Shelby Shadwell | VISCERAL
September 11 - October 3
Artist Statement
Shelby Shadwell’s work consists of large-scale charcoal and pastel drawings of non-traditional imagery such as gut piles left over from big game hunts, space blankets used in emergency situations to stay warm, and pieces of black anthracite coal. The drawings may elicit feelings of disgust or revulsion and awe or ecstasy simultaneously due to the contrast between the vulgarity or ephemerality of the imagery juxtaposed with its meticulous, hyper-realistic, rendering. Among other things, Shelby’s work allows viewers space to ask questions about low and high status in artistic subject matter and romantic tropes in historical and contemporary western art.
SPACE BLANKETS
I am making large scale charcoal and pastel drawings of space blankets (aka solar blankets, emergency blankets, thermal blankets, etc) which are made of a compact lightweight material used to regulate temperatures of things like spacecraft and human bodies in cold circumstances. One might see them packed in a first aid kit for camping or, more poignantly in recent years, wrapped around migrants detained in camps near the border between the US and Mexico. While the material is cheap and rather flimsy, it has a brilliant sparkling appearance reminiscent of precious stones or metals, thus evoking something like “fool’s gold”. Due to its similarity to material found at the crash site near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, the blankets may also refer to a shared cultural fascination with space travel and the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. The subject also maintains themes from previous bodies of work such as the representation of abstract folds and contours in the material can evoke pareidolia, or the perception of recognizable form in a random conglomeration or patternicity of things. I maintain an interest in the implications of how the human mind, as a kind of inference engine, seeks to find patterns where they may or may not exist and how that can lead to the proliferation of things like conspiracy theories.
VISCERAL
I am making drawings of gut piles from game animals such as pronghorn, deer, and elk. The work is a natural progression from previous creative research exploring personal and collective fears and anxieties.The impetus for depicting these subjects is my interest in the ethical implications involved around the act of hunting and in the consumption of animals more generally. Although I am part of the hunting community, I am trying not to be didactic or moralizing with the work in any way. Instead, my aim is to be visually poetic, drawing attention to conflicts in the human condition and asking viewers to question preconceived notions
on all sides of these and adjacent issues.
I continue to examine ideas of low and high status in artistic subject matter as well as normative experience. These drawings may illicit feelings of disgust or revulsion and awe or ecstasy simultaneously due to the contrast between the vulgarity of the imagery juxtaposed with its meticulous rendering. This effect is what I refer to as a kind of reverse sublimity. I am also thinking about how base bodily functions, like eating or mating, are intensely strange, grotesque, and almost alien when thought about in a certain context. Nevertheless, nature compels us to engage in and relish these activities since our continued existence depends on it.
There is a connection between the works’ form and content in terms of fragility. Charcoal, made of once living things, is a tenuous medium at best, prone to structural decay over time, while animal viscera, left in the field, is absorbed back into the ecosystem almost overnight. Both are deeply ephemeral concepts in relation to life, death, and the precariousness of existence. I am also challenging tropes in western art more broadly by depicting these animals from the inside out as opposed to the romanticized versions one sees in countless landscapes throughout history. As opposed to documenting the hunt through a posed picture, or “grab and grin” as hunters may refer to it, I choose to honor the animal by documenting less utilized aspects of their bodies in a symbolic attempt to let as little as possible go to waste.
September 11 - October 3
Artist Statement
Shelby Shadwell’s work consists of large-scale charcoal and pastel drawings of non-traditional imagery such as gut piles left over from big game hunts, space blankets used in emergency situations to stay warm, and pieces of black anthracite coal. The drawings may elicit feelings of disgust or revulsion and awe or ecstasy simultaneously due to the contrast between the vulgarity or ephemerality of the imagery juxtaposed with its meticulous, hyper-realistic, rendering. Among other things, Shelby’s work allows viewers space to ask questions about low and high status in artistic subject matter and romantic tropes in historical and contemporary western art.
SPACE BLANKETS
I am making large scale charcoal and pastel drawings of space blankets (aka solar blankets, emergency blankets, thermal blankets, etc) which are made of a compact lightweight material used to regulate temperatures of things like spacecraft and human bodies in cold circumstances. One might see them packed in a first aid kit for camping or, more poignantly in recent years, wrapped around migrants detained in camps near the border between the US and Mexico. While the material is cheap and rather flimsy, it has a brilliant sparkling appearance reminiscent of precious stones or metals, thus evoking something like “fool’s gold”. Due to its similarity to material found at the crash site near Roswell, New Mexico in 1947, the blankets may also refer to a shared cultural fascination with space travel and the possible existence of extraterrestrial life. The subject also maintains themes from previous bodies of work such as the representation of abstract folds and contours in the material can evoke pareidolia, or the perception of recognizable form in a random conglomeration or patternicity of things. I maintain an interest in the implications of how the human mind, as a kind of inference engine, seeks to find patterns where they may or may not exist and how that can lead to the proliferation of things like conspiracy theories.
