A comb with perfectly manicured teeth, a tote overflowing with groceries and a bitten chocolate cookie, and a vacuum cleaner intent on eating a rug are a few of the peculiar details in Genesis Belanger’s latest exhibition.
In the Right Conditions we are Indistinguishable, on view now Pace Gallery in London, presents fourteen vignettes of everyday life gone awry. Known for her disorienting, sometimes seductive sculptures, the artist continues working with her signature flatness and distinctive visual language, drawing on advertising techniques to critique consumerism plaguing modern life.
“Cause and Effect” (2024), stoneware, powder coated steel, plywood, composite board, sunbrella fabric, silk and cashmere suiting, hardware, 41 × 35 × 53 inches
Belanger’s earlier sculptures revel in pastel hues and the warm textures of ceramic, while this new body of work is more expansive. Bold, saturated colors appear throughout the individual vignettes, like on a cobalt vase and bright pink fruits resting in a squat dish. The artist also incorporates a wider array of materials into these sculptures, including the silk cashmere lining a vacuum cleaner bag and the veneered plywood that structures shelving.
Arousing humor and absurdity from the most banal objects, Belanger invokes excessive desire, gendered expectations, and corporate malaise. “Self-Awareness,” for example, features a disjointed portrait of various objects spread across a wood table. The candlesticks with knotted wicks reference the feeling of working a 9-to-5 job, which she describes as “burnt down and tied in knots,” while the tableaux as a whole nods to self-curation and performance.
“A Breeze Shimmers” (2024), patinaed brass, powder-coated aluminum, porcelain,
hardware, 84 × 50 × 45 inches
The artist typically shies away from depicting the human body in full form, instead preferring to represent it through fragmented parts or symbols like food and shapely objects. Fruit often takes on this role, especially in the pair of round, potted sculptures that give credence to natural growth.
These works stand in stark contrast to the flattening effect of “16 Bit Eden,” which layers flowers and cherries atop a grid. Evoking the digital world, the pixelated backdrop questions the contemporary desire to ignore the objects and realities right in front of us.
In the Right Conditions we are Indistinguishable is Belanger’s first U.K. exhibition and runs through November 9. See more of her work on Instagram.
“Husband Material” (2024), porcelain, stoneware, plywood, raincoat fabric, rubber-coated linen
18 1/4 × 21 × 16 5/8 inches
“Family Portrait” (2024), veneered plywood, cork, porcelain, stoneware, 45 1/2 × 41 × 11 1/4 inches
“Sentimental Attachment” (2024), stoneware with oil-painted manicure, 25 × 13 × 2 inches
“Managed Expectations (you only deserve a tiny piece)” (2024), veneered plywood, powder-coated steel, cork, porcelain, 30 × 20 1/4 × 7 3/8 inches
“It Always Comes Out in the Wash” (2024), stoneware, porcelain, patinaed brass, and fiberglass,
29 × 6 × 32 inches
Installation view of ‘Genesis Belanger: In the Right Conditions we are Indistinguishable,’ Pace Gallery, London (2024). Photo by Damian Griffiths
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