GALLERIA MASSIMO DE CARLO

Jim Shaw is an American artist based in Los Angeles. A severe critic of both vices and virtues with the irony and playfulness of pop, the frenzy of expressionism and the ferocity of Dutch and Flemish Renaissance painting, he finds his inspiration in comics, in pulp novels, in rock music and, in general, in popular and underground culture. Frenetic and prolific, Shaw mixes everything that comes his way like a blender–whether it's images, techniques or styles–creating cycles of work to engage him for years, using any media that will oblige him in his stream of consciousness, from painting to video and installation, among others. Extremely consistent and paradoxically linear, Jim Shaw's oeuvre looks at social conditions as well as psychological states experienced and regurgitated by the artist himself, creating a powerful and fascinating fresco of contemporary chaos. A contemporary of Mike Kelley and Tony Oursler, Jim Shaw has shown in major museums and international exhibitions, from the Venice Biennale to the MoMA and the Whitney in New York.