Nice Work (If You Get It)
A new subgenre is slowly but surely establishing itself in the nebulous nether regions of Steven Shearer’s art. In addition to both the portraits for which he remains perhaps best known to date—pictures of bands, snapshots of fans, and studies of frontmen culled from the global metal underground—as well as his ongoing exploration of the shifting semantics of manhood and masculinity, a major new iconographic concern has crystallized around the time-honored image of the artist at work, of the work of art—and hence also the artist—in the process of being born, resulting in what may well be the Vancouver-based artist’s most self-reflexive and introspective work to date.
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Two paintings, Bic and Bust (2019) and Feathery Carver (2020), appear to depict sculptors tenderly presenting what we may assume to be the finished products of their labors; their portraits are haunted by the ghost of Pygmalion, and the sculpted head caressed by its maker’s pinkish-red hands in the latter painting is subtly reminiscent of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt’s exuberant exercises in the art of expressing. (Throughout this suite of paintings, the faces of the artists portrayed appear far less expressive than the artworks represented within them: Shearer’s obvious love of Expressionism is made manifest in his paintings-of-paintings rather than in the paintings as such—which, the acrid psychedelia of their swirling colors notwithstanding, make a generally more detached, distanced impression.)
Another painting, simply titled Potter (2021), portrays a bare-chested, long- haired ceramicist at work, captured in front of a shelf groaning under the resultant pottery’s weight. (The in- nards shown on one of these finished vases reminded this viewer of an early acrylic painting of Shearer’s titled Cradle of Filth.) The potter, of course, acts here as a primeval paragon of the very notion of artisthood, calling forth both the dubious specter of “craft” and the philosophical weight accorded to ceramics in the long history of theorizing the origin of art, most notably in Martin Heidegger’s landmark mid-thirties essay “The Origin of the Work of Art”—the source of the aforementioned notion that the artwork is as much the origin of the artist (if not more so!) as vice versa.
Another pair of paintings cuts closer to the bone still: the first is titled Forger’s Offering (2019), the second, programmatically, Working from Life (2018)—a sickly, red-eyed self-portrait of sorts that could be read as the exhibition’s punctum. In it, a close-cropped painter’s face stares out at the living (the title seems to suggest that, in choosing to “work from life,” the artist himself may belong to the ranks of the dead), paintbrush in hand, the left side of his visage obscured by the edge of a canvas of which only the back can be seen here—morbid sha- des, if you will, of Velazquez’ Las Meninas. Working from Life is hung opposite a painting that guides the viewer back to the more familiar terrain of Shearer’s archetypal hard-rockers and metalheads: Wizard (2020) shows a slightly stooped male figure, his gaze defiantly turned our way, urinating against a wall abutting a door covered with the fevered brushwork of an amorphous symbolist landscape painting. The young man sports an oversized patch on the back of his jacket depicting the cover of Black Sabbath’s 1983 album Born Again, a critically pan- ned fan favorite whose cover art regularly shows up in such features as Kerrang!’s “10 Worst Album Sleeves in Metal/Hard Rock.” (“The Wizard,” incidentally, is the title of a classic early Sabbath song). The “wizzer,” of course, is the painter, and Shearer’s portrait of the artist as a young pisser clearly expands the former’s evol- ving ruminations on the ambiguous tangle that ties together manhood and artistry—a history that encompasses Marcel Duchamp’s Paysage Fautif and the foundational ejaculatory gestures of Jackson Pollock’s brand of Ab-Ex along with Andy Warhol’s notoriously collaborative Oxidation Paintings: pictures of artists “at work,” all, even in the most unguarded and private of moments.
