In his first solo exhibition in our new gallery space, the Canadian artist, Alan Belcher, shows works that precisely demonstrate his complex, conceptual practice. Known for a tactile fusion of photography and object art, Belcher’s serial productions continue to be characterized today by a transparency of vision and simplicity of production with a concentrated consideration of materials. His sense of humour and reverence for a pop sensibility shines through in his works.
The works of the “Oil on Canvas” series at the beginning of the exhibition present themselves as symbolic vehicles that, thanks to the artist’s ingenious technique, become art objects rather than expressive or narrative paintings. Belcher arbitrarily cuts canvas tarpaulins and sews them together in a Poveric manner with hints of Boro style repairs to mount them on a stretcher. While painting them with crude black oil from a paint tube, the artist uses abstract pump-jack oil derrick motifs to create a discourse charged with metaphors. Thus, allegories of capitalism can be seen in the series, but further consideration also reveals analogies to determination, drive, patience, willingness to take risks, investment, ambition, discovery, despair, good fortune, untapped territory —analogies that are immortalized further with examination of the
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In his first solo exhibition in our new gallery space, the Canadian artist, Alan Belcher, shows works that precisely demonstrate his complex, conceptual practice. Known for a tactile fusion of photography and object art, Belcher’s serial productions continue to be characterized today by a transparency of vision and simplicity of production with a concentrated consideration of materials. His sense of humour and reverence for a pop sensibility shines through in his works.
The works of the “Oil on Canvas” series at the beginning of the exhibition present themselves as symbolic vehicles that, thanks to the artist’s ingenious technique, become art objects rather than expressive or narrative paintings. Belcher arbitrarily cuts canvas tarpaulins and sews them together in a Poveric manner with hints of Boro style repairs to mount them on a stretcher. While painting them with crude black oil from a paint tube, the artist uses abstract pump-jack oil derrick motifs to create a discourse charged with metaphors. Thus, allegories of capitalism can be seen in the series, but further consideration also reveals analogies to determination, drive, patience, willingness to take risks, investment, ambition, discovery, despair, good fortune, untapped territory —analogies that are immortalized further with examination of the impasto-like canvas surface in Belcher’s most recent “Rondo” oil paintings (2019).
In the lower exhibition floor, Belcher focuses on transparency of vision and simplicity of production. More precisely, the artist elevates Nike shoes into oil paintings, while highlighting rare colour variations, technical developments and infamous innovations of the powerful brand. The “10.5” titled series of limited edition and highly collectable sneakers was fabricated in China similar to the actual subject matter and scaled to the artist’s own shoe size of 10.5(”). Exhibited on shelves in the same readily accessible manner as shrink-wrapped consignment sneakers, a point blank face-value experience of the wide selection comments on the viewing experience of both art fair booth inventories and the fast appetite of postings on Instagram.
In the diversity of these exhibited works, concerns regarding the objectification of artworks are examined, and themes of longevity, attraction, value, connoisseurship, investment, hype and obsession are highlighted.
Alan Belcher was born in 1957 in Toronto, Canada, where he lives and works. He co-founded the Gallery Nature Morte (1982-88) with artist Peter Nagy in New York’s East Village.
He has mounted numerous solo exhibitions, which include Le Consortium (Dijon), greengrassi (London), Galerie Daniel Buchholz (Cologne), Japan Foundation (Toronto), Studio Guenzani (Milan), The Power Plant (Toronto), Wacoal Art Center (Tokyo), Jack Shainman Gallery (New York), Marlborough Gallery (New York), MKG127 Gallery (Toronto), and Margo Leavin Gallery (Los Angeles); among many others.
Belcher’s œuvre is represented worldwide in several public collections including the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa), Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery at UBC (Vancouver), Musee des Beaux-Arts (Montréal), Fotomuseum Winterthur (Zürich), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), Chase Manhattan Bank, Credit Suisse Collection, and Musée Nicéphore Niépce (Chalon-sur-Saône, France); as well as various prominent private collections.
Michèle Meyer
