Louis Morlæ, Aut-OOO-Arcadia, Somerset House, London, 7 November 2024 – 23 February 2025
The practice of the London-based visual artist Louis Morlæ operates at the intersection between two modes of creativity: that of industrial automation and manufacture, and that of character-driven narrative. The result is work which looks not to a distant and abstracted future, but to the furthest and most tantalising edges of what might be possible within the current moment. Seamlessly integrating video and sculpture, he uses game-engine rendered animation to bring his android-like figures—designed using CAD, and then 3D printed in component parts with PLA plastic, aluminium, steel and SLA resin—to life. His in-depth, multimedia worldbuilding explores our cultural and social engagement with tech, the metaverse, and the digital realm from a perspective on continuing technological advancement that is neither wholly utopian or dystopian. Morlæ’s works share not only a distinctive visual sensibility, but an invented reality, in which identifiably of-the-moment signifiers like Balenciaga trainers brush up against science-fictional, lightly surrealist future technology.
b. 1992, Melbourne, Australia
Lives and works in London
BFA, Manchester School of Art, Manchester
MFA, Royal Academy of Arts, London
Aut-OOO-Arcadia, Somerset House, London
Purgatorio, Liste Art Fair, Basel
All Watched Over by Emissaries of Loving Grace, Duarte Sequeira, Braga, Portugal
Press (with Lucas Dupuy), Final Hot Desert, Isle of Sheppey
Machinochrome Dreams, Rose Easton, London
Bubblegum Tung, Asylum Studios, Suffolk
Behold a figure, Serpentine, Soft Opening, London
The Place of Waiting, Gathering at ECHO, Cologne
SL x RE, Silke Lindner, New York
Fight or Flight, Roman Road at The Columbia, London
Grot, Horse Hospital, London
28th December 1980, Asylum Studios, Suffolk
The Keeper’s Prize
The Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK
Internal Exhibitions


Louis Morlæ, Mother, 2024, steel computer unit with integrated screens, keyboard, rainbow quartz spheres, rubber gloves, silicone, surveillance camera, 39 x 96.5 x 150 cm

Louis Morlæ, These Little Piggies, 2024, plastic, Liquidtex coated wooden frame, 37 x 120 x 36 cm (14 ⅝ x 47 ¼ x 14 ⅛ in)

Louis Morlæ, Home Again, Home Again, Market is Done (Bench), 2024, CRT monitor, steel, 3D printed plastic, wood, thermafleece, 56 x 222 x 60 cm (22 x 87 ⅜ x 23 ⅝ in)

Louis Morlæ, Aut-OOO-Arcadia, Somerset House, London, 7 November 2024 – 23 February 2025

Louis Morlæ, As I wait in the fields for you, 2024, steel, plastic, soft toy, animatronic eye, thermafleece, LED lighting, 50 x 60 x 50 cm (19 ¾ x 23 ⅝ x 19 ¾ in)

Louis Morlæ, Will the corn be growing a little tonight, 2024, steel, plastic, clay-filled PLA, thermafleece, LED lighting, 50 x 60 x 50 cm (19 ¾ x 23 ⅝ x 19 ¾ in)

SL × RE (New York), Silke Lindner, 28 June – 2 August 2024

SL × RE (New York), Silke Lindner, 28 June – 2 August 2024

Louis Morlæ, Goblin Module, 2021, PLA, silicone, calico, resin, steel, video (10 minutes), 105 x 105 x 30 cm

Louis Morlæ, Goblin Module, 2021 (alternative view)

SL × RE (New York), Silke Lindner, 28 June – 2 August 2024

Louis Morlæ, Purgatorio, Booth 4, Liste Art Fair Basel 2024

Louis Morlæ, Purgatorio, Booth 4, Liste Art Fair Basel 2024

Louis Morlæ, Purgatorio, Booth 4, Liste Art Fair Basel 2024

Louis Morlæ, Haywain Sower, 2024, PLA, acrylic, sand, filler, resin, nylon, 110 x 52 x 36 cm (43 ¼ x 20 ½ x 14 ⅛ in)

Louis Morlæ, Haywain Sower, 2024 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, Haywain Sower, 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, Haywain Sower, 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, Haywain Reaper, 2024, PLA, acrylic, sand, filler, resin, nylon, rope, 103 x 53 x 37 cm (40 ½ x 20 ⅞ x 14 ⅝ in)

Louis Morlæ, Haywain Reaper, 2024 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, Haywain Reaper, 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, Haywain Reaper, 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, Purgatorio, Booth 4, Liste Art Fair Basel 2024

