group show

LSS NYC

“We Almost Forgot”

2024 November 22 to 2025 January 19

Long Story Short is pleased to present We Almost Forgot, an exhibition showcasing the latest works of Minami Kobayashi and James Prapaithong, accompanied by a thoughtfully composed press release by Vanessa Murrell, will be on view from November 22, 2023, through January 19, 2024, at Long Story Short NYC, 52 Henry Street, New York, NY 10002.

We Almost Forgot is a duo exhibition bringing together new works by London-based artists Minami Kobayashi and James Prapaithong. The exhibition includes eight paintings, four by each artist, investigating memory, time, and the connections between people and places. Their works explore presence and absence, focusing on personal and collective experiences on the edge of forgetfulness.

Kobayashi’s paintings immerse viewers in intimate scenes, be that of coworkers sharing drinks or friends wandering together. Each figure exists in its own world, unaware of the observer. The close perspective collapses the distance between the viewer and scene, inviting the audience to feel a part of it. In contrast, Prapaithong’s light-filled canvases evoke human presence, emphasizing connection through absence. Light serves as a metaphor for bridging distances and weaving moments. Painting from his own or collected photographs, Prapaithong intertwines personal and shared experiences, encouraging viewers to connect their memories with the fleeting moments on canvas.

Kobayashi’s still scenes make time tangible through subtle details: an empty glass refilled, petals scattered after rain. Each painting coexists past and present, suggesting that time quietly moves forward. Conversely, Prapaithong’s motifs hint at movement—airplanes in the sky, the moon rising—yet remain still, suspended in space and time.

Inside and outside, personal and global realities meet in Kobayashi's windows. In one of her paintings, lovers at home contrast with scenes of destruction on the television, underscoring the thin line between comfort and conflict. All intensified with a peaceful view through the window. Her figures' emotions and the parallel landscapes they inhabit and witness merge, collapsing close and faraway places. The artist questions how identity relates to place, while evoking ‘topophilia’, a deep attachment to specific environments. Prapaithong, in contrast, delves into realms that resist specificity, inviting viewers to fill voids with what they remember. He blurs reality and dreams with soft marks that hover between clarity and obscurity. The lights in his work—suggesting distant stars, fires, or lightning—remain vague, drawing viewers into a liminal space that invites personal interpretation.

Together, they create a dialogue on time and place, with moments lingering in the emotional space between here and elsewhere, past and present. Their paintings evoke tension between the fleeting and the remembered, inviting audiences to dwell in those moments we traverse but do not fully inhabit, yet leave an imprint on our memories. In We Almost Forgot, both artists offer fragmented glimpses that encourage viewers to reflect on their own memories—those that almost fade but never quite disappear.

Words by Vanessa Murrell

James Prapaithong (b. 1996, Bangkok, Thailand) is a London-based painter whose work explores themes of memory and presence. He holds an MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art and a BA (Hons) in Painting from Wimbledon College of Arts. His art has been exhibited internationally, with recent solo shows including Light Years at Workplace Gallery in London and Whisper at Hive Center for Contemporary Art in Shanghai.

Minami Kobayashi (b. 1989, Nagoya, Japan) is a London-based artist whose paintings delve into themes of memory, place, and presence. She holds an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BFA from Tokyo University of the Arts. Her work has been featured in solo exhibitions such as I Spell a Word to Free You at Et Al. Gallery in San Francisco and Place and Presence at Frestonian Gallery in London.