# Steven Shearer
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{{Short description|Canadian contemporary artist}}
{{Infobox artist
| name = Steven Shearer
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| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1968}}
| birth_place = New Westminster, British Columbia
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| known_for = multimedia artist
| training = [Emily Carr University of Art and Design](/source/Emily_Carr_University_of_Art_and_Design)
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'''Steven Shearer''' (born 1968) is a [contemporary artist](/source/contemporary_artist) based in [Vancouver](/source/Vancouver), [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), part of the photoconceptualism scene of the Vancouver School.
==Work==
Shearer attended [Emily Carr University](/source/Emily_Carr_University) in Vancouver, and then painted work which combined text and geometry.[{{cite journal |last1=Arden |first1=Roy |title=Steven Shearer: Swinging Lumpen/ Recent work by Steven Shearer rocks the conventions of high art |journal=Canadian Art |date= 2001|pages=44–48|url= http://ccca.concordia.ca/c/writing/a/arden/arden003t.html|access-date=2021-07-23}}
] After 1996, he returned to figurative art in his paintings and other work, focusing on youth, alienation, aggression, melancholy, and [heavy metal](/source/heavy_metal_(music)).[{{cite journal |last1=Chan |first1=Zoë |title=Young Folk: Steven Shearer's Heavy Metal Youth and Culture |journal=ETC |date=2011 |issue=92 |pages=23–28 |url=https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/64263ac |access-date=2021-07-25}}] Critics speak of his sources in his painting and drawings being artists such as [Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec](/source/Henri_de_Toulouse-Lautrec) or [Edvard Munch](/source/Edvard_Munch).[{{cite web |title=NGC: Steven Shearer, 1900 and the 2011 Venice Biennale |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmMkTFH4gPU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/CmMkTFH4gPU |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|website=www.youtube.com |publisher=National Gallery of Canada |access-date=2021-07-24}}{{cbignore}}] His drawings in particular examine what has been called a sub-culture and some themes of victimization.[{{cite web |last1=Feuerhelm |first1=Brad |title=Steven Shearer: Ornament is Not a Crime. It is a Crypt |url=https://americansuburbx.com/2017/02/steven-shearer-ornament-is-not-a-crime-it-is-a-crypt.html |website=americansuburbx.com |publisher=ASX |access-date=2021-07-24}}] In [Artforum](/source/Artforum) in 2005, [Matthew Higgs](/source/Matthew_Higgs) affectionately called Shearer the "bastard offspring of the [Photo-conceptualists](/source/Vancouver_school)."[{{cite journal |last1=Campbell |first1=Deborah |title=Steven Shearer: Bastard Offspring of the Photoconceptualists |journal=Canadian Art |date=Fall 2005 |pages=94–97 |url=https://canadianart.ca/features/steven-shearer-bastard-offspring/ |access-date=2021-07-24}}] As one critic wrote:
Shearer's subject matter centres on youth, alienation and barely repressed violence. It is a world inhabited by death-metal rockers, 1970s prefab boy bands and teen stars, glam-rockers and guitar-wielding teenaged suburban dreamers who−we know from their bad hair and bad skin and shabby domestic surroundings−will never make it, no matter how often they practise "Stairway to Heaven."
Steven Shearer's breakthrough year was 2007, when Birmingham's [Ikon Gallery](/source/Ikon_Gallery) gave him his first major European-institution exhibition, curated by Nigel Prince and Helena Reckitt, produced in collaboration with Toronto's [The Power Plant](/source/The_Power_Plant), which showed the exhibition as well.[{{cite web |title=Steven Shearer |url=https://www.ikon-gallery.org/event/steven-shearer |website=www.ikon-gallery.org |publisher=Ikon Gallery |access-date=2021-07-24}}] This major survey included recent works and key pieces from the past decade.[{{cite web |title=Steven Shearer |url=https://www.thepowerplant.org/Exhibitions/2007/2007_Winter/Steven-Shearer.aspx |website=www.thepowerplant.org |publisher=The Power Plant |access-date=2021-07-24}}] In the catalogue,[{{cite book |title=Steven Shearer |date=2007 |publisher=Power Plant, Toronto |url=http://library.gallery.ca/record=b1229073~S1 |access-date=2021-07-26}}] Helena Reckitt wrote:
Drawn to scrappily resistant forms of expression, Shearer celebrates the anger, aggression and creativity that bubble beneath the surface of polite society. Like other Vancouver artists before him, he revels in the detritus of everyday life, associating discarded objects and degraded media with social outsiders. His mural, billboard, and poster poems inspired by scatological and blasphemous Heavy Metal lyrics and song titles present visions of the nihilistic sublime that would be disturbing if they weren't so entertainingly hyperbolic.
