The Belly of the Beast: Inside Shawn Gilheeney’s Lair

At a young age, Shawn was fascinated by graffiti and skateboarding and it had a profound influence on his work. These days, Shawn still tears it up with the skateboard and his work is rooted in the urban environments he grew up around. His work is a mixture of printmaking and dabbles in mixed media, especially working with wood and metal.

“Printmaking opens up doors to new ideas and visual imagery – depending on the process – using fire and water, happy accidents can occur. In painting you’re limited to oil or acrylic paints. Printmaking allows more options.”

Walking into Shawn’s studio felt like entering the belly of the beast. The studio is shared with three other artists and the combined creative powers overwhelmed me. Spraypaint cans, pencils, markers, crates – all cluttered the studio. There was no doubt in my mind that this place had harvested the extraordinary works all around me. The room itself was a work of art with a massive mural sprawling along the far left wall. Shawn assured me if it wasn’t for the freight trains rolling by, just 20 yards away, it wouldn’t be complete.

What makes his work stand out or interesting is the way he thinks about his work. He makes the process so inventive. Everyone understands what causes these environments to rot and collapse. What Shawn was interested in however, was recreating these environments using the tools that helped destroy them in the first place. He went on to tell me that by exposing his work to the elements, he could re-create the scenario of what happened to these grimy buildings. He attacks his canvases made of wood or metal with fire and water. It’s as much an additive method as it is reductive, he often deciding to carve right into his pieces.

Shawn will be the first to tell you he doesn’t get along with just everyone, especially those weak at heart. He’s notorious for his harsh critiques and not holding any thoughts back. He’s been called everything from ambitious and talented to a jerk and even an asshole. To Shawn, that’s just another day’s work.

“It’s the tough love technique…if I didn’t like the work I wouldn’t say anything. I wouldn’t always word what I’d say in the best of ways. In my own sentiment, I was trying to push them [his colleagues] farther to break them out of their comfort zone.”

In his attempts to get closer to his subjects, Shawn recently traveled to the nearly abandoned town of Braddock, Pennsylvania, just a few minutes from Pittsburgh. “It was like going to Mecca. The town was falling apart, full of industrial relics.” Recently, Braddock has been in the national spotlight, exposed by the newly elected mayor. A massive effort is underway to rebuild and attract people, artists especially, to the once industrial town of 30,000 citizens (now down to just 3,000). It was even featured on the Colbert Report on Comedy Central at one point.

The trip was a real eye opener for Shawn. The mayor invited him to a group show featuring artwork from the streets of Braddock. Shawn isn’t expecting much of a turnout just now. To him, it’s all about the images that are produced. The town is set to become a huge art haven and artists are expected to flock to the city to help rebuild it, perhaps making the town into a massive public works project.

Along with his upcoming exhibition in Braddock, Pennsylvania, Shawn is currently working out the kinks of mass-producing his book crammed full of images of his art over the years. We managed to get a peek at the prototype and I would definitely pick one up as soon as it comes out. We will keep you updated on exhibitions and news coming out of Shawn’s corner in the near future.

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To see more on this topic:

www.shawngilheeney.com

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