Genesis Belanger Coaxes the Uncanny from Vignettes of Consumption and Gluttony — Colossal


A comb with completely manicured tooth, a tote overflowing with groceries and a bitten chocolate cookie, and a vacuum cleaner intent on consuming a rug are a number of of the peculiar particulars in Genesis Belanger’s newest exhibition.

Within the Proper Circumstances we’re Indistinguishable, on view now Tempo Gallery in London, presents fourteen vignettes of on a regular basis life gone awry. Identified for her disorienting, typically seductive sculptures, the artist continues working along with her signature flatness and distinctive visible language, drawing on promoting methods to critique consumerism plaguing fashionable life.

a vacuum cleaner sucks up a blue fringed rug
“Trigger and Impact” (2024), stoneware, powder coated metal, plywood, composite board, sunbrella cloth, silk and cashmere suiting, {hardware}, 41 × 35 × 53 inches

Belanger’s earlier sculptures enjoy pastel hues and the nice and cozy textures of ceramic, whereas this new physique of labor is extra expansive. Daring, saturated colours seem all through the person vignettes, like on a cobalt vase and shiny pink fruits resting in a squat dish. The artist additionally incorporates a wider array of supplies into these sculptures, together with the silk cashmere lining a vacuum cleaner bag and the veneered plywood that buildings shelving.

Arousing humor and absurdity from probably the most banal objects, Belanger invokes extreme want, gendered expectations, and company malaise. “Self-Consciousness,” for instance, contains a disjointed portrait of assorted objects unfold throughout a wooden desk. The candlesticks with knotted wicks reference the sensation of working a 9-to-5 job, which she describes as “burnt down and tied in knots,” whereas the tableaux as a complete nods to self-curation and efficiency.

a plant sculpture in a bright blue pot with tall stems, orange fruits, and pink flowers
“A Breeze Shimmers” (2024), patinaed brass, powder-coated aluminum, porcelain,
{hardware}, 84 × 50 × 45 inches

The artist usually shies away from depicting the human physique in full kind, as an alternative preferring to characterize it by means of fragmented elements or symbols like meals and comely objects. Fruit usually takes on this position, particularly within the pair of spherical, potted sculptures that give credence to pure development.

These works stand in stark distinction to the flattening impact of “16 Bit Eden,” which layers flowers and cherries atop a grid. Evoking the digital world, the pixelated backdrop questions the up to date want to disregard the objects and realities proper in entrance of us.

Within the Proper Circumstances we’re Indistinguishable is Belanger’s first U.Ok. exhibition and runs by means of November 9. See extra of her work on Instagram.

a bag of groceries including a sleeve of cookies with a bite out of one rests on a cardboard box
“Husband Materials” (2024), porcelain, stoneware, plywood, raincoat cloth, rubber-coated linen
18 1/4 × 21 × 16 5/8 inches
a shelf with bottles, a jug of milk, egg carton and other objects
“Household Portrait” (2024), veneered plywood, cork, porcelain, stoneware, 45 1/2 × 41 × 11 1/4 inches
a hair come with painted fingernail-like teeth
“Sentimental Attachment” (2024), stoneware with oil-painted manicure, 25 × 13 × 2 inches
a shelf of cake and pie slices in a case
“Managed Expectations (you solely deserve a tiny piece)” (2024), veneered plywood, powder-coated metal, cork, porcelain, 30 × 20 1/4 × 7 3/8 inches
a sculpture of a blue button up shirt and pink tie
“It All the time Comes Out within the Wash” (2024), stoneware, porcelain, patinaed brass, and fiberglass,
29 × 6 × 32 inches
two potted plant sculptures bookend a wall work with plants and vines growing on a grid
Set up view of ‘Genesis Belanger: Within the Proper Circumstances we’re Indistinguishable,’ Tempo Gallery, London (2024). Picture by Damian Griffiths



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