Alastair Gordon’s most recent exhibition Without Borders, curated by John Silvis, is featured on Aleph Contemporary’s online platform starting July 1, 2020.

Gordon’s new paintings are informed by his ongoing investigation of the collage medium in the privacy of his studio and vast archive of sketchbooks. He states that the genesis of this new direction manifested itself in the form of a question: “What would I make if I didn’t have the pressure of an exhibition deadline or the expectations of art collectors?” Enter the reality of new normal—the Covid-19 lockdown and social distancing rules provided unprecedented time in the studio—prompted him to take fresh liberties with his work. The paintings that materialized from this exercise push the collage process front and center, making it the definitive aesthetic of these complex and raw paintings. The directness of the frenetic mark-making, applied fragments of drawings and oil paint, astutely captures the experience of shifting realities amidst a global pandemic. The images in Without Borders began two years ago during a trip to Calais, France, where he led workshops for refugee artists in the Jungle Camp. Working with rudimentary art materials and the detritus of the refugee shelter, his collages transmitted the energy of this context. By tearing up older works and re-imagining an unscripted approach to painting, his collage paintings are imbued with a poignant immediacy.