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Barbed wire, steel and plastic, 2006 - 2008 Approximately 430cm in height (The finished work will be exhibited at the artists studio in late September, 2008)
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TIM SHAWBorn in Belfast, 1964, Tim Shaw studied Fine Art at Falmouth College of Art and Manchester Polytechnic. He exhibits widely in the UK and has undertaken major sculpture commissions including his large scale Rites of Dionysus series (life size mythical creatures made from beaten copper) for The Eden Project, Cornwall, and The Minotaur for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London. For many years Shaw worked from his studio in Cornwall, with periods spent working in Spain and in Greece. In 2006 he was awarded the prestigious Kenneth Armitage Sculpture Fellowship, allowing him to live and work at Armitage's purpose built Victorian sculpture studio in West London. One of his larger than life figures Silenus, was attacked and badly damaged by an enraged spectator at an exhibition of the artists work in Cornwall. Shaw's recent series of sculptures have been a direct response to media coverage and imagery of the Iraq war.
Financial Times article 10th November 2008 Excerpts from the Fnancial Times chief art critic Jackie Wullschlager, 10th November The most politically charged yet poetically resonant new work on show in London now is Tim Shaw's Casting A Dark Democracy . Empathetic yet implicating us all, "Casting A Dark Democracy" is one of too few works to engage unequivocally with the reality and human cost of the Iraq war. It ought to stand on the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square, or in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, or in Tate Britain's Duveen Gallery, where Martin Creed's runners now make a trite mockery of public art. Tim Shaw, 'Casting A Dark Democracy', Kenneth Armitage Foundation, London W14, to November 29, tel 020 7603 5200 For details of article please click here
The following text has been taken from the introduction to Tim Shaw's 2008 exhibition catalogue - 'Future History' Thank God therefore for Tim Shaw - he stands out like an indestructible lighthouse built on rock in this sea of trivia. Why ? Because he is his own man - he takes risks – he is engaged in a dialogue with the real world and therefore his work has meaning – his work demonstrates unequivocally that he has passion and – importantly - that he is compassionate. He has great integrity and is lucky enough to be very skilled in many reaches of the difficult and demanding profession called sculpture – and have the physique and stamina for it . Tim Shaw is the genuine article - someone who has irrevocably committed his life to art. The symbiosis that exists between his work and his being is remarkable – I think the fact that he is from Northern Ireland is relevant – his work is tough and insistant –a bit like the cadences of Northern Irish speech-patterns. His work is atavistic -as he is himself – I can’t get it out of my mind that I have seen his face somewhere amongst the hundreds of photos I have looked at of WW1 soldiers staring back from the trenches and I’m sure I‘ve seen him in a Rennaisance Fresco somewhere." Michael Sandle RA
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'Man on Fire' and 'Tank on Fire' are inspired by photo journalistic images of world conflict. Three versions of 'Man on Fire' have been created in the past year, the first version was shown at Sherbourne Open Exhibition several days after the terrorist fire bomb attack on Glasgow Airport 30th June 2007. The third version is a hypothetical proposal for The Fourth Plinth at London's Trafalgar Square. The title 'What God of Love Inspires Such Hatred in the Hearts of Men' is inscribed on the side of the plinth; sump oil spills down over the edge of the box. The work depicts the figure of a man lunging uncontrollably forward consumed by the flames. The subject could be a self-igniting suicide bomber or the victim of a petrol bombing. Tank on Fire' depicts a soldier diving from a tank that is engulfed in flames. The work refers to the series of photographs taken in Basra in 2004, showing a soldier leaping to the ground from a burning Warrior vehicle. These shocking images have a macabre appeal; they are deeply compelling also because the scene is medieval in character. During the making of this piece, I met some of the soldiers from a tank battalion that had fought in Iraq. |
Man on Fire: What God of Love |
Detail of Man on Fire: What God
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Casting a Dark Democracy |
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Listening to their experiences, one becomes acutely aware of the plight of each individual within the frame of that newspaper photograph- the anger and resentment felt by a disempowered population towards a foreign occupying force and that of the soldiers whose job it is to stay alive in such situations. Making both of these work, I tried to imagine the dreaded thoughts and feelings that would inevitably race through the mind off someone who is being consumed by fire, of someone who is caught between two worlds, that of life and death - the panic associated with the instinct to stay alive and the dreaded terror of losing one's life Above text taken from Tim Shaw's 'Artist Statement' |
Tank on Fire
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Minotaur
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Funerary Figure |
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Funerary Figures (detail)
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Fertility Figure: With Pointed Head
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Fertility Figure: Antlers Held in Hand |
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Fertility Figures: Antlers Held in Hand
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Fertility Figures: Antlers Held to Head
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Fertility Figure |
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Fertility Figures |
Fertility Figures
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Two Ravens
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Casting a Dark Democracy
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Shroud
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Shroud |
Shroud |
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Shroud
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