As a Satellite: piloto pardo: Gillies Adamson Semple: Several Architectural Variations

During a break from our programme this August, we will be hosting the gallery piloto pardo as part of our ongoing As a Satellite series.

piloto pardo presents Several Architectural Variations, a new body of work by London-based artist Gillies Adamson Semple, developed during a recent residency in Scotland. The exhibition brings together ceramic forms and reclaimed architectural elements to explore the boundaries between construction, habitation, and purpose.

Semple’s latest series of ceramic works—technically earthenware—were fired in both an industrial kiln and a homemade one. Set across shelves throughout the gallery, these abstract, sculptural forms evoke architectural references: slanted silhouettes suggest rooflines, vertical planes recall walls, yet they resist resolution into recognisable buildings. They hint at dwellings without offering shelter—structures without function.

Contrasting these small-scale variations are several large wooden beams, placed throughout the space. Removed from a now-demolished site outside London, these remnants carry the memory of structure but no longer serve it. Bathed in shifting light, they take on a quiet monumentality—relaxed, purposeless, yet undeniably architectural.

Together, the ceramics and beams stage a dialogue about form, use, and transformation. As with much of Semple’s practice, found materials are not simply repurposed but allowed to drift from their origins. The ceramics, made from scratch, push in the opposite direction: purpose is never granted in the first place.

Through this interplay, Several Architectural Variations invites viewers to consider what remains when architecture loses its function—and what emerges when structure becomes sculpture.

Opening reception:

Tuesday 5 August, 6 - 8pm

For more information, images, or to request a preview, please contact:
Philippa zu Knyphausen 
philippa@pilotopardo.com
07521100172
pilotopardo.com