George Shaw: A Corner of A Foreign Field will be the artist’s first solo show in the United States. It will showcase the caliber and ambition of his practice as a painter for nearly three decades, from a chronological viewpoint as well as thematic explorations.
The exhibition will also feature newly commissioned works. Nominated for the Turner Prize in 2011, Shaw is celebrated for his paintings depicting the postwar Tile Hill council estate, where he spent his childhood. His work focuses relentlessly, even obsessively, on that particular environment known as the Midlands—which encompasses the cities of Birmingham, Derby, and Coventry in Britain.
Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.
Whether or not you go, George Shaw: A Corner of a Foreign Field illuminates the work of one of Britain’s leading contemporary painters, best known for his painstakingly detailed, luminous, and often elegiac representations of the British suburban landscape. Beautifully designed and generously illustrated, this book is the first to explore the entirety of Shaw’s artistic output, which spans three decades. Beginning with his work at the Royal College of Art in the 1990s and ending with his most recent paintings, this volume places Shaw’s work within the context of contemporary culture, from the traditions of English landscape painting to the repercussions of Brexit. An introductory essay and comprehensive catalogue texts by Mark Hallett are accompanied by essays on the artist’s work by Tom Crow, Catherine Lampert, David Mellor, and Eugenie Shinkle. An interview between Shaw and the celebrated contemporary artist Jeremy Deller offers insight into this work from the perspective of the artist himself, while a fully illustrated chronology details the entirety of his career.
Add this book to your library: George Shaw: A Corner of a Foreign Field
