Steven Shearer
Courtesy and photo by Sylvain Gaboury
Steven Shearer is a contemporary artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia, part of the photo-conceptualism scene of the Vancouver School.
Shearer's work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Tate Modern in London (2005), the Renaissance Society in Chicago (2005), The New Museum in New York (2008), Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zurich (2005-2021), and the Barbara Gladstone Gallery in New York (2020). In 2011, he represented Canada at the 54th International Venice Biennale in a show titled Exhume to Consume. Nationally, his work has been shown at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto (1996) and the Contemporary Art Gallery in Vancouver (2004-2005) as well as included in Shore, Forest and Beyond: Art from the Audain Collection at the Vancouver Art Gallery (2011) 1+1=1; When Collections Collide at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (2014); and in the Canadian Biennial at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2017). He has been represented by Galerie Eva Presenhuber in Zurich since 2005. In addition, his work has been on YouTube.
In 2021, a series of Shearer's photographic works referring to historical paintings was removed from a popular walking and cycling route along Vancouver's West Side due to complaints from the public. The reclining and sleeping figures were part of a 2021 Capture Photography Festival public art exhibition. Capture convened an international group of arts professionals to discuss the controversy with attendance by Zoom.
