At first glance, Genesis Belanger‘s clay sculptures appear funny and surreal, but the American artist’s research goes far beyond irony. In fact, hers is a denunciation against the consumerist society of the 21st century, easily conditioned by advertising. Dwelling on the details, disturbing details emerge. One example is the frequent use of cigarettes and pharmaceuticals, which marketing has been able to turn into something cool, despite their known deadly effects. Her fashion background is also evident. Belanger’s visual culture runs the show in his compositions, which range from extravagant table settings to actual sets.

Genesis Belanger’s installations are strongly narrative. The artist creates real rooms, as in the case of the exhibition Blow Out at Perrotin‘s for which she creates a surgical room, a funeral home room, and a banquet hall. The pastel colors and soft shapes of the sculptures deceive the viewer in the same way that advertising operates on society. Each element, when observed carefully, reveals its own dark side. Seemingly harmonious and aesthetic, it reveals a world made of frills, comparable to a golden cage. Through Genesis Belanger’s works, the true nature of those everyday elements that each of us uses or wears emerges. The disquiet and at the same time the disillusionment that comes from her works is representative of a common feeling: that eternal dissatisfaction generated by the social awareness of being manipulated by a system, which is almost impossible to break down.

Courtesy Genesis Belanger