George Shaw (artist)
Encyclopedia
George Shaw is an Ilfracombe
-based contemporary art
ist who is noted for his highly detailed naturalistic
approach and English
suburban subject matter. His favoured medium is Humbrol
enamel paint
s, which lend his work a unique appearance as they are more commonly used to paint Airfix
models.
He first attracted attention for painting the estate where he grew up in the 1970s, in the Tile Hill
suburb of Coventry
. Shaw studied art at Sheffield Polytechnic and received a BA in 1992. In 1998 he completed an MA in painting from London's Royal College of Art
. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize
in 2011.
Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe is a seaside resort and civil parish on the North Devon coast, England with a small harbour, surrounded by cliffs.The parish stretches along the coast from 'The Coastguard Cottages' in Hele Bay toward the east and 4 miles along The Torrs to Lee Bay toward the west...
-based contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
ist who is noted for his highly detailed naturalistic
Naturalism (art)
Naturalism in art refers to the depiction of realistic objects in a natural setting. The Realism movement of the 19th century advocated naturalism in reaction to the stylized and idealized depictions of subjects in Romanticism, but many painters have adopted a similar approach over the centuries...
approach and English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
suburban subject matter. His favoured medium is Humbrol
Humbrol
Humbrol Limited was a British manufacturer of model kits, toys and paints, producing under its own brand and the Airfix, Sky Marks, Young Scientist, 1st Gear, High Speed and W. Britain brands...
enamel paint
Enamel paint
Enamel paint is paint that air dries to a hard, usually glossy, finish, used for coating surfaces that are outdoors or otherwise subject to hard wear or variations in temperature; it should not be confused with decorated objects in "painted enamel", where vitreous enamel is applied with brushes and...
s, which lend his work a unique appearance as they are more commonly used to paint Airfix
Airfix
Airfix is a UK manufacturer of plastic scale model kits of aircraft and other subjects. In Britain, the name Airfix is synonymous with the hobby, a plastic model of this type is often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even if made by another manufacturer....
models.
He first attracted attention for painting the estate where he grew up in the 1970s, in the Tile Hill
Tile Hill
Tile Hill is a suburb in the west of Coventry, West Midlands, England.It is mostly residential and partly industrial, with some common land and wooded areas....
suburb of Coventry
Coventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
. Shaw studied art at Sheffield Polytechnic and received a BA in 1992. In 1998 he completed an MA in painting from London's Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
. He was shortlisted for the Turner Prize
Turner Prize
The Turner Prize, named after the painter J. M. W. Turner, is an annual prize presented to a British visual artist under the age of 50. Awarding the prize is organised by the Tate gallery and staged at Tate Britain. Since its beginnings in 1984 it has become the United Kingdom's most publicised...
in 2011.
Solo exhibitions
- 2011 "George Shaw: I woz ere," Herbert Art Gallery & MuseumHerbert Art Gallery and MuseumHerbert Art Gallery & Museum is a museum, art gallery, records archive, learning centre and creative arts facility on Jordan Well, Coventry, United Kingdom....
, Coventry. - 2011 "The Sly and Unseen Day," BALTIC Centre for Contemporary ArtBALTIC Centre for Contemporary ArtThe Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is an international centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne alongside the Gateshead Millennium Bridge in Gateshead, North East England, United Kingdom...
, Gateshead. - 2010 "Looking for Baz, Shaz, Gaz and Daz," VOID, Derry, Northern Ireland.
- 2009 "Woodsman," Wilkinson Gallery, London.
- 2008 "The End of the World," Galerie Hussenot, Paris.
- 2007 "Poets Day," Kunstverein Freiburg, Breisgau, Germany.
- 2007 "A Day for a small Poet," Clough Hanson Gallery, Rhodes CollegeRhodes CollegeRhodes College is a private, predominantly undergraduate, liberal arts college located in Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Originally founded by freemasons in 1848, Rhodes became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in 1855. Rhodes enrolls approximately 1,700 students pursuing bachelor's and master's...
, Memphis. - 2006 "Poets Day," Centre d'Art Contemporain, Geneva.
- 2005 "Ash Wednesday," Wilkinson Gallery, London.
- 2004 What I Did This Summer, Dundee Contemporary Arts, DundeeDundeeDundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 39th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea...
. - 2003 What I Did This Summer, Ikon GalleryIkon GalleryThe Ikon Gallery is an English gallery of contemporary art, located in Brindleyplace, Birmingham. It is housed in the Grade II listed, neo-gothic former Oozells Street Board School, designed by John Henry Chamberlain in 1877. The gallery's current director is Jonathan Watkins.Ikon was set up to...
, BirminghamBirminghamBirmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
and Newlyn Art Gallery, PenzancePenzancePenzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
. - 2001 The New Life, Anthony Wilkinson Gallery, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. - 2000 MorrisseyMorrisseySteven Patrick Morrissey , known as Morrissey, is an English singer and lyricist. He rose to prominence in the 1980s as the lyricist and vocalist of the alternative rock band The Smiths. The band was highly successful in the United Kingdom but broke up in 1987, and Morrissey began a solo career,...
vs Francis BaconFrancis Bacon (painter)Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
, Nunnery Gallery, London. - 1999 Of Innocence: Scenes From the Passion, Antony Wilkinson Gallery, London.
- 1998 God Only Knows, Hockney Gallery, Royal College of ArtRoyal College of ArtThe Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
, London.
External links
- Channel 4 article: The Late George Shaw
- http://www.ikon-gallery.co.uk/programme/past/event/123/what_i_did_this_summer/
- http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/rbotoole/entry/george_shaw_coventry/
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/gallery/2011/feb/13/art-george-shaw-in-pictures
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2011/feb/13/george-shaw-tile-hill-baltic-interview
- BBC Coventry & Warwickshire: Turner Prize nominee George Shaw exhibits in home city