Artist statement
Tim Shaw is one of the great storytellers of British art. No one takes on the contradictions of representation through making in a post-industrial age in quite the way he does.
Shaw ploughs a wilfully solitary, contradictory furrow. Schooled in heavy metal casting, part of the British tradition of monumental sculpture going back centuries, he attacks materials and subjects in a way that feels totally contemporary, creating environments which include sound, light and FX, drawing on rave culture. The tension between tradition and nowness, between solidity and nightmarish breakdown, is an organic part of this artist's worldview, whether he's looking at the atrocities of Abu Ghraib or the sense of primal ritual latent in the landscape surrounding his studio in the remote west of England.
Shaw's work is often political in nature as well as being both mythical and metaphysical. Connecting these elements is a sense that the work relates to both ancient and modern humanity. He works across a range of different mediums and scale, creating single free-standing forms, as well as large-scale, multi-sensory installations.
Mark Hudson
Solo exhibitions
- 2012 Why bother with the truth when the myth is more important, Riflemaker, London
- 2012 Parliament, Jam Records, Falmouth
- 2011 Origins of The Drummer, Millennium Gallery, St Ives
- 2008 Casting a Dark Democracy, Kenneth Armitage Foundation, London
- 2008 Kenneth Armitage Foundation, Kensington, London
- 2008 Future History, Goldfish Fine Art, Penzance
- 2006 No Title, Goldfish Fine Art, Penzance
- 2005 Truro Cathedral, Truro, Cornwall
- 2000 Broomhill Art Hotel, Broomhill, Devon
- 1999 Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
- 1997 Duncan Campbell, London
- 1995 Falmouth College of Art, Cornwall
- 1995 Duncan Campbell, London
- 1992 Albemarle Gallery, London
Group exhibitions
- 2013 Dark Rooms, Old School Helston, Cornwall
- 2012 The Summer Show, The Royal Academy, London
- 2012 Sculptors' Drawings, Pangolin Gallery, London
- 2012 PiH Contemporaries Auction, Bonhams, London
- 2012 Launch Exhibition, Threadneedle Space, London
- 2011 The Summer Show, The Royal Academy, London
- 2011 The Exquisite Trove, Newlyn Gallery, Cornwall
- 2010 The House of Fairytales, Millennium Gallery, Cornwall
- 2010 Material Worlds, F.E. McWilliams Gallery, Ireland
- 2009 In The Mix, Pangolin Gallery, London
- 2009 Volta, Art Basel, Riflemaker Gallery
- 2008 Threadneedle Prize, Mall Galleries, London
- 2008 London Art Fair, Islington, London
- 2008 Spring Exhibition, 108 Fine Art, Harrogate
- 2008 Mixed / No Theme, Goldfish Fine Art, Penzance
- 2007 London Art Fair, Islington, London
- 2007 Art Now Cornwall?, Goldfish Fine Art, Penzance
- 2007 Stuff Art, Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
- 2007 Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London
- 2007 Margins, Sherborne House Open 07, Sherborne, Dorset
- 2007 Politics Pays Back, Kowalsky Gallery @ DACS, London
- 2007 Move, Goldfish Fine Art at Vyner Street, London
- 2006 Spontaneous Combustion, Newlyn Society of Artists Summer Show, Goldfish Fine Art
- 2006 Visiting Picasso, Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
- 2006 Spring Show, Goldfish Fine Art, Penzance
- 2006 London Art Fair, Islington, London
- 2006 Draws On – Painters vs. Sculptors, Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
- 2006 Draws On – Painters vs. Sculptors, Falmouth Art Gallery, Cornwall
- 2005 Winter Show, Newlyn Society of Artists, Cornwall
- 2005 Christmas Show, Goldfish Fine Art, Penzance
- 2005 Royal Ulster Academy, Ulster Museum, Ulster
- 2005 Critic’s Choice, Newlyn Society of Artists, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro
- 2005 London Art Fair, Islington, London
- 2005 Mixed Show, Byard Art, Cambridge
- 2005 Mixed Show, Mullan Gallery, Belfast
- 2005 Newlyn Society of Artists Easter Show, Thompsons Gallery, London
- 2004 Drawing the Line, Newlyn Art Gallery, Cornwall
- 2004 Christmas Show, Goldfish Fine Art, Penzance
- 2004 Winter Show, Campden Gallery, Gloucester
- 2004 On the Wall, (central art feature), London
- 2004 Exhibiting, Bath Fringe Festival, Bath
- 2004 Fragments of Life, Campden Gallery, Gloucester
- 2004 Easter Show, Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall
- 2004 Summer Open Exhibition, South West Academy, Exeter
- 2003 Truro Museum, Truro, Cornwall
- 2003 Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall
- 2003 Identity, Newlyn Society of Artists, Cornwall
- 2003 Art 2003 London, Lemon Street Gallery, London
- 2003 Summer Open Exhibition, South West Academy, Exeter
- 2002 Badcocks Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall
- 2002 Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall
- 2001 Badcocks Gallery, Newlyn, Cornwall
- 2001 Lemon Street Gallery, Truro, Cornwall
- 2001 Obsession, Newlyn Society of Artists, Cornwall
- 2000 Art 2000, Gordon Hepworth Gallery, London
- 2000 Art 2000, London
- 1999 Courcoux and Courcoux, Stockbridge
- 1999 Art 99, London
- 1998 London Contemporary Art Fair
- 1998 Falmouth Open Studios, Cornwall
- 1997 Taylor Galleries, Dublin, Ireland
- 1997 Five Way Artists, Brighton Festival, Brighton
- 1997 One Oxford Street Gallery, Belfast
- 1997 The Discerning Eye, London
- 1996 Casa Manilva Artists Show, Manilva, Spain
- 1994 London Contemporary Art Fair
- 1994 Caldwell's Gallery, Belfast
- 1993 Northampton Museum and Gallery, Northampton
- 1993 Images of Christ, St Pauls Cathedral, London
- 1993 Artists of Promise, Bonhams, London
- 1992 The Working Process, Newlyn Gallery, Cornwall
- 1990 Albemarle Gallery Summer Show, London
- 1985 The Otter Gallery, Belfast
Public commissions
- 2012 The Green Man, Antony Estate, Torpoint
- 2011 The Drummer, Cornwall Council, Lemon Quay, Truro
- 2008 The Minotaur, The Royal Opera House, London
- 2008 The Minotaur, The Royal Opera House, London
- 2004 The Rites of Dionysus, Eden Project, Cornwall
Personal website
