Simulators

Group Exhibition · Angell Gallery · Toronto, Canada · November 2012

Artist Statement

Alex Fischer works to represent the time in which he lives.

These images come from what has become the predominant first-world interface: the personal computer and internet capable device is now the primary filter by which broad swaths of people interact and come to know themselves. These technologies have the ability to snake our attentions, beliefs and desires, influencing cognition and our experience of the world.

In order to represent these paradigm shifts, Alex Fischer reifies the low-culture of individualistic habits and persuasions to be in dialogue with the ripe philosophy of high art. His chosen medium of digital collage perfectly compliments his artistic process, by which he paints together images from a collection of digital sources. Each piece concedes to multiple interpretations due to Fischer's choice to obscure the visual space of the image into near abstraction. The narratives encompass characters, scenes, and symbols with all of their ambiguity, insight, and metaphysical baggage on display. The content originates from their adaptations to and the impact of this current age.

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Works

Adobe Mask , 2012, 9000 x 11155 px / 22.5 x 27.875 inches, archival lightjet, ed. 3 + 1AP. On display: AP. All editions available.
Daily , 2012, 12000 x 17263 px / 40 x 57.5 inches, archival giclée, ed. 2 + 1AP. On display: AP. All editions available.
Island , 2011, 14400 x 7200 px / 48 x 24 inches, archival giclée, ed. 3 + 1AP. On display: Edition 3/3. Editions 1/3 and 3/3 available.

Artist Bio

Alex Fischer (b.1986, Walkerton, ON) is an artist and empiricist living and working in Toronto, Canada. A sociologist of internet culture, Fischer mediates the visual and theoretical philosophies, which can be accessed through contemporary technology. This extraction and the resulting dissemination are essential to his approach to art-making, which is at once reactionary and projective. He composes his figures and landscapes by digitally assembling visual and conceptual sources in order to explore the syncretic effect of the digital-age.

Fischer's work has been featured in BlackFlash, Beautiful Decay and Rojo. He is the creator, editor and juror of Sync Resist, released in 2009 through York University. In 2010, Fischer produced his first artist book, Smarter Today published by O'Born Contemporary and Wassenaar. Fischer graduated from York University with a BFA honours in visual arts. His work is featured in noted private and corporate collections and he is represented internationally by O'Born Contemporary.

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CV (c. 2012)

Education
- 2010 — Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours, York University, Toronto, Canada

Solo Exhibitions
- 2012 — Beyond The Fall, Galerie BAC, Montréal, Canada
- 2012 — Booth F6: Alex Fischer, VOLTANY, New York, United States
- 2012 — Beyond The Fall, O'Born Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
- 2010 — Smarter Today, O'Born Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
- 2009 — Alex Fischer, The Spoke Club, Toronto, Canada
- 2009 — Backwater Resolution, The Gales Gallery, York University, Toronto, Canada

Two Person and Group Exhibitions
- 2011 — Open Spaces, TIAF, Toronto, Canada
- 2011 — Technology Showcase, IX Gallery, Toronto, Canada
- 2011 — Front Line, PIP Festival, Pingyao, China
- 2010 — 131, O'Born Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
- 2010 — Synaesthesia, Propeller Centre for Visual Arts, Toronto, Canada
- 2010 — Time Based Show, Goldfarb Gallery, Toronto, Canada
- 2010 — To Whom It May Concern, Gallery 1313, Toronto, Canada
- 2010 — Senior Photography Show, The Gales Gallery, Toronto, Canada
- 2010 — 24 Hour Workshop, Special Projects Gallery, Toronto, Canada
- 2009 — Facing The Screen, University of Toronto Art Centre Lounge, Toronto, Canada
- 2009 — Hot!, O'Born Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
- 2009 — Resolution, Median Contemporary, Toronto, Canada
- 2009 — This is not a bout, Special Projects Gallery, Toronto, Canada
- 2009 — Emerging Artists Exhibition, The Arts & Letters Club, Toronto, Canada
- 2009 — Play/Pause, Whipper Snapper Gallery, Toronto, Canada
- 2008 — 24 Hrs @ York, Special Projects Gallery, York University, Toronto, Canada
- 2008 — Peinture fraîche / Fresh Paint, Art Mûr, Montréal, Canada
- 2008 — Final Cut (Time-Based Art), Special Projects Gallery, York University, Toronto, Canada
- 2005 — Greg Schnurr Gallery, Walkerton, Canada
- 2004 — Walkerton Juried Art Show, Walkerton, Canada

