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

photographic Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating 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 in many ...

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

Career

After attending

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

(1977-1978) and the

Ontario College of Art Ontario College of Art & Design University, commonly known as OCAD University or OCAD U, is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods ...

(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 ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. 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 ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

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 Art Gallery of Hamilton (AGH) is an art museum located in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The museum occupies a building on King Street (Hamilton, Ontario), King Street West in downtown Hamilton, designed by Trevor P. Garwood-Jon ...

, the

MacKenzie Art Gallery The MacKenzie Art Gallery (MAG; ) 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 eight galleries totaling to of ...

, Regina and the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

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