Louis Morlæ, St Anthony’s Revenge, 2024, PLA, filler, acrylic, sand, nylon, 77 x 164 x 47 cm (30 ¼ x 64 ⅝ x 18 ½ in)

Louis Morlæ, St Anthony’s Revenge, 2024 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, St Anthony’s Revenge, 2024 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, St Anthony’s Revenge, 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, St Anthony’s Revenge, 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, St Anthony’s Revenge, 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, Purgatorio, Booth 4, Liste Art Fair Basel 2024

Louis Morlæ, Face of a Tosher, 2024, CNC wood, PLA, filler, acrylic, 24 x 91 x 31 cm (9 ½ x 35 ⅞ x 12 ¼ in)

Louis Morlæ, Face of a Tosher, 2024 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, Face of a Tosher, 2024 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, Purgatorio, Booth 4, Liste Art Fair Basel 2024

Louis Morlæ, Face of a Tosher, 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, The Beggar (Gaberlunzie), 2024, PLA, acrylic, nylon, filler, 77 x 86 x 80 cm (30 ¼ x 33 ⅞ x 31 ½ in)

Louis Morlæ, The Beggar (Gaberlunzie), 2024 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, The Beggar (Gaberlunzie), 2024 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, The Beggar (Gaberlunzie), 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, The Beggar (Gaberlunzie), 2024 (detail)

Louis Morlæ, Purgatorio, Booth 4, Liste Art Fair Basel 2024

Louis Morlæ, Vvolmar, 2023, Acrylic, steel, PLA, silicone, lime, resin, rope, copper, LED, arduino, 175 x 50 x 50 cm

Louis Morlæ, RA Schools Show, The Royal Academy of Arts, London, 8 – 25 June 2023

Louis Morlæ, O.G.U. (One God Universe), 2023, PLA, paint, filler, lime, hologram fan, 151 x 180 x 27 cm

Louis Morlæ, O.G.U. (One God Universe), 2023 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, Tek, 2023, Resin, PLA, silver coin spinner (made in collaboration with The Royal Mint), copper, steel, 27 x 21 x 30 cm

Louis Morlæ, Ekstasia & 6 Last Things, 2023, 4K Video, 19 minutes, 45 seconds

Louis Morlæ, All Watched Over by Emissaries of Loving Grace, Duarte Sequeira, 21 January – 22 April 2023

Louis Morlæ, Scivias, 2023, PLA, nylon, resin, steel bracket, 160 x 96 x 65 cm

Louis Morlæ, Scivias, 2023 (alternative view)

Louis Morlæ, Kline, 2023, PLA, Nylon, Resin, 154 x 180 x 44 cm

Louis Morlæ, Rexx, 2023, PLA, steel, resin, silicone, 180 x 57 x 140 cm

Louis Morlæ, Llunexodrome, 2023, PLA, Nylon, Resin, 5" HD Screen, Media Player, 180 x 57 x 32 cm

Louis Morlæ, Drumblade, 2023, TPU Inflatable, PLA, nylon, resin, wadding, 140 x 120 x 120 cm

Louis Morlæ, Rexx Rake, 2023PLA, nylon, 160 x 30 cm

Louis Morlæ, All Watched Over by Emissaries of Loving Grace, Duarte Sequeira, 21 January – 22 April 2023

Louis Morlæ, Nexus, 2022, PLA, nylon, 100 x 42 x 13 cm

Press, Final Hot Desert, Isle of Sheppey, August 2, 2022

Louis Morlæ, Homer Console (In Blue), 2022, PLA, acrylic, 128 x 87 x 32 cm

Louis Morlæ, Homer Console (Unwrapped), 2022, PLA, nylon, calico, steel, 183 x 150 x 32 cm

Machinochrome Dreams, Rose Easton, 15 January – 20 February 2022

Louis Morlæ, Ecce in Semper Aeternum, 2022, HD video, stereo sound, 21 minutes, 21 seconds

Louis Morlæ, Alpha, 2022, PLA, silicone, nylon, glass, aluminium, 195 × 65 × 23 cm

Louis Morlæ, Ferme, 2022, PLA, silicone, nylon, steel, 205 × 65 × 23 cm

Louis Morlæ, Ecce, 2022, PLA, silicone, nylon, steel, resin, calico, 205 × 70 × 27 cm

Louis Morlæ, Iodah, 2022, PLA, silicone, nylon, resin, calico, 215 × 80 × 27 cm

Louis Morlæ, Jumbo, 2022, PLA, silicone, nylon, resin, calico, 200 × 90 × 27 cm

Louis Morlæ, Jumbo, 2022 (detail)