Peter Shear
(b. 1980) in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts
Lives and works in Bloomington, Indiana
While unified in simplicity of delivery, Peter Shear's paintings range widely across imagery and manner of execution. The result is a body of work which Shear, borrowing from the languages of abstraction, has evolved into a shorthand vocabulary at once personal and familiar, slangy and poetic.
"Early on, I thought of Shear as a self-taught painter who is single-mindedly working his way through the history of abstract painting, from the gestural to the geometric, and from thick, luscious strokes to dry markers and thinned-down surfaces. What is remarkable about this undertaking is that I never feel that Shear is derivative: each painting has something going for it. They are the work of an artist who can make them where he lives, which is to say he does not seem to need a huge studio, assistants, or a fabricator standing by. He has rejected grandiosity and that false equivalence between masculinity and post-easel painting. I am not even sure he needs an easel. Shear’s fiercely modest paintings are mysterious and refreshing. They are beautiful manifestations of the meeting of eye, hand, memory, and imagination." - John Yau
Born 1980 Beverly Farms, Massachusetts
Lives and works in Bloomington, Indiana
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022: The Cat Came Back, Castle, Los Angeles
2021: Recording, Fortnight Institute, NY
2021: Empty Boat, KOKI Arts, Tokyo, Japan
2019: Time Stamp, Herron School of Art + Design, Indiana University
2017: Magnolias All At Once, Fortnight Institute, New York, NY
2017: Editions of You, Devening Projects + Editions, Chicago, IL
2017: Opportunity Cost, A\M Projects, Indianapolis, IN
2016: Family Resemblance, ATM, Austin, TX
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022: Forthcoming: Regarding Kimber, curated by Jay Gorney, Cheim & Read, New York, NY (November- December)
2022: Small Paintings, Venus Over Manhattan, New York, NY
2022: 10 Year Anniversary Exhibition, KOKI Arts, Tokyo
2022: Beyond Genres: Self-Taught Artists Creating Contemporary Art, curated by Paul Laster, Outsider Art Fair, NYC
2021: Angle of Repose, Poker Flats Gallery, Williamstown, MA
2021: A Wild Note of Longing: Albert Pinkham Ryder and a Century of American Art, New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA
2021: Downtown, curated by Sam Gordon, La MaMa Galleria, New York, NY
2020: Maelstom, curated by Fortnight Institute, 303 Gallery, New York, NY
2020: Zwag Curated by Kylie Manning, CG Boerner, New York, NY
2019: Adrian, George, Peter, Sofia e Tamina, P420 Galleria, Bologna, Italy
2018: Locus Focus: Peter Shear and Arvind Sundararajan, curated by Emil Robinson, 840 Gallery, University of Cincinnati.
2018: Lonely Planet, curated by Andrew Brischler, Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach, FL
2017: Say Yes, curated by Kimia Ferdowsi Kline, Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, Wayne State University, Detroit
2017: ONLY Small Paintings, Fortnight Institute, New York, NY
2016: Basic Instinct, Peter Shear and Ellen Siebers, FJORD, Philadelphia, PA
2016: Good Bad Brush: Peter Shear and Matthew Wong, The Occasional Gallery, Burlington, WA
2016: Katelyn Eichwald and Peter Shear, Alter Space, San Francisco, CA
2015: Peer Review, Blyth Gallery, Imperial College of London, England
2014: Brute Moderates, Clinton King & Peter Shear, Firework Space, Brooklyn, NY
2013: The Double Down, curated by Trudy Benson and Jason Stopa, Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
2013: Reason & Romance, curated by Alain Biltereyst, 6b Gallery, Elingen, Belgium
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2019: Mousse Magazine | Sofia Silva | February 2019
2019: Art Viewer | George, Peter, Sofia e Tamina at P420 | February 28, 2019
2018: FieldTrip, 'A Conversation with Peter Shear', interview with Ryan Kerr,
2018: Observer, 'The Artists Busting the Myth That Big Paintings Sell Better', Margaret Carrigan
2017: Magnolias All At Once, published by Fortnight Institute, 2017
2017: Artdependence, "The beginning of the 21st century is a great time for the world's autodidacts."
2017: New York Times, Roberta Smith, 2017
2017: New York Magazine, 'The Art World Needs a Jolt. The Electricity Is Coming From Some
Surprising Places.' by Jerry Saltz.
2017: Hyperallergic, 'The Homages and Inventions of a Self-Taught Painter' by John Yau, 2017
2017: Hyperallergic, 'The Studio Visit That Wasn't Exactly a Studio Visit: Dan Devening, Mie Kongo,
2017: New City Chicago,'What's the Point of Abstraction These Days?' by Alan Pocaro
2017: 'Suspect Poetics' by Brian Leahy, 2017.
2016: 'Peter Shear: Some Thoughts, Open Not Closed' by Chris Ashley.
2013: Sensitive Skin Magazine #10.
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On Giovanni Bellini, Peter Shear, Scottish architecture & more
New Criterion, May 25, 2021 -
“The beginning of the 21st century is a great time for the world’s autodidacts.”
Dirk Vanduffel, Art Dependence, August 15, 2017 -
The Art World Needs a Jolt. The Electricity Is Coming From Some Surprising Places.
Jerry Saltz, New York Magazine, June 29, 2017 -
The Homages and Inventions of a Self-Taught Painter
John Yau, Hyperallergic, June 25, 2017 -
What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week
Roberta Smith, New York Times, June 22, 2017 -
Peter Shear Paints with Humility
Anna Zanes, Office, June 19, 2017
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Peter Shear
Recording 22 May - 19 Jun 2021Text excerpt from Peter Shear’s Determination and Openness by John Yau Working during a time rife with expensive, attention-getting artistic gestures, Shear’s decision to follow a humbler path marked by...Read more -
PETER SHEAR
Magnolias All At Once 15 Jun - 13 Aug 2017Magnolias All At Once, Peter Shear's first solo exhibition in New York City. The title of the exhibition is borrowed from the title of a book of poems by Norman...Read more
