alex sheriff
alex sheriff
fish on land
Artist’s Statement Using the remixed language and forms of natural sciences and natural history, Fish on Land loudly celebrates moments in the vast story of our planet – from life-giving/taking volcanic eruptions, to the first fish on land who would go on to become amphibian and reptile and bird – it clumsily strives to be inclusive of all species and matter in this retelling. A new droopy, fluid mythology formed through biology and geology is an ode to the planet, but hand-painted and placed by human hands, it can ultimately only be for human consumption. Though the plants, rocks, animals and other subjects of these creation, survival, transformation and extinction myths will not know their place in them, there is beauty and purpose in the failure of these man-made codes of science and painting. The impossibility of trying to communicate a mythology to non-humans leaves us in an abstract space like a fish on the beach, comical and juvenile, but in turn creates a strange world that is the first step on an evolutionary path to being truly connected to the planet and it’s history. Alex Sheriff, 2017
Learning to Fly (2017) mixed media on paper, 22 x 30 in
Fish on Land (2017) mixed media on paper, 22 x 30 in
Monkey’s Uncle (2017) mixed media on paper, 22 x 30 in
You are What you Eat (2017) mixed media on paper, 22 x 30 in
A Star is Born (2017) mixed media on paper, 12 x 16 in
Release of Tension (2017) mixed media on paper, 22 x 30 in
Hunting and the Birds (2015) acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 in
Space Ritual (2015) acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 in
Evening Ritual (2015) acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 in
Forest People (2015) acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 in
Celebrating the Rocks (2015) acrylic on canvas, 60 x 48 in
BIO
Alex Sheriff (b.1988, Canada) EDUCATION 2016 Master of Fine Arts - Fine Art Parsons - The New School for Design, New York 2014 College Graduate Certificate - Television and Film Production, Sheridan College, Oakville 2012 Bachelor of Fine Arts - Drawing & Painting - OCAD University, Toronto
SELECT EXHIBITIONS 2017 Fish on Land, Praxis Gallery, New York, NY 2016 The Mist People, Nuit Blanche @ 401 Richmond, Toronto, ON 2016 I Can Because You Do, curated by Alhena Katsoff, Participant Inc, New York, NY 2016 New Taxon, Bluewolf, New York, NY 2015 These Peoples, Project Gallery, Toronto, ON 2015 Tumblr IRL Presents: The Burrprint, Villain, New York, NY 2015 Finding Stars in Stucco Ceilings (screening), Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY 2015 Finding Stars in Stucco Ceilings (screening), Toronto Short Film Festival, Toronto, ON 2013 Young Collectors, Project Gallery, Toronto, ON 2013 Duvet Cocooned Goon, The Embassy, Toronto, ON 2013 Cut and Paste, Project Gallery, Toronto, ON 2013 Best In Show, Gladstone Hotel, Toronto, ON 2012 Alex Sheriff and Nissim Aderet, Alison Milne Gallery, Toronto, ON 2012 97th Graduation Exhibition, OCAD University, Toronto, ON 2011 And Now This Too, Whipper Snapper Gallery, Toronto, ON 2010 And Now This, Isabel Bader, Toronto, ON 2009 Towne Square Gallery, Oakville, ON
Earthly Ritual II (2015) gouache on paper, 14 1/4 x 10 1/4 in
Praxis was founded in 1977. With locations in New York and Buenos Aires, our mission is to bring the compelling creativity and imagination of Latin American contemporary art forward to a worldwide audience.
NEW YORK Chelsea 541 West 25th Street New York NY 10001 tel 212 772 9478 newyork@praxis-art.com BUENOS AIRES Arenales 1311 Buenos Aires C1061AAM Argentina tel 4812 6254 www.praxis-art.com tienda.praxis-art.com