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Alan Shields

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Star Mississippi (talk | contribs) at 01:20, 15 May 2022 (light copyedit, minor edits before accepting). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: The list of exhibitions must be referenced. (And it should have the reverse chronological order -- oldest to newest -- and should probably be abridged.) Each claim that his works are in this or that permanent collection should be referenced either to the museum or independently, not to a company dealing in his work. Hoary (talk) 22:55, 21 March 2022 (UTC)


Alan Shields
Born(1944-02-04)4 February 1944
Herington, Kansas, USA
Died13 December 2005(2005-12-13) (aged 61)
Shelter Island, NY, USA
NationalityAmerican
Alma materKansas State University
Known forPaintings, sculptures, prints, works on paper
StylePattern and decoration[1]
PartnerMarla Gagnum[1]

Alan Shields was born in Herington, Kansas on February 4, 1944. He had a long career as a painter, and for a time during the 1980s, had a secondary career as a commercial boat operator, including as ferryboat captain.

Early life and education

Shields was born to a farming family – his great-grandfather had been a cattle farmer who had been a homesteader on the Great Plains. Shields often referenced his family in his own art-making. He grew up watching his mother and two younger sisters quilting and embroidering, living on a farm required a degree of frugality and recycling, which is where Shields learned the crafts himself.[2]

He eventually attended Kansas State University from 1963-66 where he studied civil engineering and studio art. In his art education he closely studied the work of Buckminster Fuller.[3] When developing his practice, Shields referenced his studies on Fuller, pointing out that if Fuller's dome-style architecture were to become common, "...there wouldn't be any flat walls to hang a painting." [4] After graduating he went on to participate in Summer Theater Workshops at the University of Maine (1966-67).

Painting career

In 1968, he moved to New York City where he began showing with Paula Cooper Gallery later that year and through 1991.[3] He began his trademark three-dimensional, two-sided paintings in 1970.[3] Shields was immediately distinct from his New York contemporaries, who at the time were largely concerned with minimalism. The vibrant, tactile, and labor intensive works placed him apart from the prevailing contemporary artists. His work was extremely gestural and focused on the physicality of materials. Unlike the minimalists, Shields held a great reverence for craft, sewing and beading are an essential component in Shields' practice.[2] In 1971, Shield's work was featured on the cover of Artforum magazine.[5] In a 1975 interview with artist Howardena Pindell (the two of whom are fundamental to Postminimalism and Process Art), Shields describes how he would first draw a grid in pencil on the back of a canvas, then stitch over the pencil lines with the colored thread in the bobbin and white thread on the top: "So what I did was utilize the fact that the sewing machine could...transcribe drawings that were on the back of the canvas to the front by using the bobbin threads." Shields saw the difference between painting and sewing as marginal, and used the two methods to similar ends.[6]

Shields purchased a house on Shelter Island in 1971. He kept his studio in New York City for a year until taking up permanent residence on Shelter Island in 1972.[3] He did not give up his SoHo loft until the mid-1980s, at which point he decided to raise his family, grow his own food, become a commercial fisherman and a licensed ferryboat captain.[2] In 1983 he received his first license to operate a commercial watercraft for up to six passengers. He would go on to get a one-hundred ton boating license and become a captain for the North Ferry Company, connecting Shelter Island and Greenport, New York.[7] He converted a greenhouse attached to his home into a studio space.[2] He began to focus on print and papermaking, making over thirty editions between 1971 and 1974. During this period, he would receive the Guggenheim Fellowship and travel to South America for three months in 1973. [3]

In 1980 he went to the Ahmadabad retreat in India.[3] After becoming a ferryboat captain and pursuing an additional career as a commercial fisherman, Shields' passion for fishing began to have a dialectic relationship with his artmaking. The three-dimensional works that are suspended from the ceiling use the same ball bearing swivels used in fishing tackle and fishing gear/ He would also use backing line and monofilaments in the pieces.[7]

In 1999 he decided to move again on Shelter Island, and relocated to a ranch for the remainder of his life.[7][3]

Selected Solo Exhibitions

After his first show with Paula Cooper Gallery in 1969, Shields continued to exhibit there with solo shows until 1991.[8] After this period he had two more solo exhibitions with the gallery, in 2013 and 2019. Throughout his life, Shields exhibited in commercial gallery spaces throughout the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia. In 2011 he had his first show with his subsequent New York gallery: Greenberg Van Doren, who would go on to exhibit his famous Maze installation in 2012 at their gallery space and in 2013 at SITELAB: 3. [7] When the gallery became Van Doren Waxter Shields continued to have solo exhibitions in 2016 with Alan Shields: Space Sisters work from the 1970s,[3] again in 2018 with Alan Shields Rolling Orbit: Prints from the 1970s,[9] and in 2020, with Alan Shields: Worms with Bedroom Eyes[10].

