Hiding in the lower levels of a hotel in one of the wealthier parts of the city of London, a debut exhibition turns up unexpectedly. There is little outside the venue to suggest an art opening is taking place. More details here.

The small space offers up works from a newly graduated artist, Tom Pearson. His work all seems to be under the influence of architecture and the city experience. Journeying around the room, the works are more often than not a realisation of a vision of urban mechanisation, achieved through slightly varying methods.

The first piece encountered is at first glance a dull rendition of pattern on a beige surface, barely compelling. Upon closer inspection, the complexities emerge in waves of patterns seemingly achieved by burning. The laser-cut surface reveals patterns that form networks, labyrinths and tunnels, a knotted vision of an urban landscape held together like oddly dysfunctional clockwork. Although not an especially large piece, the complexity lends a sense of vastness to the work.

Moving around the room, this idea of the labyrinthin becomes a central one. A series of prints exposes more geometric loops and knots. Patterns jerk across canvas surfaces. Grey, black and white templates create tunnels and connections that bypass and entwine others, creating a sense of infinite links amid the systematic repetition of shapes; almost a geometric snakes and ladders.

Familiar symbols emerge from the tangle, suitcase labels, planes and eyes, perhaps symbolic of stories awaiting discovery in the thickly layered, dense urban landscape of Pearson’s imagination.

Simpler prints follow, bold emblems in basic and primary colours sit next to one another, evoking hieroglyphics in their style and execution, and seem somewhat a code for the mechanical age. Language is reduced to symbolism, futuristic and historic in the same moment.

Towards the end of the exhibit, pieces gain more literal depth. Laser-cut plastic layers of several colours spiral tightly, interlocking and looping. Continuing the basic colour theme, red, blue and black plastics are used. Some of the spirals contain letters at their centre, reminiscent of the @ symbol. Light and shadow add extra depth, but these pieces seem too clinical, and almost corporate in appearance.

As intriguing as the exhibition is, many of the pieces appear empty in their clinical accuracy. The development is sometimes interesting between pieces on display, but are too disjointed in quality and realisation for a consistent show. It’s worth seeing, but some pieces are far weaker than the rest of the exhibition.