Shane Walsh: Coconuts

Coconuts, an exhibition of new paintings by Milwaukee artist Shane Walsh, opens at OS Projects on August 13, 2022. The exhibition continues through October 15, 2022. OS Projects will host a reception for the artist on Saturday, August 13, from 1 – 3 pm.

Approaching painting as a form of collage, Shane Walsh playfully dissects then reconstructs visual languages to arrive at a form of abstract painting that is autobiographical and historically aware.

The artist’s cut and paste ethos is rooted in his experience as a DJ during the 1990’s as well as his involvement in the subcultures of that era. Other quotidian influences--like xeroxed zines, video game arcades, television motion graphics and design elements from disco and early graffiti- -combine in his high-octane works with painterly and geometric abstraction.

Walsh redirects and choreographs this ensemble on the paintings’ surface utilizing a variety of paint handling techniques and charged interactions in a process that is both planned and fortuitous to equal degree. The transformed whole of these elements destabilizes their component languages and generates the grammar for a new one.

For Walsh, restating the terms of formal abstract painting is not a sufficient exercise in 2022. By reshaping existing visual codes, the artist creates a customized and individualized dialect of abstraction that is both specific to his experiences and relevant to his time and place.

About the Artist

Shane Walsh lives and works in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He received his MFA from the University of Washington and his BFA from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. He has had solo exhibitions at Asya Geisburg Gallery (New York), The Alice Wilds (Milwaukee), Thelma Sadoff Center for the Arts (Fond Du Lac), and Blindfold Gallery (Seattle), among others. Group exhibitions include the Museum of Wisconsin Art, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Juxtapoz Projects at Mana Contemporary (Jersey City), Open Gallery (Portland), Skidmore Contemporary (Los Angeles), and Francine Seders Gallery (Seattle.) Walsh is a three-time recipient of the Mary Nohl Suitcase Fund award and has been featured twice in New American Paintings.

Image: Electric City Ghost by Shane Walsh, 2022