BEXHILL ON SEA.- My Back to Nature – a free exhibition of more than fifty new paintings and drawings – is the result of George Shaw’s two-and-a-half years as the National Gallery’s Rootstein Hopkins Associate Artist.
Based in a studio located in the heart of the National Gallery, George had swift and unrestricted access to the Gallery to explore the collection out of hours and at his leisure, draw from the pictures, observe the public, and find inspiration for his own work. The result is predominantly woodland landscapes that investigate the clash of cultures; classical stories linked with the traces of similar, timeless behaviour in the modern world; and the portrayal of religion.
From March to June 2017 the exhibition can be seen in the First Floor Gallery at the
De La Warr Pavilion as part of a tour demonstrating the National Gallery’s commitment to promote the understanding, knowledge, and appreciation of Old Master paintings and to make exhibitions available to as wide an audience as possible.
Rosie Cooper, Head of Exhibitions at the De La Warr Pavilion says: “George Shaw focuses his attention on the detritus of human experience, and in doing so he shows how much of it we share. I am delighted to be working with the National Gallery to bring this significant new collection of work by George Shaw to our audiences this Spring.”
National Gallery Director Dr Gabriele Finaldi, says: “George Shaw’s paintings tap into popular British culture and the tradition of the great masters. The result is by turns witty, moving, and irreverent. The body of works he produced at the National Gallery offers a fresh and energising response to the paintings of Titian, Poussin, and Constable and we are delighted to share it with so many UK venues.”
George Shaw was born in 1966 in Coventry. He studied Fine Art at Sheffield Polytechnic from 1986 to 1989 and gained an MA in painting from the Royal College of Art in London in 1998. Solo exhibitions have included: Looking for Baz. Shaz. Gaz and Daz, Void, Derry (2010); Woodsman, Wilkinson Gallery, London (2009); The End of the World, Galerie Hussenot, Paris (2008); A Day for a Small Poet, Clough Hanson Gallery, Rhodes College, Memphis, USA (2007) Poets Day, Centre d ‘Art Contemporain, Geneva (2006); Ash Wednesday, Wilkinson Gallery, London (2005), and What I did this Summer, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham (2003). He has participated in group shows in London at White Cube, Tate Britain, Whitechapel Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), and the Jerwood Gallery. Internationally he has exhibited at Gladstone Gallery, New York, Kohn Gallery, Los Angeles, City Art Gallery, Prague, Ex Teresa Arte Actual, Mexico, and Fabian & Claude Walter Galerie, Basel. He was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2011.
“George Shaw is the kind of painter Britain does best, a close observer who on this evidence has the sharp eye of a Freud or Hockney. He’s still in his 40s. Can’t wait to see his work when he is 80.” --Jonathan Jones, The Guardian.
“It casts light on Titian. It casts light on the National Gallery. It even casts light - of a murky, Coventry intensity - on what art is supposed to do. Add all that up and you have a profound achievement.” --Waldemar Januszczak, The Sunday Times.
