Realizing the full potential of his materials, American post-Minimalist Alan Shields painted, dyed, wove, sewed, and sculpted his works into interactive forms, both conceptually and literally. The media used do not merely rest on the surface, but are physically embedded within the canvas or paper. Using brilliant color on un-stretched canvases and handmade paper often with impasto-like texture, Shields employed sewing as a means of drawing as well as carefully draped yarn and rope, often studded with glass beads. A sense of history and the visible trace of the artist’s hand in his mottled dye and quilting techniques act as a nod to his Midwestern upbringing.

It was common for Shields to strategically position his sculptural pieces in front of a hanging work, forcing the viewer to contemplate the hanging works literally through three-dimensional works. By creating this visually layered and interactive experience, Shields generates an active dialogue between the sculptural works, the flat works and the viewer.

Solo museum exhibitions of his work have been presented at The Parrish Museum of Art in Southampton, The Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University in Manhattan, and The Brooks Memorial Art Gallery in Memphis. His work has been included in important group exhibitions at institutions such as Museum of Modern Art in New York, Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern in London, Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, among many others. He was the recipient of a 1973 Guggenheim Fellowship.

Courtesy of Van Doren Waxter