Eric Shaw at The Hole

Artist: Eric Shaw

Exhibition title: Trails

Venue: The Hole, New York, US

Date: October 21 – November 19, 2017

Photography: all images copyright and courtesy of the artist and The Hole, New York

The Hole is pleased to announce Trails, an exhibition of new paintings by Eric Shaw on view October 21 to November 19, 2017. This presentation includes seven fanciful abstract paintings employing high contrast polygons and pathways, geometric shapes and fine lines suggesting trails on a map. This is the artist’s first solo show at the gallery.

Shaw’s paintings are inspired by the diverse commercial graphic design that is ubiquitous throughout New York City. Referencing memories and photographs of logos and signs, he uses a smartphone application and his forefinger to create digital drawings of these motifs which he then executes onto canvas with acrylic paint. Improvising and inventing as he goes, Shaw sculpts the compositions piece by piece until the thicket is as dense as it can sustain.

Each day he photographs the painting and uses the cellphone app to draw on top of the image, testing out new shapes and then painting them in real life. This regenerative process continues until the painting is considered complete. Moderated by the urban environment updated through mobile phone technology, these works are underpinned by the digital-world’s natural geometry and program design that structures contemporary life. The logic behind the drawing tools created for the program impact his improvisational geometry, thus a computer logic and an organic human hand bounce the painting back and forth until a hybrid is reached.

Eric Shaw (b. 1983, Enfield, CT) lives and works in Brooklyn. Shaw has exhibited internationally most recently this summer at PRIVATEVIEW in Turin where he was an artist in residence. Other recent exhibitions include Come As You Are at Annarumma Gallery, Naples; Stars & Stripes at Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv; Highlight: Summer One at Hollis Taggart Gallery, New York; Maker’s Mark at Regina Rex, New York; Some New American Paintings at Ever Gold in San Francisco; and Summer Mixer 2015 at Joshua Liner Gallery, New York.