Richard Shields

Richard Shields claims to be undertaking a residency in his own life. Shields invokes personal experiences affecting a wider cross section of society. The struggle for success, embracing failure, permo anxiety, Googling your ill health, dancing with debt, and identity all feature in Shields work.
A relationship with the viewer is built through familiarity in objects and the site specific. These concerns inform painting, drawing and sculpture, encompassing realism and abstraction. Shields recent ‘Technical Drawings’ are based on his experiences as an art handler and meme culture. Each work presents images associated with art technicians, accompanied by anecdotal texts. Reflecting on his work the artist says: “Drawing and objects have always been at the centre of my work. My experiences are played out for the viewer through a shared understanding, a halfway point where flamiriaity invites you in, the something changes. Oscar Wilde said “To become a spectator of one’s own life is to escape the suffering of life”. My work often satirises moments that leave us beleaguered but bring us together in settled dust.”

To find out more about the artist and his practice visit richardshieldsartworks.org

Bee in the City 2020

Bee in the City 2020