Dieter Roelstraete
ACTION
2015
Ink and acrylic on canvas, framed
Varied Edition 1/2
Image 235.5 x 156 cm / 92 5/8 x 61 3/8 in
Frame 245 x 165 x 7.5 cm / 96 1/2 x 65 x 3 in
SHEAS41707
BIRDY BOY
2019
Oil on poly canvas, in artist frame
Image 101.5 x 71 cm / 40 x 28 in
Frame 120.5 x 90 x 4 cm / 47 1/2 x 35 1/2 x 1 5/8 in
SHEAS45463
WORKING FROM LIFE
2018
Oil on linen stretched over panel, in artist frame
Image 33 x 25.5 x 2.5 cm / 13 x 10 x 1 in
Frame 54 x 46.5 x 4.5 cm / 21 1/4 x 18 1/4 x 1 3/4 in
SHEAS44675
THE LATE DIORAMIST AND SONS
2020
Oil and ink on poly canvas, in artist frame
Image 218.5 x 89 x 3 cm / 86 x 35 x 1 1/4 in
Frame 241 x 111.5 x 6 cm / 94 7/8 x 43 7/8 x 2 3/8 in
SHEAS45927
WIZARD
2020
Oil and ink on poly canvas, in artist frame
Image 116 x 72.5 cm / 45 3/4 x 28 1/2 in
Frame 135.5 x 91.5 x 4.5 cm / 53 1/4 x 36 x 1 3/4 in
SHEAS46680
FORGER'S OFFERING
2019
Oil on mounted linen, in artist frame
Image 61 x 46 x 2 cm / 24 x 18 x 3/4 in
Frame 80 x 65 x 4.5 cm / 31 1/2 x 25 1/2 x 1 3/4 in
SHEAS45437
BROKENMAN
2021
Oil on canvas, in artist frame
Image 213 x 60.5 x 3 cm / 83 3/4 x 23 7/8 x 1 1/8 in
Frame 235.5 x 83.5 x 6 cm / 92 3/4 x 32 7/8 x 2 3/8 in
SHEAS48550
CODGERLY FAUVE
2021
Oil on jute, in artist frame
Image 41 x 31 x 2.5 cm / 16 1/8 x 12 1/8 x 1 in
Frame 60 x 49.5 x 4.5 cm / 23 1/2 x 19 1/2 x 1 7/8 in
SHEAS48551
FEATHERY CARVER
2020
Oil with traces of charcoal on jute, in artist frame
Image 66.5 x 51 x 2 cm / 26 1/8 x 20 1/8 x 3/4 in
Frame 85.5 x 70 x 4.5 cm / 33 3/4 x 27 1/2 x 1 3/4 in
SHEAS46681
THE GREEN COLLECTOR
2021
Oil on mounted linen, artist frame
Image 46 x 36 x 2.5 cm / 18 1/8 x 14 1/8 x 1 in
Frame 65.5 x 55.5 x 5.5 cm / 25 3/4 x 21 3/4 x 2 1/8 in
SHEAS48176
FORGER'S DUPE
2020
Oil on linen, streched on panel, in artist frame
Image 46.5 x 36 x 2 cm / 18 1/4 x 14 1/8 x 3/4 in
Frame 65.5 x 55.5 x 5 cm / 25 3/4 x 21 3/4 x 2 in
SHEAS46679
THE COLLECTOR'S VISIT
2019
Oil on linen, in artist frame
Image 35.5 x 28.5 x 2.5 cm / 14 x 11 1/4 x 1 in
Frame 56 x 49.5 x 4 cm / 22 x 19 1/2 x 1 5/8 in
SHEAS45865
POTTER
2021
Oil on linen, in artist frame
Image 159 x 83 x 2.5 cm / 62 5/8 x 32 5/8 x 1 in
Frame 178.5 x 101.5 x 5 cm / 70 1/4 x 39 7/8 x 2 in
SHEAS48552
VULGARIAN'S MUSE
2021
Oil on linen, in artist frame
Image 49 x 39 x 3 cm / 19 1/4 x 15 3/8 x 1 1/8 in
Frame 68 x 57.5 x 6 cm / 26 3/4 x 22 5/8 x 2 3/8 in
SHEAS49081
BIC AND BUST
2019
Oil on linen, in artist frame
Image 56 x 46 x 2 cm / 22 x 18 1/4 x 3/4 in
Frame 75 x 65 x 4.5 cm / 29 1/2 x 25 5/8 x 1 3/4 in
SHEAS46093
STUDY FOR BIRDY BOY
2019
Ink on paper
Sheet 14 x 10.5 cm / 5 5/8 x 4 1/4 in
Frame 43 x 35.5 x 4 cm / 16 7/8 x 14 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49597
STUDY FOR BROKEN MAN
2021
Ink on paper
Sheet 9.5 x 7.5 cm / 3 3/4 x 3 in
Frame 43 x 35.5 x 4 cm / 16 7/8 x 14 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49593
STUDY FOR FORGER'S DUPE
2020
Ink on paper
Sheet 11.5 x 10 cm / 4 1/2 x 3 7/8 in
Frame 39.5 x 32.5 x 4 cm / 15 1/2 x 12 7/8 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49596
STUDY FOR FORGER'S OFFERING
2018
Crayon on paper
Sheet 8 x 6.5 cm / 3 1/4 x 2 1/2 in
Frame 43 x 35.5 x 4 cm / 16 7/8 x 14 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49595
STUDY FOR POTTER II
2019
Ink on paper
Sheet 14 x 8 cm / 5 1/2 x 3 1/8 in
Frame 39 x 32.5 x 4 cm / 15 3/8 x 12 7/8 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49589
J.P.
