Shelagh Alexander (May 30, 1959 – November 27, 2017) was a Canadian

photographic Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

artist based in Toronto, Ontario, known for her large scale “compilation photographs”.

Career

After attending

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

(1977-1978) and the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD, is a public art university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's main campus is spread throughout several buildings and facilities within d ...

(1978-1981), Alexander worked as the art director of Toronto`s ''Impulse'' magazine, then began exhibiting what she called her “compilation photographs” that often used found film footage and found photographs as their source. One critic wrote of them that they were constructed in such a way that the narrative was disrupted and images from different sources "confronted each other in a completely other, artificial space, a space of manufacture: the space of photomontage". These photographs were directly related to cinematic construction), believed another writer. From 1981, Alexander used her compilation photographs to tell a story. She had a number of solo exhibitions: ''Three Stories'', Gallery 76, Toronto (1981); ''Hero'', YYZ Artists` Outlet, Toronto (1982); ''Untitled'', Ydessa Gallery, Toronto (1983); ''Untitled'', Plug-In Gallery, Winnipeg (1984); ''Untitled'', OR Gallery, Vancouver (1984); and ''The Somnabulst'', Ydessa Gallery (1984).Shelagh Alexander Biographical Information, National Gallery of Canada Library, Shelagh Alexander file She also took part in the 1982 group exhibition ''New Canadian Photography'' at the Canadian Centre of Photography in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. In the show, she combined words and pictures in the form of storyboards to tell a pulp parable of modern romance and urban crisis. The same year, she was part of the exhibition ''Monumenta'', staged by

artist-run centre An artist-run space or artist-run centre (Canada) is a gallery or other facility operated or directed by artists, frequently circumventing the structures of public art centers, museums, or commercial galleries and allowing for a more experimental ...

YYZ across six venues in Toronto. In 1984, her work was included for exhibition at the 49th Parallel in NYC, New York. In 1985, her work was exhibited in the 18th Bienal de São Paulo in Brazil as well as at the Centre culturel canadien in Paris, France and at Canada House Cultural Centre Gallery in London, UK. In the same year, her compilation photographs were included in the exhibition titled ''Subjects and Subject Matter'', curated by Elke Town for

Museum London Museum London is an art and history museum located in London, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the forks of the Thames River. It started its operations in 1940 with London Public Library and amalgamated with London Regional Art Gallery and Lon ...

. In 1986, she exhibited in the 42nd

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

in the Aperto portion. In 1989, she took part in the National Gallery of Canada`s Canadian Biennial of Contemporary Art. Her works are included in the collections of the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; french: Musee d’art MacKenzie) is an art museum located in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The museum occupies the multipurpose T. C. Douglas Building, situated at the edge of the Wascana Centre. The building holds e ...

, Regina and the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (french: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Shelagh 1959 births 2017 deaths 21st-century Canadian women artists 20th-century Canadian women artists 20th-century Canadian photographers Canadian women photographers Artists from Toronto