In EMERGENCY BLANKETS, Shadwell makes large scale charcoal and pastel drawings of space blankets (aka solar blankets, emergency blankets, thermal blankets, etc) which are made of a compact lightweight material used to regulate temperatures of things like spacecraft and human bodies in cold circumstances. One might see them packed in a first aid kit for camping or, more poignantly in recent years, wrapped around migrants detained in camps near the border between the US and Mexico.

In VISCERAL, Shadwell makes drawings of gut piles from game animals such as pronghorn, deer, and elk. The impetus for depicting these subjects is his interest in the ethical implications involved around the act of hunting and in the consumption of animals more generally. His aim is to be visually poetic, drawing attention to conflicts in the human condition and asking viewers to question preconceived notions on all sides of these and adjacent issues.

Shelby is currently a Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Wyoming. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, Shelby received his BFA in 2003 from Washington University in St. Louis and his MFA in 2006 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. A two-time recipient of the Visual Arts Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council, Shelby actively exhibits across the nation. His more recent exhibitions include the Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn, NY, the Bradbury Art Museum in Jonesboro, AR, and Strata Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. For his research sabbatical from 2021–2022, Shelby accepted the Manifest Artist Residency Award, and he spent the year making new work at their Gallery and collaborating on educational opportunities at their Drawing Center in Cincinnati, OH. Shelby was recently honored with the Stone & Deguire Contemporary Art Award in the amount of $25,000 from his alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis.

My work consists of large-scale charcoal and pastel drawings of non-traditional imagery such as gut piles left over from big game hunts, space blankets used in emergency situations to stay warm, and pieces of black anthracite coal. The drawings may elicit feelings of disgust or revulsion and awe or ecstasy simultaneously due to the contrast between the vulgarity or ephemerality of the imagery juxtaposed with its meticulous, hyper-realistic, rendering. Among other things, my work allows viewers space to ask questions about low and high status in artistic subject matter and romantic tropes in historical and contemporary western art.

ONLINE DISCUSSION

Artist Talk and Demo by Shelby Shadwell
Saturday, September 27, 1 pm

Join solo artist Shelby Shadwell for an online discussion and demonstration about the work that is featured in his exhibition EMERGENCY BLANKETS / VISCERAL. Shadwell will talk about some of the concepts behind his work and demonstrate  his masterful technique of charcoal and pastel renderings.

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