Steven Shearer Exhume to Consume

Adopting and elaborating upon stylistic repertoires drawn from the history of figure painting, Steven Shearer makes formal and thematic parallels between art history and the iconography associated with various contemporary subcultures, including their modes of dissemination such as fanzines and image shrines on personal websites. Seen in this light the resemblance between the long, flowing hair of his metal-head rockers and the tresses of Pre-Raphaelite heroines is not fortuitous. By showing us aspects of popular culture anachronistically, Shearer exposes the false hierarchy of high and low art and prompts us to consider the differences between the cultural industries and the art world.