenwich Peninsula itself.

But in this labyrinth of form and colour, some things don’t seem quite right – maybe it’s a stripe that feels like it should be there, but isn’t; a colour that seems wrong; or perhaps an out-of-place shape has crept into one of the designs. As well as an astonishing installation, WALALA X PLAY is a colossal game of spot the difference, inviting visitors to hunt down the anomalies and asymmetries that Walala has discreetly woven into her work.

Walala x Play render by Camille Walala.

To find them all, you might have to peer down from above, gaze up from below, bend around corners, step back or mover closer – engaging your body as well as your brain, exploring your sense of scale and giving yourself over to play. The ‘flaws’ will be refreshed each month, ensuring that returning visitors will have always have something new to discover.

Players will be invited to share what they see on Instagram, tagged with @nowgalleryse10 and the hashtag #WALALAPLAY, creating a digital archive that will evolve over the duration of the exhibition.

Go and play.

Walala x Play render by Camille Walala.

Walala x Play model by Camille Walala. Photography by Katy Davies.

WALALA X PLAY at NOW Gallery is free to visit, suitable for all ages, and showing from 14 July until 24 September 2017.