I Need Your Help
106.7 cms x 106.7 cms (42 ins x 42 ins)
On verso initialed, dated 1994 and stamped studio of steven shearer
Lot offered for sale by Heffel, Vancouver at the auction event "May Live Auction 2018, Toronto Live auction" held on Wed, May 30, 2018.
Lot 050
Lot 050
Estimate: CAD $15,000 - $25,000
Realised: CAD $16,250
Realised: CAD $16,250
Lot description - from the online catalogue*
Provenance:
S. L. Simpson Gallery, Toronto
Acquired from the above by an important Private Collection, Vancouver
Literature:
Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Steven Shearer: Exhume to Consume, National Gallery of Canada, 2011, page 9
Notes:
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?
From his Vancouver base, Shearer has built an international profile, and he is represented by Galerie Eva Presenhuber, a leading contemporary gallery in Zurich.
Please note: this work is unframed.
S. L. Simpson Gallery, Toronto
Acquired from the above by an important Private Collection, Vancouver
Literature:
Josée Drouin-Brisebois, Steven Shearer: Exhume to Consume, National Gallery of Canada, 2011, page 9
Notes:
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?
From his Vancouver base, Shearer has built an international profile, and he is represented by Galerie Eva Presenhuber, a leading contemporary gallery in Zurich.
Please note: this work is unframed.
Most realised prices include the Buyer's Premium of 18-25%, but not the HST/GST Tax.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.
(*) Text and/or Image might be subject matter of Copyright. Check with Heffel auction house for permission to use.