David Zwirner introduces "Profaned Travelers," marking the gallery's first show with Canadian artist Steven Shearer since his 2021 representation. At their 533 West 19th Street venue, Shearer exhibits a new collection focused on sleep, exploring mortality, vulnerability, and ecstasy themes. Merging art history with modern, everyday expressions, his varied works-paintings, drawings, sculptures, and installations-reflect a mix of classical and contemporary influences, from underground music to iconic figures like Edvard Munch and Renaissance masters.
Shearer's practice, highlighted by his use of digital images, particularly from the late '90s and early 2000s, transforms these into large-scale UV prints on canvas. These pieces, including "Blue Shroud" and "Terrestrial" (both 2024), amplify certain features to evoke both a sacred and modern digital aesthetic. "Profaned Travelers" explores sleep's symbolic richness, linking it to themes of life, death, and the dream world.
Having collected sleep-related imagery since the early 2000s, Shearer's exhibition ties back to his extensive archive, previously showcased at the 2021 Capture Photography Festival in Vancouver-though it faced censorship due to its provocative exploration of sleep and death. The exhibit not only extends Shearer's thematic exploration of sleep but also reflects on the unsettling power of photographic imagery.
Born in 1968 in New Westminster, Canada, Shearer's work has been featured in solo exhibitions globally and is part of prestigious collections worldwide. His recent activities include a solo exhibition, "Sleep, Death’s Own Brother," at The George Economou Collection in Athens, alongside a significant monograph release in 2023.