For Allan McCollum, the 1980s were the defining decade for his body of work, in which he conceived of his most iconic series of mass-produced objects and self-referential systems. 

As one of the most influential names in American conceptual art, Allan McCollum has developed his artistic process since the 1970s around transforming the dichotomy of the relationship between producer and receiver. Central to this was the artistic and sociological investigation of the individual within processes of mass production. To that extent, McCollum‘s works are often characterized by an extreme accumulation of individual parts—drawings or sculptural objects—with the aim of transcending such social categorizations as education and class which often divide audiences in their reception. This defining characteristic of his now considerable oeuvre truly took form in the 1980s, the decade in which McCollum developed some of his most well-known bodies of work. In this Art Basel OVR we showcase four of these iconic series: Perpetual Photos (1982), Plaster Surrogates (1982), Perfect Vehicles (1985), and Drawings (1988). Our presentation coincides with Allan McCollum's retrospective at the ICA Miami, which could not open this spring, due to COVID-19. The exhibition Allan McCollum: Works Since 1969 is now finally open through January 17th, 2021.