FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 2025
My Body / Your Object: Michelle Alexander explores the blurred lines between body and object, subject and possession,
in a new solo exhibition in Chicago
Chicago, IL – Artist Michelle Alexander presents her exhibition My Body / Your Object with Matthew Heberlain Contemporary in Chicago, a visceral examination of the body as object and the direct role of viewers in confrontation with uncomfortable realities. The exhibition is on view February 14 – March 14, 2025, with an opening reception on February 14th, 6:00 – 11:00 pm.
“This exhibition is born from the visceral experience of being seen as an object—something to be used, possessed, discarded, hated or loved. It is an attempt to visualize and process that reality, to transform it into something tangible, something undeniable.” – Michelle Alexander
My Body / Your Object presents several new conceptual works from the artist depicting the human body as fragmented and reassembled into objects in a downtown Chicago apartment setting that destabilizes the gallery viewing experience. Images of the artist’s body are laid bare covering the floor in rug-like works that can be walked on or stepped over. Wine bottles are labeled with similar artworks that can be passed from person to person. Sculptural hands are installed into the walls holding bare lightbulbs that both illuminate the exhibition and deepen the shadows within.
The exhibition invites the viewer to be an active participant in its conceptual explorations, raising questions about the viewer as observer or perpetrator of the human body’s displacement into such objects. Viewers can interface with the sculptures, tread over artworks, or even drink from and discard them, as in the case of the wine bottles. Or one can choose not to participate altogether and to honor the object, to recognize its humanity, as a means to reclaim agency.
In My Body / Your Object, Michelle Alexander ultimately confronts the blurred lines between body and object, subject and possession, value and disposability.
Details
Opening Reception
February 14th, 6:00 – 11:00 pm
On view
February 14 – March 14, 2025
Viewings by appointment only.
About Michelle Alexander
Michelle is a Canadian-born artist living and working between Montreal and Chicago. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Miami. Michelle then studied fashion design at Parsons School of Design earning an Associates’ degree in Applied Science. Michelle graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Master of Fine Arts Degree.
Michelle’s interdisciplinary approach to drawing and extended image practice addresses tension. Her introspective body of work scrutinizes the internal build-up and lingering trauma within the body. Grappling with experiences of the body and the discomfort of fitting into one’s own skin. Her work has been exhibited in galleries at the University of Miami, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Mana Contemporary Chicago, The Current, Stowe, VT, and the Design Museum of Chicago. Michelle is the recent recipient of International Cultural Management’s second prize Artist Art for Peace Award.
Website: https://www.michellealexanderart.com
Instagram: @michelle.alexander.art