The Green Scab, 2014
Oil on canvas; artist’s frame. Image 45,5 x 35,5 cm

Chiseller’s Cabinet, 2014. Oil on canvas; artist’s frame. Image 122 x 91,5 cm

The Sickly Fauve, 2014. Oil on canvas; artist’s frame Image 40,5 x 30,5 cm

The Diminutive Muralist, 2014. Oil on canvas, 2-parts; artist’s frame Image each 122 x 91 cm

“Steven Shearer’s practice encompasses many different medias, from found photography, drawing, and painting to collage and focuses on a melancholic vision of youth, tinted by strong references to the iconography of extreme metal cuture. His world is one of alienation and repulsion towards the everyday, a world whose heroes are deathmetal rockers, 1970s prefab boy bands and teen stars, amature glam-rockers and guitar-wielding teenaged suburban dreamers. Shearer is not interested in the fame of his characters but much more so in their downfall. The artist applies to these themes an almost anthropological or phrenological approach, one in which he obsessively wanders and browses the internet to create a comprehensive archive of these images, organised by him within themes of his own. These subcultures are reflections of Shearer’s own suburban youth, aiming at shedding light onto the insecurities and vulnerabilities of adolescents, characteristics that never quite disappear into adulthood and are at the core of the human soul. Using this set of references as a starting point, Shearer displays in delicate drawings and extremely intricate paintings, portraits of these once famous faces, or unknown characters in a way that reminds one of Pre Raphaelite imagery. This exhibition focuses on portraiture, a development in the artist’s vision whereby his imagery has overcome his archival obsession, creating anonymous, androgynous characters, whose averted gaze emphasises their objectification as well as their own self absorbed and egocentric entities.” Galerie Eva Presenhuber / Press release

Steven Shearer
30 August to 25 October 2014
Galerie Eva Presenhuber
Limmatstr. 270, 8005 Zürich
www.presenhuber.com