George Shadford
Sculpture
The work of George Shadford investigates the human condition of everyday living from the satirical to the sublime. He presents obscure narratives infused with both a sense of physical and psychological information, ironic interpretations and energy that becomes entertaining. Shadford realizes his own values and interests as his view resonates in his desire to invent subtle and profound sculptures that defy convention.
Much
like the artists of the 70’s, especially the ceramic artists of Saskatchewan,
Victor Cicansky, Jack Sures and Joe Fafard, they were strongly influenced by the
pop-oriented California Funk movement that resisted high art, modernism and
referenced their own region with an aesthetic that represented culture and
landscape specific to their community.
The Saskatchewan Funk artists subjected the art field by rejecting the
sophisticated hierarchy of the art world to present figurative works that
reflected folk art traditions.
They contextualize public art as not only being accessible and meaningful
but also it becomes a visual reminder of the landscape and stimuli for the
imagination for the people where it is placed.
In
Shadford’s work, Middle Class Uprising
George presents a sculpture with an acute sensitivity to his surroundings that
combines tactile qualities fused with literalness and anxiety. Similarly like
the Regina artist Joe Fafard whose work evokes traditional French-Canadian wood
carving, Shadford engages ceramics to create portraits of individuals from his
community to develop his own personal sense of artistic style that emanate a
humorous reflection on life with playful and dissenting gestures that engage his
audience. Moral or political issues become fodder expressed through visual
interpretation as his work evokes the familiar either from memory or fantasy
while connecting the audience to both the ridiculous and the outrageousness of
the moment.
Patricia Deadman
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