2020
Ink on paper
Sheet 15 x 12.5 cm / 6 x 5 in
Frame 43 x 35.5 x 4 cm / 16 7/8 x 14 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49592
STUDY FOR POTTER III
2019
Ink on paper
Sheet 6.5 x 4.5 cm / 2 1/2 x 1 7/8 in
Frame 39 x 32.5 x 4 cm / 15 3/8 x 12 7/8 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49590
STUDY FOR THE LATE DIORAMIST AND SONS
2020
Ink on paper
Sheet 16 x 8.5 cm / 6 1/4 x 3 3/8 in
Frame 43 x 35.5 x 4 cm / 16 7/8 x 14 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49594
HEADRESS
2018
Ink on paper
Sheet 12 x 9 cm / 4 5/8 x 3 1/2 in
Frame 43 x 35.5 x 4 cm / 16 7/8 x 14 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS49591
PAINTER IN PROFILE
2013
Ink on paper
Sheet 11.5 x 8 cm / 4 1/2 x 3 1/8 in
Frame 37.5 x 31 x 4 cm / 14 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 1 5/8 in
SHEAS44808
STUDY FOR UNCLE HERMANN
2017
Crayon on paper
Sheet 9.5 x 7 cm / 3 3/4 x 2 3/4 in
Frame 37.5 x 31 x 4 cm / 14 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS44791
STUDY FOR SCULPTOR AND SATYR
2016
Ink on paper
Sheet 9.5 x 8 cm / 3 3/4 x 3 1/4 in
Frame 37.5 x 31 x 4 cm / 14 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS44796
PLOPPER
2014
Ink on paper
Sheet 8.5 x 10.5 cm / 3 1/4 x 4 1/8 in
Frame 37.5 x 31 x 4 cm / 14 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS44807
FRUSTRATED PAINTER
2016
Ink on paper
Sheet 9 x 7.5 cm / 3 5/8 x 3 in
Frame 37.5 x 31 x 4 cm / 14 3/4 x 12 1/4 x 1 1/2 in
SHEAS44814
TORSO TONGUE
2020
Ink on paper, framed
Sheet 14 x 10.5 cm / 5 1/2 x 4 1/8 in
Frame 32.5 x 39 cm / 12 7/8 x 15 1/2 in
SHEAS47075
WOMEN I, STUDY FOR THE ORNAMENTALIST AND APPRENTICE
2009
Pastel pencil on paper
Sheet 31.5 x 24 cm / 12 3/8 x 9 1/2 in
Frame 54 x 45 x 4 cm / 21 1/4 x 17 3/4 x 1 5/8 in
SHEAS45208
WOMEN II, STUDY FOR THE ORNAMENTALIST AND APPRENTICE
2009
Pastel pencil on paper
Sheet 32 x 24 cm / 12 5/8 x 9 1/2 in
Frame 54 x 45 x 4 cm / 21 1/4 x 17 3/4 x 1 5/8 in
SHEAS45209
Steven Shearer was born in 1968 in New Westminster, BC, CA, and lives and works in Vancouver, BC, CA. Shearer will be the subject of a solo exhibition at Polygon Gallery, Vancouver, CA, in November 2021 and will participate in a group exhibition titled Dark Light In the Age of Post Truth at the Aïshti Foundation, Jal El Dib, LB, in the fall of 2021. Shearer represented Canada at the 54th International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia (2011), and has been the subject of solo exhibitions at institutions including The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, CT, US (2017); Riva Collection, London, UK (2016); MUCA Gallery, University Museum of Arts and Sciences, Mexico City, MX (2008); New Museum, New York, NY, US (2008); The Power Plant, Toronto, ON, CA (2007); Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK (2007); and De Appel. Center for Contemporary Art, Amsterdam, NL (2007). Shearer’s work has been featured in group exhibitions at institutions including Palais de Tokyo, Paris, FR; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, CA; Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, CA; Justina M Barnicke Gallery, University of Toronto, Toronto, CA; Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, US; Aïshti Foundation, Antelias, LB; Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg, BE; MuHKA Museum voor Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen, Antwerp, BE; and Kunstforum Ostdeutsche Galerie, Regensburg, DE. In 2005, Shearer was presented with a VIVA Award and in 2006, he was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award. His works have been collected by major institutions including the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, ON, CA; Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, BC, CA; and The Brant Foundation Art Study Center, Greenwich, CT, US.
