George Shaw

I woz ere

18^th November – 11^th March 2012

Herbert Gallery

www.theherbert.org

Coventry born George Shaw has forged a formidable reputation within the art community over the last 15 years, culminating in his recent Turner prize nomination. His work surrounds the area he grew up in, Tile Hill, which was often riddled with the graffitied musings of a disillusioned youth, who took comfort in scribing I woz ere wherever they chose.

Much of Shaw’s work documents these, seemingly obscure, areas of his youth and the disembodiment he felt when returning later as a so-called ‘visitor’ to his old stomping ground to find everything changing. The moody simplicity of Shaw’s work is haunting and yet there is an underlying beauty that lurks beyond the surface. What usually would be considered mundane subject matters, are brought to life by the deft attention to detail and the skill of Shaw’s brush.

Having showed his work once this year already, Shaw believed that the Coventry paintings would end following the showing. It was not to be, as fresh inspiration following the death of his father means that he continues to cling to the past, working on his end to the Coventry paintings. In a sense, his work is his moniker on the Coventry landscape - his I woz ere.

For the first time, Shaw brings the product back to the inspiration with his first show starting at The Herbert in Coventry, in November.

Written for Area Magazine