Steven Shearer

In the book on the art of Steven Shearer accompanying his participation in the 2011 Venice Biennale, Marc Mayer wrote that in “evoking a tension between youthful rebellion and the social forces that try to constrain it, Shearer celebrates this anarchistic, defiant aggression and invests it with a sense of cathartic dignity that stems in part from his own experiences as a teenager in suburbia.” Through the ever-changing forms of his work, Shearer connects to the continuum of art-making, but with a contemporary vision that draws on pop culture. He has often used text in his work - such as in his Poem series (1999), in which he gave voice to the ennui and alienation of youth subculture. In I Need Your Help, Shearer imbeds an evocative line of text within a cool Victor Vasarely-style Op Art globe (the stacked letters also form other words vertically). Although depicted in calm, carefully formed letters, the message "I need your help" provokes strong emotional reactions - is it a personal plea? is it the globe of the world asking us to stop our destructive activities?