Opening Reception: Thursday, June 2, 6–8 pm
Derek Eller Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition of multi-media assemblage works by Nancy Shaver. Shaver’s installation, a 3-dimensional patchwork mural taking place mostly on to the floor of the gallery, utilizes her signature visual vocabulary of blockers, boxes, spacers, and sentinels juxtaposed with an array of new formal ideas and unexpected combinations of found materials.
“I love visual difficulties,” writes Shaver. “I love trying to get to the point when the finest decisions will make a difference”. Whether it be subtle mark-making on the surface of a spacer, the choice to paint half of a square in a blocker bright orange, or the careful assembly of a sculpture like Fishing: a construction (Ikat fabric, dress fabric, jug, chair seat supports, metal, doorknob, string, wooden cork), Shaver makes meticulously considered decisions which invite the viewer to slow down and really look.
Unlike past shows which have explored Shaver’s interest in organizing and incorporating the works of other artists and artisans, this exhibition exclusively features sculpture by Nancy Shaver, frequently fabricated in partnership with her husband John Jackson. Nancy Shaver would like to thank John Jackson not only for his continued collaboration but for delivering the humor and pleasure which permeates this body of work.
Nancy Shaver (b. 1946 in Appleton, NY) lives and works in Jefferson, NY. Select solo and two-person exhibitions include Copper and Propane, a photograph: what it is and what it isn’t, F, Houston, TX (2022); Blockers, Spacers and Scribble Drawings 2020, Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2021); Gathering texture, following form (with Emi Winter), Parker Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2019); Alex Olson and Nancy Shaver: Waters, 12.26, Dallas, TX; Nancy Shaver: Reconciliation, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Ridgefield, CT (2015); Feature, Inc., New York, NY (2002-2011) and Curt Marcus Gallery, New York, NY (1987-1999). Select group exhibitions include One Day at a Time: Manny Farber and Termite Art, MOCA, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Outliers and American Vanguard Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (2018); VIVA ARTE VIVA, 57th International Exhibition of Art, La Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy (2017); Greater New York, MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY (2015); and Robert Gober: The Heart is Not a Metaphor, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY (2014). This will be her fourth solo exhibition at the gallery.