In 1973, Shields had a two-person show with Richard Artschwager at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.[11] In 1975, Shields exhibited at the Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas, Lawrence,[7] and in the following year his work was presented at the Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[3][12] In 1977 the Musée d’Art Moderne de Strasbourg presented a one person show of his work; followed by a solo show at P.S.1 in 1978. In 1979, a one-person exhibition was held at the Williams College Museum of Art, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, and an additional show of his paintings and prints was presented at the Williams College Museum in 1981.[7]

In 1983 a survey of his work, 1968-1983: The Work of Alan Shields, was organized by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art as a traveling exhibition covering 15 years of the artist's production. It traveled to Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, and to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.[3][7] In 1986, a retrospective show of prints by Shields was shown at the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Arts presented his work, the show included an exhibition catalog.[7][13]

In 1999, another survey exhibition of Shield's work, Alan Shields: A Survey, was organized and presented by the Beach Museum of Art.[7] In 2007, the Parrish Art Museum, in Southampton, New York presented Alan Shields: Stirring Up the Waters; later in 2014 and in 2017 the Parish Art Museum presented solo exhibitions of the artist.[7] In 2016, another survey show of his work, Alan Shields: Protracted Simplicity (1966-1985), was held at the Aspen Art Museum.[7] More recent exhibitions have been held at the Shelter Island Historical Society,[14] Alan Shields: Where Art Life Met Island Life, at Pace Prints, New York,[15] (both in 2017) and at Goya Contemporary in Baltimore, Alan Shields: Of His Time and Ahead OF His Time, in 2022.[16]

Selected Public Collections

Alan Shields' work can be found in the following public collections: Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC[17]; Akron Art Museum, Akron, OH[18]; Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, OH[19]; The Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS[20]; Cincinnati Art Museum, Cincinnati, OH[21]; Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH[22]; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX[23]; Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA[24]; Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, NY[25]; Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY[26]; High Museum, Atlanta, GA[27]; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.[7]; The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ[28]; Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS[7]; Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN[7]; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY [29]; Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI [30]; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago, IL[31]; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA [32]; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY[33]; National Gallery of New Zealand, Wellington, New Zealand [34]; Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO[7]; Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY[7]; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum[20], New York, NY; Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, KS[35]; Tate Britain, London, UK[36]; the University of Arizona Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ[37]; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN[7]; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY[38]

Death

Shields died in his sleep at his home on Shelter Island, New York on December 20, 2005.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Smith, Roberta (21 December 2005). "Alan Shields, Artist of 70's Style, Dies at 61". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d Longwell, Alicia G.; Sultan, Terrie (2017). Alan Shields Common Threads. Water Mill, NY: Parrish Art Museum. ISBN 9780943526782.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Alan Shields Space Sisters Work from the 1970s. Van Doren Waxter. 2016. p. 31.
  4. ^ Image, Color, and Form: Recent Paintings by Eleven Americans, exh. cat. Toledo, OH: Toledo Museum of Art and the Toledo Modern Art Group. 1975. p. 26.
  5. ^ "Outliers and American Vanguard Artist Biographies: Alan Shields". National Gallery of Art. Retrieved 30 March 2022.
  6. ^ Shields, Alan (February 1975). ""Tales of Brave Ulysses: Alan Shields"" (Interview). Interviewed by Howardena Pindell. The Print Collector's Newsletter 5. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Brienza, Jill; Halbreich, Kathy; Ratcliff, Carter; Shields, Jason; Weselk, Victoria; Zuckerman, Heidi (2016). Alan Shields Protracted Simplicity. Aspen, CO: Aspen Art Press. ISBN 978-0-934324-74-8.
  8. ^ "ALAN SHIELDS". paulacoopergallery.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Alan Shields Rolling Orbit: Prints from the 1970s". vandorenwaxter.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Alan Shields Worms With Bedroom Eyes". vandorenwaxter.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  11. ^ "Richard Artschwager/Alan Shields". Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  12. ^ "Alan Shields" (PDF). National Gallery of Art, Australia. Tyler Graphics. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  13. ^ Shields, Alan; Cohen, Ronny. "Alan Shields print retrospective : an exhibition organized by the Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art, May 16 through June 21, 1986". WorldCat. Cleveland Center for Contemporary Art. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  14. ^ "ALAN SHIELDS: WHERE ART LIFE MET ISLAND LIFE". shelterislandhistorical.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  15. ^ "ALAN SHIELDS". paceprints.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  16. ^ "Alan Shields Of His Time and Ahead Of His Time". goyacontemporary.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  17. ^ "Alan Shields New Side of the Tracks". ackland.emuseum.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
  18. ^ "Objects by Alan J. Shields". akronartmuseum.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  19. ^ "Alan Shields". allenartcollection.oberlin.edu. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  20. ^ a b Hughes, Robert; Brienza, Jill; North, Bill (1999). Alan Shields: A Survey. Manhattan, KS: Kansas State University. ISBN 1-890751-02-2.
  21. ^ "Explore the Collection". cincinnatiartmuseum.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  22. ^ "Sun Moon Title Page". clevelandart.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  23. ^ "Alan Shields". collections.dma.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  24. ^ "Browse our collection". harvardartmuseums.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  25. ^ "Alan Shields". emuseum.vassar.edu. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  26. ^ "Alan Shields". emuseum.cornell.edu. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  27. ^ "Lonely Night (From "New York Ten/69" Portfolio)". high.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  28. ^ "Alan Shields". zimmerli.emuseum.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  29. ^ "Alan Shields". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  30. ^ "Tadinske B.O. Oviler". collection.mam.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  31. ^ "Alan Shields". mcachicago.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  32. ^ "Alan Shields". collections.mfa.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  33. ^ "Alan Shields". moma.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  34. ^ "Alan Shields". collections.tepapa.govt.nz. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  35. ^ "Alan Shields". spencerartapps.ku.edu. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  36. ^ "Alan Shields". tate.org.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  37. ^ "Object Record". uarizona.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
  38. ^ "Alan Shields". whitney.org. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
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