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Jim Shaw and Nihilistic Chaos

Sabina Aguirre

Art is creation, the purpose of creating lies in the desire of the artist. Jim Shaw is an American artist who shows the world he sees around him in his art. Born in Michigan in 1952 Shaw founded the band “Destroy All Monsters”, using music as his first step into art (Metro Pictures). Shaw then went on to study art at the California Institute of Arts, graduating in the 1970’s (Ocula).

Graduating in a time of global economic hardships, the Nixon presidency and vast cultural changes, it is no surprise that Shaw’s art tends to be both nihilistic and political (History). Shaw’s most well known works such as “Labyrinth: I Dreamt I was Taller than Jonathan Borofsky”  (e-Flux). This acrylic piece in particular is an amazing example of the organized chaos that is a Jim Shaw piece. Shaw paints in a contemporary style but his art doesn’t look like the every other piece of the genre, rather Shaw’s work looks like a mix of political cartoons and traditionally styled backgrounds. Large bombs, presidents, and symbols of death are prominent in Labyrinth and Shaw’s other works as well.

Shaw’s work may be political but it is also a depiction of society. In his 2019 piece “Family Stories” the traditional nuclear family is shown over an exam sheet (Metro Pictures). Shaw is showing the reliance on perfection through exams, traditional values, and appearances. Shaw’s doesn’t cut corners, he is brief and shows his point without hiding his views. Contrasting his earlier works “Family Stories” features more realistic people over the background. Through his work that Shaw uses contrasting images to portray his point of the various issues in society.

Shaw uses his talent to show the problems he sees in the world. He doesn’t coddle the audience nor does he use darkness for darknesses sake, Shaw instead shows happier and darker images in contrast with each other to show the issues in his world. It may be perfectionism or war, or a myriad of other issues but Shaw skillfully uses his medium and the contemporary style to portray his thoughts.

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

“Jim Shaw: The End Is Here.” e-Flux, www.e-flux.com/announcements/1876/jim-shaw-the-end-is-here/.

“Jim Shaw.” Metro Pictures, www.metropictures.com/artists/jim-shaw/images?view=slider.

History.com Editors. “The 1970s.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 May 2012, www.history.com/topics/1970s/1970s-video.

“Jim Shaw: Artist Profile, Exhibitions & Artworks.” Ocula the Best in Contemporary Art Icon., ocula.com/artists/jim-shaw/.

Cartoons weren’t considered true art for a long time, to some people they still aren’t but in the video we were shown artists who made cartoons that were the true art, a message portrayed in their medium of choice. The work of Toba Sojo shows the earliest forms of Japanese cartoons. His work in animals captures the movement and liveliness of the scene perfectly.It is extremely interesting to compare them to the modern manga and anime Japan now is famous for. It is so much simpler in comparison. Another artist form the video that I found interesting was Charles Schultz. His work had been some of my favorite since I was a kid. I still remember reading about the little red haired girl Charlie Brown fell in love with but could never tell her how he felt. I would read Peanuts books and comics in the newspapers my aunt sold. It always had some sadder undertones that interested me even then. Shultz’s work is known by so many people and has even become holiday staples with things like The Great Pumpkin and various other holiday movies. Finally the work of J Todd Anderson interested me. His work is very different from my own style of cartooning so I found it very interesting to study someone who worked so differently than I did. I really liked the movement and facial expressions you can see in the piece. These artists all created such interesting scenes that I could look at them and constantly find something new to admire and enjoy.

The mind of an artist is undoubtedly a complicated one, depression and various other mental health issues run rampant within the community. Studying show art ties into the mind in both past and present artists is extremely interesting to me. The works of Raphael interest me a lot. His work seems to be focused on capturing a person and their thoughts in the most realistic form. His line work is precise and captures the expression and body language of the subject. He often depicted scholars and philosophers in not only their pose but also showing their intelligence and thought through his drawing. The works of Picasso are often described as the turning point between realism and abstract. This point can be emphasized through the turning point within Picasso’s own works, going form academic and traditional figure studies in early life to surrealist and abstract later on. His idea of emulating a child’s techniques to become more connected to the piece and himself is something I find very interesting because I too struggle with creating more feeling and free flowing thoughts in my art. Finally the art of Cynthia Pell is something I relate to. I too struggle with depression and have experiences of depersonalization. Drawing is something that helps me personally to get my feelings out on paper and as a sense of release. Her art is very dark and shows her internal struggles and in the past when I was struggling more I found my art to be similar. The better I have gotten I have seen my art become lighter as well.

Jim Shaw and Nihilistic Chaos

Sabina Aguirre

Art is creation, the purpose of creating lies in the desire of the artist. Jim Shaw is an American artist who shows the world he sees around him in his art. Born in Michigan in 1952 Shaw founded the band “Destroy All Monsters”, using music as his first step into art (Metro Pictures). Shaw then went on to study art at the California Institute of Arts, graduating in the 1970’s (Ocula).

Graduating in a time of global economic hardships, the Nixon presidency and vast cultural changes, it is no surprise that Shaw’s art tends to be both nihilistic and political (History). Shaw’s most well known works such as “Labyrinth: I Dreamt I was Taller than Jonathan Borofsky”  (e-Flux). This acrylic piece in particular is an amazing example of the organized chaos that is a Jim Shaw piece. Shaw paints in a contemporary style but his art doesn’t look like the every other piece of the genre, rather Shaw’s work looks like a mix of political cartoons and traditionally styled backgrounds. Large bombs, presidents, and symbols of death are prominent in Labyrinth and Shaw’s other works as well.

Shaw’s work may be political but it is also a depiction of society. In his 2019 piece “Family Stories” the traditional nuclear family is shown over an exam sheet (Metro Pictures). Shaw is showing the reliance on perfection through exams, traditional values, and appearances. Shaw’s doesn’t cut corners, he is brief and shows his point without hiding his views. Contrasting his earlier works “Family Stories” features more realistic people over the background. Through his work that Shaw uses contrasting images to portray his point of the various issues in society.

Shaw uses his talent to show the problems he sees in the world. He doesn’t coddle the audience nor does he use darkness for darknesses sake, Shaw instead shows happier and darker images in contrast with each other to show the issues in his world. It may be perfectionism or war, or a myriad of other issues but Shaw skillfully uses his medium and the contemporary style to portray his thoughts.

 

 

 

 

Bibliography:

“Jim Shaw: The End Is Here.” e-Flux, www.e-flux.com/announcements/1876/jim-shaw-the-end-is-here/.

“Jim Shaw.” Metro Pictures, www.metropictures.com/artists/jim-shaw/images?view=slider.

History.com Editors. “The 1970s.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 May 2012, www.history.com/topics/1970s/1970s-video.

“Jim Shaw: Artist Profile, Exhibitions & Artworks.” Ocula the Best in Contemporary Art Icon., ocula.com/artists/jim-shaw/.

 

For my collage I used multiple key items from my life, by using playing cards and origami paper I put in physical parts of my memories and my self. The use of these pieces of paper in order to create a larger piece that highlights the message of my key memories is what makes my work a collage. The use of color and depth activates the page and allows for the onlookers eye to be drawn to the piece. I think the strengths of this work are the bright colors and use of depth and space. I think using more contrast in color versus black and white space could improve the message of the piece.