Alan Belcher, "Objects"

Canadian artist Alan Belcher spent a considerable part of his early career in New York as a cofounder of Nature Mort, one of the signature spaces of the vibrant, if short-lived, 1980s East Village gallery scene. He currently lives and works in Toronto, and in this show, his first here in 17 years, he presents two series of paintings. One group consists of small canvases, each depicting a sneaker in profile, some of which are limited editions that attract collectors. Another series of larger paintings feature stock-market performance charts of the sort featured on cable-TV business channels. Together, the works wryly explore the the high and low ends of commodities trading.