In 2021, a series of Shearer's photographic works referring to historical paintings was removed from a popular walking and cycling route along Vancouver's West Side due to complaints from the public. The reclining and sleeping figures were part of a 2021 Capture Photography Festival public art exhibition.[{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Charlie |title=Vancouver artist Steven Shearer's images removed from Arbutus Greenway after public complaints |url=https://www.straight.com/arts/vancouver-artist-steven-shearers-images-removed-from-arbutus-greenway-after-public-complaints |website=www.straight.com |publisher=Straight, 2021 |access-date=2021-05-13}}] Capture convened an international group of arts professionals to discuss the controversy with attendance by Zoom.[{{cite web |title=Capture Convenes Panel on Steven Shearer Arbutus Greenway Controversy |url=https://www.ecuad.ca/news/2021/capture-convenes-panel-on-steven-shearer-arbutus-greenway-controversy |website=www.ecuad.ca |publisher=Emily Carr University, Vancouver |access-date=2021-07-26}}]
== Selected public exhibitions ==
Shearer's work has been exhibited internationally, including at the [Tate Modern](/source/Tate_Modern) in London (2005), the [Renaissance Society](/source/Renaissance_Society) in [Chicago](/source/Chicago) (2005), [The New Museum](/source/The_New_Museum) in New York (2008), [Galerie Eva Presenhuber](/source/Galerie_Eva_Presenhuber) in Zurich (2005–2021), and the [Barbara Gladstone Gallery](/source/Barbara_Gladstone) in New York (2020).[[http://www.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Intro.All-The-Pretty-Corpses.91.html Steven Shearer at the Renaissance Society] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720143702/http://www.renaissancesociety.org/site/Exhibitions/Intro.All-The-Pretty-Corpses.91.html |date=2011-07-20 }}] In 2011, he represented Canada at the 54th International [Venice Biennale](/source/Venice_Biennale) in a show titled ''Exhume to Consume''.[{{cite web |title=Steven Shearer |url=https://www.contemporaryartgallery.ca/exhibitions/steven-shearer |website=www.contemporaryartgallery.ca |publisher=Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver |access-date=2021-07-24}}] as well as included in ''Shore, Forest and Beyond: Art from the Audain Collection'' at the [Vancouver Art Gallery](/source/Vancouver_Art_Gallery) (2011) ''1+1=1'; When Collections Collide'' at the [Montreal Museum of Fine Arts](/source/Montreal_Museum_of_Fine_Arts) (2014); and in the Canadian Biennial at the [National Gallery of Canada](/source/National_Gallery_of_Canada), Ottawa (2017).[{{cite web |title=Steven Shearer |url=https://capturephotofest.com/artists/steven-shearer |website=capturephotofest.com |publisher=Capture |access-date=2021-07-24}}] In 2022, his work was exhibited in a solo show at The Polygon Gallery, North Vancouver.[{{cite web |title=Exhibitions |url=https://thepolygon.ca/exhibition/steven-shearer |website=thepolygon.ca |publisher=The Polygon |access-date=21 October 2023}}] He has been represented by [Galerie Eva Presenhuber](/source/Galerie_Eva_Presenhuber) in Zurich since 2005. In addition, his work has been on You Tube.[{{cite web |title=Steven Shearer kijken |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgAez7lE7yU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/JgAez7lE7yU |archive-date=2021-12-20 |url-status=live|website=www.youtube.com |publisher=You Tube, 2018 |access-date=2021-07-24}}{{cbignore}}]
== Awards ==
In 2005, he was presented with a Viva Award and in 2006, he was shortlisted for the Sobey Art Award.