VISCERAL
I am making drawings of gut piles from game animals such as pronghorn, deer, and elk. The work is a natural progression from previous creative research exploring personal and collective fears and anxieties.The impetus for depicting these subjects is my interest in the ethical implications involved around the act of hunting and in the consumption of animals more generally. Although I am part of the hunting community, I am trying not to be didactic or moralizing with the work in any way. Instead, my aim is to be visually poetic, drawing attention to conflicts in the human condition and asking viewers to question preconceived notions
on all sides of these and adjacent issues.
I continue to examine ideas of low and high status in artistic subject matter as well as normative experience. These drawings may illicit feelings of disgust or revulsion and awe or ecstasy simultaneously due to the contrast between the vulgarity of the imagery juxtaposed with its meticulous rendering. This effect is what I refer to as a kind of reverse sublimity. I am also thinking about how base bodily functions, like eating or mating, are intensely strange, grotesque, and almost alien when thought about in a certain context. Nevertheless, nature compels us to engage in and relish these activities since our continued existence depends on it.
There is a connection between the works’ form and content in terms of fragility. Charcoal, made of once living things, is a tenuous medium at best, prone to structural decay over time, while animal viscera, left in the field, is absorbed back into the ecosystem almost overnight. Both are deeply ephemeral concepts in relation to life, death, and the precariousness of existence. I am also challenging tropes in western art more broadly by depicting these animals from the inside out as opposed to the romanticized versions one sees in countless landscapes throughout history. As opposed to documenting the hunt through a posed picture, or “grab and grin” as hunters may refer to it, I choose to honor the animal by documenting less utilized aspects of their bodies in a symbolic attempt to let as little as possible go to waste.
Artist Biography
Shelby is currently a Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Wyoming. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Shelby received his BFA in 2003 from Washington University in St. Louis and his MFA in 2006 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
A two-time recipient of the Visual Arts Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council, Shelby actively exhibits across the nation. His more recent exhibitions include LIKE AND SHARE IF YOU AGREE!!!, a solo show at the South Bend Museum of Art, DRAWN at Manifest Creative Research Gallery in Cincinnati, OH, and Drawing Discourse at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Shelby was awarded a solo exhibition at the APEX Space at the Portland Art Museum in OR in 2016, and his work is included in their permanent collection. For his research sabbatical from 2021 – 2022, Shelby accepted the Manifest Artist Residency Award, and he spent the year making new work at their Gallery and collaborating on educational
opportunities at their Drawing Center in Cincinnati, OH.
Shelby was recently honored with the Stone & Deguire Contemporary Art Award from his alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. Recent and upcoming solo exhibition venues include STRATA Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, the Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn, NY, IA&A at Hillyer in Washington D.C, and the Bradbury Art Museum in Jonesboro, AR.
Shelby is currently a Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Wyoming. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Shelby received his BFA in 2003 from Washington University in St. Louis and his MFA in 2006 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
A two-time recipient of the Visual Arts Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council, Shelby actively exhibits across the nation. His more recent exhibitions include LIKE AND SHARE IF YOU AGREE!!!, a solo show at the South Bend Museum of Art, DRAWN at Manifest Creative Research Gallery in Cincinnati, OH, and Drawing Discourse at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Shelby was awarded a solo exhibition at the APEX Space at the Portland Art Museum in OR in 2016, and his work is included in their permanent collection. For his research sabbatical from 2021 – 2022, Shelby accepted the Manifest Artist Residency Award, and he spent the year making new work at their Gallery and collaborating on educational
opportunities at their Drawing Center in Cincinnati, OH.
Shelby was recently honored with the Stone & Deguire Contemporary Art Award from his alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. Recent and upcoming solo exhibition venues include STRATA Gallery in Santa Fe, NM, the Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn, NY, IA&A at Hillyer in Washington D.C, and the Bradbury Art Museum in Jonesboro, AR.
Shelby Shadwell | VISCERAL
Inventory
Inventory
- EMERGENCY BLANKET 5, charcoal and pastel on polyester, 43” x 43”, $5,000
- VISCERAL 7, charcoal and pastel on polyester, 85” x 85”, $8,000
- EMERGENCY BLANKET 2, charcoal and pastel on polyester, 43” x 43”, $5,000
- VISCERAL 4, charcoal and pastel on polyester, 85” x 85”, $8,000
- EMERGENCY BLANKET 9, charcoal and pastel on polyester, 85” x 85”, $8,000
- EMERGENCY BLANKET 6, charcoal and pastel on polyester, 85” x 85”, $8,000
- VISCERAL 1, charcoal and pastel on polyester, 43” x 43”, $5,000
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Buckham Gallery is funded by the following organizations:
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Generous support is provided by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Michigan Arts and Culture Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Community Foundation of Greater Flint.
This program is sponsored by the Greater Flint Arts Council Share Art Genesee Grant Program made possible by the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Millage funds. Your tax dollars are at work!
This program is sponsored by the Greater Flint Arts Council Share Art Genesee Grant Program made possible by the Genesee County Arts Education and Cultural Millage funds. Your tax dollars are at work!
