Exhibitions

Current

DAN SHAW-TOWN
Drawings

September 3rd - October 3rd 2009

Reception on Thursday, September 3rd at 6:00 PM
Selected by Alex Logsdail

Past

ALEX HUBBARD

May 7th - June 20th 2009

Reception on Thursday, May 7th at 6:00 PM
Selected by Miriam Katzeff

JAMES J. WILLIAMS III
Prelude to The Namesake, Part One: James Joseph Williams Senior
April 2nd – May 2nd 2009
Reception on Thursday, April 2nd at 6:00 PM
Selected by Owen Reynolds Clements

JOSH SHADDOCK

Look the other way

February 19th – March 28th 2009

Reception on Thursday, February 19th at 6:00 PM
Selected by Alex Logsdail

Dan Shaw-Town, Press Release

For Immediate Release:

DAN SHAW-TOWN
Drawings
Selected by Alex Logsdail

03 September through 03 October 2009

Untitled Diptych, 2009, Graphite on paper with two plastic coat hangers, 22.5 x 34 inches

Gallery-C is pleased to present an exhibition of new works by English artist Dan Shaw-Town. Entitled Drawings, the exhibition will run from the 3rd of September through the 3rd of October. Gallery-C is an autonomous project space located within the walls of Team Gallery in New York, 83 Grand Street, between Wooster and Greene.

Shaw-Town’s practice originates in the appropriation of everyday objects in which he re-examines their uses and aesthetic possibilities, often reworking them to represent something that they are not. In this new body of work Shaw-Town approaches the practice of drawing with this same ideology and begins to blur the lines between the two and three-dimensional.

The word ‘Drawing’ itself sits strangely, at once retaining a quaint specificity yet representing so many betweens that it can only be thought of as a general term. It is of course often used as a preliminary tool, as in the sketch, or a traditional technique employed to record or document. It is therefore no coincidence that the aesthetic Shaw-Town adopts often feels like just the beginning or indeed the leftovers of a bigger event. The work seems to suggest the potential of performance, as the slippery composition of his works appear almost as ‘kits’; however the function of the ‘kit’ remains fundamentally abstract, and it is soon obvious that participation is not a suggestion. Although things have been placed with delicate precision, they retain a sense of the spontaneous, however this spontaneity has been rehearsed time and time again.

The positioning of each object in the composition of a work is never final; the works are in a constant state of flux and can be rearranged in multiple configurations. Folds can be opened, crumpled sheets flattened, objects moved. Any adjustment made to the composition reveals labor that has gone into the making of a piece that was not previously viewable. The internal surface created by the folding of paper contains markings that become hidden, in essence making much of the drawing invisible. There is always a weighted suggestion that something is filling this unseen space even if the viewer cannot confirm that this is the case.

This entropic system of making and changing is visible in the works labored surface. These Drawings bring to mind the attributes of sculpture, that of physical exertion and dirty hands, the result of actions, constructing, bending, rolling and adorning. It seems the notion of the ‘makeover’ has often been too much of a temptation, as the works show visible traces caused by the endless efforts to re-group and try again.

Dan Shaw-Town has exhibited his work since 2004 and had his first solo show in London in 2008. He has been included in many group shows internationally and his work in held in several international collections including the Zabludowicz Collection. He was the winner of the Roley Prize for Fine Art in 2006 and the BAA Expo initiative, Public Sculpture Award in 2008. This will be the first time that Shaw-Town has exhibited his work in the USA.

Gallery-C is open from Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 6pm. For further information and/or images please call 212.279.9219 or email alex@teamgal.com.

Dan Shaw-Town, Images

DAN SHAW-TOWN

Drawings

Images


Installation shot, Drawings, Gallery-C, 2009


Installation shot, Drawings, Gallery-C, 2009


Untitled, 2009, Graphite, spraypaint and enamel on paper with uninflated beach ball, 50 x 37.5 x 8 inches


Untitled, 2009, Graphite, spraypaint and enamel on paper with brass grommets, 55 x 51 inches


Untitled Diptych, 2009, Graphite on paper with two plastic coat hangers, 22.5 x 34 inches


Untitled, 2009, Graphite and spraypaint on paper with card shelf with painted and unpainted metal shelving units, 33.5 x 29.5 x 14 inches

Untitled, 2009, Graphite , spraypaint and enamel on paper, 24 x 16 inches

Dan Shaw-Town, Bio

DAN SHAW-TOWN
Bio


Untitled, 2009, Graphite on paper with painted pre-stretched canvas and dyed paper with spraypaint, 36.5 x 24 inches

Born 1983, UK. Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY

EDUCATION

MFA Fine Art, Goldsmiths College, University of London, 2006-2008
BA Fine Art (Hons.) London Metropolitan University, 2003-2006
Diploma in Art and Design, Fine Art B-tec, Foundation Studies, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2002-2003

SOLO EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS

2009
'Drawings', Gallery-C at Team Gallery, New York
'Spill the wine, get the salt', Christopher Crescent, London

2008
'PULP', RUN Gallery, Tudor Grove, London

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2009
'Unfair project', De Service Garage, Art Amsterdam 09 (forthcoming)
'Contested Ground', 176 Gallery London.

2008
‘ARC’ Public sculpture installation, Heathrow Airport Terminal 5.
'Laughtrack', Brussells Biennial, YUM 21.
'Boys and their toys', Gallery SC Zagreb, Croatia.
'Is the World Flat?', Arti et Amicitiae, Rokin 122, Amsterdam
'Fall in Theatre', Takecourage Gallery, London

2007
Gallerie Steinle at YEAR 07 Art projects, County Hall, London
Lobby, Hales Gallery, Bethnal Green, London
'Wish you were here', RUN gallery, London

2006
'Strange Times', the International Gallery, Liverpool Biennial
'Majestic', presented by Run Gallery, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London

2005
I.d.e.a London collaborative project, Institute of Contemporary Art, London
From London with love, Gallery Miroslav Kraljevic, Zagreb
'Make your own Damn Art', with Bob & Roberta Smith, Stanley Picker Gallery

2004
'Campaigning, Shopping and Politics', Unit 2 Gallery, Whitechapel, London

PRIZES & AWARDS

BAA Expo initiative, public sculpture award, 2008
Roley prize for Fine Art. 1st place, 2006