Brian Belott

“I’ve always liked the lost archaeological data, stuff that is not the main event, not the top of the box, but just someone’s pocketbook that fell during an opera.”

– Brian Belott

Gavin Brown’s Enterprise presents a solo exhibition of Brian Belott, the artist’s second

A main feature in the exhibition will be Belott’s never-before-exhibited frozen artworks – compositions of commercial grade ultra-color derived from the detritus of a culture of consumption. These works, made from store bought materials embedded in solid H2O, are installed in industrial freezers throughout the gallery.

Other series by Belott, such as Puuuuuuuuuffs, will also be on view. The works are over-stuffed paper sandwiches, bursting with thick cotton batting, handmade and found objects – such as box fans and blow dryers, all switched on throughout the duration of the show.

Additional works featured in the exhibition will include Belott’s sand and rock encrusted calculators and remotes. Belott gives these moribund technological gadgets new life – erasing their original functions and transforming them with extracts from the earth into talismans filled with potential magic.

Selected Mustard Drawings, Ch-ch-ch-chowder Jackets, Shower Drawings, artist books, as well as various drawings, collages and paintings that blend decorative absurdity with cultivated formalism will also be on view.

Brian Belott is the self-appointed “Master of Discard.” He scours thrift shops and 99 cent stores for materials to manipulate through paintings, collages and performances that breathe new life into the banality of everyday existence. His work has been exhibited internationally in galleries and institutions such as Gavin Brown’s enterprise, New York; White Columns, New York; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; Canada Gallery, New York; The Jewish Museum, New York; MoCAD, Detroit; The Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield; and Musee d'Art Moderne, Saint-Etienne. Recent solo performances include those at the Serpentine Galleries, London (2016) and Performa 17, New York (2017). Belott's work is currently included in the exhibitions An Unstoppable Force at the COBRA Museum, Amstelveen and The Artist Is Present at the Yuz Museum, Shanghai. In January 2019, Belott will curate a show featuring works by child educator, scholar and artist Rhoda Kellogg at White Columns, New York. Belott (b. 1973 in East Orange, New Jersey) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.