Objects – MKG127

Alan Belcher’s first solo exhibition at MKG127 is his first solo exhibition in Toronto since 1999. As an object-orientated conceptual artist, he has been recognized as an originator of a hands-on fusion of photography and object-making. Belcher is known for a directness and a sharp simplicity when approaching difficult and sometimes awkward subject matter. A sense of humour and a reverence for Pop sensibility invades much of his practice.

Belcher regards his recent oil paintings solely as objects; their role as vehicles of signified subject matter is his prime concern. He is not a painter. These art objects are denominated and fabricated as oil paintings and behave as symbolic ideograms. Concerns regarding the objectification of art are examined in the variety of works exhibited, as are themes relating to collection and longevity, consideration and attraction, value and investment, hype and obsession, connoisseurship and the premium gourmet.

The exhibition will feature a selection from Belcher’s 10.5 series of oil paintings of collectible Nike sneakers in rare colorways and limited edition brand collaborations. Like the actual shoes, these paintings are manufactured in China. The resulting portraits of highly-coveted Nike sneakers are painted to the scale of the artist’s 10.5 shoe size. Also featured are selections from his most recent four years of production, including the 2012 ceramic multiple _____.jpg which formed the starting point for this new work, along with cultured pearls, gourmet black and white truffles, vintage Bordeaux wines, and a touch of garnish.

Born in Toronto in 1957, Alan Belcher has continued to live and work here for more than forty years. He was co-founder/director (with artist Peter Nagy) of Gallery Nature Morte (1982–88) in New York’s East Village, and that experience served as his formal art education. Nature Morte represented a post-modern genre of deconstructionist conceptual photography, sculpture, and painting, and the gallery continues to be revered and recognized as an important influence on today’s condition of contemporary art. Belcher has mounted solo exhibitions with Galerie Daniel Buchholz (Köln), Marlborough Gallery (New York), the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Margo Leavin Gallery (Los Angeles), Jack Shainman Gallery (New York), The Power Plant (Toronto), Josh Baer Gallery (New York), The Apartment (Vancouver), Spazio Via Farini (Milano), and Cold City (Toronto)—as well as other one-person shows in Chicago, Montréal, Stockholm, Hamburg, Torino, and Tokyo. He has participated in numerous group exhibitions including in New York at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Paula Cooper Gallery, The Sonnabend Gallery, Andrea Rosen Gallery, and 303 Gallery. Other group exhibitions include the Centre Georges Pompidou (Paris), the Sao Paulo Bienal, the I.C.A. in Boston, Mercer Union (Toronto), and many more. Belcher has been included in group exhibitions organized by curators Robert Nickas, Cornelia Lauf, Jack Bankowsky, Walter Hopps, Laurie Simmons, Benjamin Buchloh, Jerry Saltz, and Michelle Grabner, among others.

Currently Alan Belcher’s work is in the group show Every Future Has a Price: 30 Years After Infotainment at the Elizabeth Dee Gallery (New York), which pays tribute to many of the Pictures Generation artists originating from Gallery Nature Morte. He is also in the current exhibition Wall to Wall: Carpets by Artists at MOCA Cleveland curated by Dr. Cornelia Lauf, which includes a catalog published by Walter König (Köln). Alan will mount a solo exhibition curated by Éric Troncy at Le Consortium (Dijon, France) opening in March 2017, and his work will be included in Brand New, a group exhibition curated by Gianni Jetzer at The Hirshhorn Museum (Washington, D.C.) opening in February 2018.

Belcher’s work can be found in many collections including the National Gallery of Canada, Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery at U.B.C., Oakville Galleries, Walker Art Centre (Minneapolis), Fotomuseum Winterthur (Zurich) and Chase Manhattan Bank. His work has been purchased by artists including Isa Genzken, Laurie Simmons, Ross Bleckner, Joseph Kosuth, and Gerhardt Richter. Private collections include that of Mark Parker (Nike CEO, Oregon), the Bachir/Yerex Family Collection (Toronto), the Bailey Collection (Toronto), as well as various collections in New York, Los Angeles, Germany, Paris, London, and Italy.

As an independent Canadian artist, it is of interest to note that Alan Belcher’s work is not subsidized. Belcher continues to decidedly never apply for (or receive) grants from (or participate in juries of) any municipal, provincial, or federal arts councils in Canada.