Alexander Pelouch

My work is inherently multidisciplinary and shifting with an anchor in painting and video-art. Working in and around Glasgow, I explore themes of monstrosity as a means of embodiment through conflicting moods, visuals and formats.

I constantly bounce between humour and discomfort, my strategy being to use comicality and wit to reel the viewer in then ambush them with more grotesque and intense narratives of fetishisation, dehumanisation and self-hatred. I believe that fun is one of the most powerful means of resistance within a harshening political climate and the ever-present lens of what is and is not considered ‘fine art’, and I use that energy to explore these harsh themes more openly, stripping them of their crushing weight .

Though my work can be grotesque, that is not its only purpose. I deliberately blur the line between vulgarity and allure, both to demand that attention is given and time is spent, but also to serve as a wink-wink to those who are in the know. I attempt to walk the line between keeping those who oppose marginalised bodies out – and uncomfortable, and those who are monstrous – in and celebrated in an un-sanitised, un-policed light.
I use the term ‘monstrosity’ with a strong ground of research and lived experience, backing my use with thinking from theorists, authors and activists like Susan Stryker and Leslie Feinberg to delve into what it means exactly to be monstrous.

I construct and deconstruct the monster by pulling from popular fiction and art history to mold characters, often camp and theatrical in nature to create costumes, sculpture, paintings and video, directing performances from behind the camera and infront. Figuration is extremely important to my work, it allows me to examine my own bodily autonomy, social norms, binary constructs, and audience perception through creatures and characters and more traditional visual languages, often combining the two.
My main goal is to pursue my own curiosity to its fullest extent, whatever that may mean at any given time.