Artist Projects & Publications
- 1999–2012 — Art of Alex Fischer, www.artofalexfischer.com, Web
- 2011–2012 — Art of Others, www.artofothers.com, Web
- 2011 — Frontline: Interviews with International Contemporary Photo Artists, Xiandai Press, Beijing, Print
- 2011 — Beautiful/Decay, Venus Beach House, Book 5: Psychonauts, Print
- 2011 — Doze Magazine, "Alex Fischer: Viaje Al Espacio Interior," Issue 5: Visionär, Online
- 2011 — ROJO zehn sense forever, Featured Work, Print
- 2011 — CMDJ, Artist Portfolio, Issue 1, Online
- 2010 — Alex Fischer (W9), Published and Designed by Wassenaar: Brampton, Print
- 2009 — Synthesis, BlackFlash Magazine, 27.1, Fall 2009, Print
- 2009 — Sync Resist, Chief Editor and Juror for Publication, Fall 2009, Print
- 2007–2009 — The Oxford Hotel, Artist-Run Space, Toronto, Canada

Awards and Grants
- 2009–2010 — Juried Entry BMO: Art! Invitational Student Art Competition
- 2009–2010 — CASA Initiative Grant, Winter
- 2008 — CASA Initiative Grant, Fall
- 2008 — Willowdale Award for Painting, Toronto, Canada
- 2006–2009 — Ontario Student Opportunity Grant
- 2004 — Drawing Award, Popular Vote Award, Juried Art Show, Walkerton, Canada
- 2003 — 2nd Prize Drawing Award, Juried Art Show, Walkerton, Canada

Bibliography
- 2013 — Carousel Magazine, Alex Fischer "Adaptations" by Rachel Anne Farquharson, Issue 30, Print
- 2012 — MOSSLESS, Featured Artwork and Interview, Issue 2, Print
- 2012 — Bavarian State Opera, Featured Artwork, Max Joseph Nr. 3 2011/12, Print
- 2012 — ArtSync TV, Alex Fischer interviewed by Barbara Isherwood, Video Interview Aired March 2, 2012
- 2012 — Toronto Standard, "Creative Process: Alex Fischer," Jessica Carroll, February 11, 2012, Print
- 2011 — The Walrus, Featured Work, June 2011, Print
- 2011 — ArtBarrage Scene, Alex Fischer "Smarter Today" by Rachel Anne Farquharson, January 13, Web
- 2011 — Painted, Etc., Untitled Feature by Ry David Bradley, January 26, Web
- 2010 — ArtSync, "On Now > Alex Fischer @ O'Born Contemporary," November, Web
- 2010 — YFile, "A visual feast: York art surges into Toronto galleries," April 07, Web
- 2010 — Beautiful/Decay, "Alex Fischer," June 30, Web
- 2010 — Arcademi, "Alex Fischer's Art From Toronto," June 17, Web
- 2009 — BlackFlash, Synthesis, 27.1 Fall 2009, Print
- 2009 — Sync Resist, Featured Work, Issue 1 Fall 2009, Print
- 2009 — BlogTO, "The Toronto Portraits: Alex Fischer," July 14, Web
- 2009 — Unedit My Heart, "Recommended: Alex Fischer & Alina Skyson at O'Born Contemporary," July 14, Web
- 2009 — Steven Goetz Photography, "This is not a bout," June 09, Web
- 2009 — The Walkerton Herald-Times, "WDSS grad wins university painting competition," Volume 149, No 8, Print
- 2009 — YFile, "Visual arts student honored by Willowdale Group," February 18, Web
- 2008 — Vain Magazine, Featured Work, Issue 4, Fall 2008, Print
- 2007 — Excalibur, "Alex Fischer: Making Relations," May 2007, Print

Simulators ⓘ

Simulators