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  • Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw

    F − 150

    24.5.2018–28.6.2018 Prague Curated by Christina Gigliotti
    • Text by Christina Gigliotti (EN)
    • Text by Christina Gigliotti (CZ)

    It was always the same crescendo of sounds that marked their father’s arrival home from work – the roar of the truck’s engine, the machinic grinding of the garage door, and finally the barks and stampeding paws of their greyhounds bursting out of their resting places to meet him. The girls stayed in their room, mostly. They greeted him through the door, and heard him washing up. He washed his hands and arms and face in the kitchen sink before embracing their mother, in hopes she wouldn’t smell the lingering cigarette smoke. She did, of course, but didn’t say anything. They heard him taking out the large pot from the cabinet – boiled potatoes and silence for dinner again.

    After eating, the girls fought over whose turn it was to burn the bedbugs that lived in their straw mattress-beds. The older one finally submitted, crawled under the frame, and lit her match. She slowly moved her hand towards the corner of the frame and spotted them, those angry red specks. They don’t try to run away, they just ‘pop!’ when they catch fire. The sparkling singed bugs fell to the floor like dying stars.

    Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw was born in 1987 in Edmonton, CA, and currently lives and works in Berlin. He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm in 2016. His work, which mainly comprises of sculpture and site specific installation, has been included in recent group exhibitions such as At the End of the Game You Will Be Forgotten at Alyssa Davis Gallery in NYC (2018), Let’s see, where were we? In the pit of despair at De Ateliers in Amsterdam (2017), and Dinner Room Terravore at Oslo10 in Basel (2016). Selected solo exhibitions include Benevolent Nerves at 427 in Riga, Latvia (2018), Vinegar Stone & The Language of Flowers at Towards in Toronto, CA, and Breathing Fresh Air at Mellanrummer in Stockholm (2014).

    Otcův návrat z práce provázelo pokaždé stejné crescendo zvuků – řev motoru jeho nákladního auta, kovový skřípot dveří od garáže, a nakonec štěkot a dusot chrtů, kteří se vyřítili ze svých pelíšků, aby ho přivítali. Děvčata většinou zůstávala ve svém pokoji. Pozdravily jej přes dveře a slyšely, jak se myje. Než objal matku, umyl si ruce a obličej v umývadle v kuchyni, přičemž marně doufal, že z něj neucítí všudypřítomný zápach cigaretového kouře. A i když ho stejně vždycky ucítila, nikdy nic neřekla. Slyšely, jak vytahuje z kredence velký hrnec – znamení, že k večeři budou zase vařené brambory a ticho.

    Po jídle se děvčata hádala, která z nich je na řadě a bude pálit štěnice ve slaměných matracích. Ta starší to nakonec vzdala, vlezla pod postel a zapálila sirku. Pomalu sunula ruku k okraji kovového rámu, dokud neuviděla rozzlobené červené skvrnky. Nepokoušely se uniknout, jen krátce zapraskaly, když se jich dotkl oheň. Jiskřící sežehnutí brouci padali k zemi jako umírající hvězdy.

    Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw se narodil v roce 1987 v Edmontonu v Kanadě, v současnosti žije a pracuje v Berlíně. V roce 2016 absolvoval Royal Institute of Art ve Stockholmu. Jeho sochařské práce a instalace byly v poslední době zastoupeny na mnoha skupinových výstavách jako např. At the End of the Game You Will Be Forgotten v Alyssa Davis Gallery v New Yorku (2018), Let’s see, where were we? In the pit of despair v De Ateliers v Amsterdamu (2017) a Dinner Room Terravore v Oslo10 v Basileji (2016). Mezi jeho samostatné výstavy patří např. Benevolent Nerves at 427 v Rize, Latvia (2018), Vinegar Stone & The Language of Flowers v Towards v Torontu, Kanada, nebo Breathing Fresh Air v Mellanrummer ve Stockholmu (2014).