Awaken From the Dream of Reality

19th June – 23rd July,  Artist’s talk – 18th July, 7pm

Millennium Gallery, St Ives

Awaken From the Dream of Reality opened to a fantastic reception at Millennium Gallery on 21st June and continues to receive a great response.  The exhibition continues until the 23rd July.

Tim Shaw will be holding an artist’s talk to discuss the exhibition and his practice on Thursday 18th July at Millennium, St Ives, 7pm – all are welcome.

What God of Love Inspires Such Hatred in the Hearts of Men

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland have recently acquired ‘Man on Fire’ (small version) to add to their collection.

‘Man on Fire’ is about terror, and was originally conceived in 2007 as a hypothetical proposal for the forth plinth in response to the US led invasion of Iraq.

For more images and information about this work go to:
www.timshawsculptor.com

‘Man on Fire’ (large version) at Limbo

Limbo
The first biannual, forming a blue-print for a future biennale

28th March – 14th April 2013

Curated by Joseph Clarke, Jesse Leroy Smith, Sam Bassett and Neil Scott, this exhibition at the old coffin store in Truro was extremely well received and is the first in a proposed series of events over the coming year.

 

Rituals Are Tellers Of Us

Newlyn Art Gallery, 3rd May – 29th June 2013

The Fertility Figures will feature in this group exhibition curated by MA Curatorial Practice students from Falmouth University.

‘A feast of real, invented and re-made rituals, Rituals Are Tellers Of Us brings together works that take inspiration from rich folk traditions or acts with a strong sense of shared purpose such as protest.’

The Dark Rooms

The Bisto Kids Gone Wrong  will be exhibited in The Dark Rooms – a monumental exhibition curated by Jesse Leroy Smith in Helston, on the 2nd and 3rd February 2013.

Also showing are The Pregnant Fairy and a figure from Soul Snatcher Possession.

 

Threadneedle Judge

I am thrilled to have been invited to be a judge for the prestigious Threadneedle Prize.

More information about which can be found on the website – http://threadneedleprize.com/

New Sculpture Unveiled at Antony

Commissioned by Sir Richard Carew Pole The Green Man was unveiled on the 9^th December 2012 to a small gathering of the Carew Pole family and friends.

Cast into bronze The Green Man (155cm in diameter x 40cm in depth) now forms part of the Carew Pole Garden Trust collection which includes sculpture by William Pye, Peter Randell-Page and Ellis O’Connell.  These can be viewed throughout the impressive grounds which opened to the public on the 2^nd March, 2013.

Located between the towns of Antony and Torpoint, Cornwall, the Carew family have owned Antony estate since the mid 16^th Century, with the House being built in 1721 – it has been the primary residence of the family since then.  The estate has been the location for various films including Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, 2008.

Open times can be found on the website – http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/antony/

 

An Evening Preview of ‘Parliament’

Jam Record Store, Falmouth, 11th May 2012, 7 – 9pm

A mischievous Parliament of rooks will be running amok in the shabby chic lower room of Jam – an esoteric record shop in Falmouth – from 11^th May 2012, where they will be in residence for a fortnight of mayhem.

Parliament is an installation created by the renowned sculptor Tim Shaw; it consists of twenty five rooks constructed from black polythene, straw and wire.  The installation is completed with the menacing cries of these birds merged with political debates recorded from within the House of Commons.

After two days sitting uninspired, during a residency in the west of Ireland, 2006, Shaw looked out the window at the cold and barren landscape surrounding him only to see dark flickering shapes in the corner of his eyes.  Black plastic snagged on barbed wire and the surrounding trees began to conjure shapes, playful and sinister, taking the form of windswept crows and rooks.

Shaw commented: ‘Having observed the behaviour and nature of these birds, I made the comparison with those in a position of power’; he therefore felt it was appropriate that the birds’ calls should combine with discussions from within the theatre of flock mayhem – the chattering of Parliamentarians.

Curated by Olivia Gray.

Soul Snatcher Possession

Monday 23rd April 2012, 6 – 9pm
Riflemaker, 79 Beak Street, London, W1F 9SU
www.riflemaker.org

The first major exhibition in London since Casting A Dark Democracy (the Kenneth Armitage Foundation, 2009), will open at Riflemaker on Monday 23rd April 2012.

The exhibition features three new works: Soul Snatcher Possession; Ketamine and Pregnant Fairy.

The first captures the potently charged moments before a brutal killing.  Eight larger-than-life figures sculpted from old clothes, stockings and sacking fill a dimly lit room with their menacing presence.  With no weapon in sight only the perpetrators’ smiles, looks and gestures betray the imminence of the dreadful act – a metaphor for the ‘taking of life by those in a position of power’.

Ketamine recounts a festival scene in which two individuals dressed as elves dance wildly whilst on the powerful mind altering chemical.  ‘The words ‘Bistow Kids Gone Wrong’ came to mind as I watched the spectacle.’

Pregnant Fairy questions how fairies might have existed and survived through the ages and asks why there are few, if any, depictions of pregnant fairies in sculpture.

‘The Drummer’ Unveiled

On June 25th, 2011, approximately 3500 people gathered on Truro’s main square to be a part of the impressive unveiling ceremony for The Drummer.

One hundred drummers from all around Cornwall opened the proceedings as they converged, beating in unison, around the base of the 15ft high sculpture. In the expectant silence that followed the last drum beat, city Mayor, Rob Nolan introduced Sir Richard Carew Pole who spoke first about Cornwall’s rich artistic heritage and the importance of allocating funding to the arts, even, and perhaps especially, during difficult times such as we are currently experiencing. He explained that The Drummer “will make us all, as we pass it on our daily routes, reflect and quietly think about our history and our lives and all that goes with it.”

Following Sir Richard, Queen’s drummer, Roger Taylor, spoke a few words, commenting that he was “honoured and delighted to be involved in this fabulous and slightly controversial, in some ways, but magnificent sculpture”, before pulling the cord that finally removed the cover from the statue, revealing it to the public for the first time. Using a custom made 4ft drumstick, he then sounded the drum, as if bringing to life the sculpture now standing in its permanent home on Truro’s Lemon Quay.

The public’s reaction to the work has so far been overwhelmingly positive. For a few of Truro’s residents however, the controversy that Roger Taylor perceived in the figure has seemed cause for concern, sparking questions as to whether the drummer’s visible genitalia classes as “obscenity”. Tim Shaw responded to these worries, calling up the long history of nude figures in public art and reiterating that “the work isn’t sexual. It’s about something else; about place and people, an expression of toughness and the ability to get on and survive whatever the prevailing circumstances may be; and it’s about the sense of being precariously balanced on an edge which that often entails.”

In response to the other body of concerns which questioned the spending of public money on art in a time of government and council cuts, councillor Charlotte Mackenzie commented that although she would unfortunately feel unable to back a similar project if it arose today, she was glad that projects such as this, commissioned before the current financial crisis, are coming to fruition now at a time when the beneficial aspects of hosting a unique cultural event –  lifting people’s spirits and drawing visitors to Truro – are more important than ever.