Alec Shepley

I take as my starting point Michael Philipson’s call to uncover those spaces that culture has not reached or to take Philipson further, to excavate those spaces or gaps that culture has somehow forgotten or that progress has left behind. By everyday practices such as walking, cleaning, tracing or sweeping the lines and contours of openings, cracks and delineations, I hope to expose something between art and life - even if only momentarily.

My work originates in what Siegfried Kracauer referred to as seemingly purposeless and empty moments which infiltrate everyday life such as that of the pedestrian, the commuter or the person waiting in the queue

Through processes which extend and stretch the language of painting and sculpture into video, performance and installation, his works become more a means of encounter rather than an end in themselves, providing a document of art as social engagement. Through intertwining reality and fiction, he engages in urban pilgrimages and improvised sites of engagement, which often draw in members of the public.