Biography of Jeremy Shaw
Dealing in that uncharted area between mysticism and science, Jeremy Shaw explores altered states and the cultural means that depict that experience. Although working in a variety of media, Shaw mainly concentrates on photography, video, and installation.
Born in Vancouver in 1977, Jeremy Shaw graduated from the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. His video work questions how the scientific representations of altered states are contradicted by populist notions, and explores states of transcendence through drug use or catharsis. In his video work, DMT, he attempts to document the experience of eight people under the influence of the drug. Ultimately though, he highlights the extreme difficulty in articulating extraordinary experiences through visual media.
Jeremy Shaw’s reputation is rising quickly and he has solo exhibitions at MoMA PS1 in New York in 2011, and at The Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art in Toronto in 2006. His work has also been shown at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam and is featured in the Julia Stoschek Collection in Dusseldorf and Berlin. Dividing his time between Vancouver and Berlin, Shaw is also a successful musician, recording under the name Circlesquare. In 2016 he won the prestigious Sobey Art Award in Canada.