This August, Arts Archive London presented Through the Hidden Rift at Looloolook Gallery in Paris, a group exhibition that isn’t just about looking at art; it’s about noticing what usually goes unseen. Through the Hidden Rift gathered nineteen emerging artists whose works didn’t shout for attention but whispered from the margins, asking us to notice the cracks, pause at the edges, and reconsider the world we think we know.
Even the gallery space plays into this invitation. Once rumoured to conceal underground revolutionary tunnels, the venue now holds a quieter form of rebellion. Wandering through its shadowed corridors and small, softly lit rooms feels less like attending an exhibition and more like entering an archaeological site of feeling—layered, fragmented, full of unexpected resonance.
Tia Yoon’s “Time Drop” hits you before you’re ready for it. Made with materials like rabbit skin glue, bone ash, and blood, the work doesn’t merely reference ritual; it feels like one. The piece is both delicate and raw, unsettling and magnetic. There’s something ancient pulsing through it, as if the painting had emerged from the remnants of some forgotten rite. It reminds you that transformation isn’t always graceful—sometimes it’s visceral, sometimes it leaves marks.
In contrast, Doudou Wang’s “The Kid” invites a slower kind of engagement. Hovering between dream and symbol, the painting withholds meaning, refusing to resolve into a single narrative. Some viewers may find that frustrating, but I found that openness liberating. There’s generosity in Wang’s ambiguity: space to bring your own questions into the work, to sit with uncertainty.
Zixiang Zhang’s “After the Remains” introduces an almost tactile meditation on decay and renewal. Made with mycelium and discarded fabric, these sculptures feel like something dug up from the future. They’re living, growing, and gently breaking down—reminding us that endings aren’t always conclusions. Sometimes, they’re compost. Standing close to them, you can almost sense the slow work of decomposition, the patient alchemy of rot becoming soil.
Beiyi Wang’s “Cocoonloo” offers a reprieve from urgency. With its use of sound, performance, and organic rhythm, it asks viewers to slow down—to sync with the quiet tempo of a silkworm. In a world trained to move fast and think faster, this deliberate deceleration feels radical. It’s not a spectacle; it’s a soft resistance. I found myself lingering longer than intended, caught in its gentle insistence on time.
Other works reward close looking: Tianyu Ren’s “The Quiet of Unseen Light” captures moments so subtle they nearly disappear. With muted tones and delicate collage, Ren suggests that absence isn’t emptiness—it’s a space where other kinds of meaning can unfold. Her work doesn’t insist; it invites. You have to lean in, pay attention, let your eyes adjust to its quiet frequencies.
There’s a distinct philosophical thread throughout the exhibition, loosely echoing Adorno’s idea that art reveals the unfulfilled. But unlike many shows that get bogged down in theory, Through the Hidden Rift remains grounded in lived experience. The works by Tianyi Xu and Rui Tao are especially powerful in this regard: Xu reorients the way we see gender and autonomy, while Tao’s immersive 360-degree imagery evokes the disorienting emotional terrain of trauma. These pieces don’t just illustrate—they embody. They get under your skin.
Material choices across the exhibition speak volumes. Whether it’s mycelium, salt, or acid dye, the physicality of each work reinforces the show’s central inquiry: what happens when we pay attention to what lies beneath? This is art that asks us to feel through texture, to read meaning through rupture. Your hands want to touch, though you know you shouldn’t.
If there’s a challenge here, it’s one of patience. The exhibition’s quiet tone and conceptual density might deter casual viewers. But for those willing to sit with its ambiguities, Through the Hidden Rift is deeply rewarding. The accompanying texts are thoughtful, if sometimes heavy, but they offer valuable context, especially when read after engaging with the work itself.
This is contemporary art at its most potent—not decorative, but interrogative. Not about clarity, but about complexity. It doesn’t offer tidy conclusions. Instead, it opens space for better questions, the kind that follow you home and surface again days later.
For viewers interested in art that lingers, that nudges, that unsettles in subtle but lasting ways, Through the Hidden Rift is essential viewing. It reminds us that sometimes, the smallest cracks reveal the most. Sometimes, they’re exactly where the light gets in.
Reviewed by Alice Luo
Through the Hidden Rift, 1st August – 14th August 2025 Looloolook Gallery
Curator: Alice Luo
Featured Artists: Beiyi Wang, Doudou Wang, Haoting Wu, Holly Cheng, Jiawen Zin Zhang, Josefina Sumar, Maggie Meijun, Pingfan Que, Puze Huang, Rui Tao, Taichun Zheng, Tianyu Ren, Tianyi Xu, Tia Yoon, Wenqing Liang, Xufei Qiao, Ying Qian, Yuchen Li, Zixiang Zhang
MORE: @artsarchive_london
