Shaun Gladwell (born 1972) is an Australian
contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...
ist whose work spans moving image, painting, photography, sculpture, installation, performance and
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
.
Early life
Gladwell was born in Sydney in 1972 and graduated from Sydney University's
Sydney College of the Arts
The Sydney College of the Arts (SCA) is a contemporary art school that was a faculty of the University of Sydney from 1990 until 2017, when it became a school of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Until the end of 2019, the campus was locat ...
. He subsequently gained a master's degree from the University of New South Wales'
College of Fine Arts
The School of Fine Arts or College of Fine Arts is the official name or part of the name of several schools of fine arts, often as an academic part of a larger university. These include:
The Americas
North America
*Alabama School of Fin ...
and undertook further studies as an associate researcher at
Goldsmiths, University of London
Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...
(2001–2002) on a Samstag Scholarship from the
University of South Australia
The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...
. Initially, the artist studied painting but explored video and other mediums as a postgraduate student. In the late 1990s, Gladwell was a member of the Sydney-based art collective, Imperial Slacks.
Work
2000–2013
Gladwell's video work from 2000 until 2013 saw the artist attempt to systematically catalogue many of the 'movement cultures' that were emerging and evolving within his generation. In interviews, Gladwell has described his interest in forms of
Street dance
Street dance is an umbrella term for a large number of social dance styles such as: breakdancing, popping, locking, house dance, waacking etc. Social dance styles have many accompanying steps and foundations, created organically from a culture, ...
,
extreme sport
Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly specialized gear. Extreme tourism overl ...
, and
skateboarding
Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...
.
Maddestmaximvs 2009
From 2007 until 2009 the artist applied many of his ideas concerning performance, gesture and the transformation of urban space to natural environments. During this period, Gladwell spent extended amounts of time in the Australian desert, producing his iconic series of works titled ''Maddestmaximus'' (2009). The series included video of Gladwell
car surfing
Car surfing involves riding on the outside of a moving vehicle being driven by another person. It has resulted in numerous deaths, predominantly causing severe head injuries.
The Quebec Provincial Automobile Insurance Company defines car surfing ...
(Interceptor Surf Sequence) and ritualistically burying
roadkill
Roadkill is an animal or animals that have been struck and killed by drivers of motor vehicles on highways. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how it can be mi ...
kangaroos (Apologies 1–6).
Official Australian war artist 2009–2010
In late 2009, Gladwell was the Australian War Memorial's
Australian official war artists
Australian official war artists are those who have been expressly employed by either the Australian War Memorial (AWM) or the Army Military History Section (or its antecedents). These artist soldiers depicted some aspect of war through art; this ...
in Afghanistan. This commissioning program began in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
with Gladwell being the first video/new media artist in the history of the scheme. Gladwell has stated that during this commission he became both reliant upon and extremely critical of
military technology
Military technology is the application of technology for use in warfare. It comprises the kinds of technology that are distinctly military in nature and not civilian in application, usually because they lack useful or legal civilian application ...
within the theatre of war. A key work Gladwell made during his time in Southern Afghanistan is titled ''Double Field/Viewfinder (Tarin Kowt)'', 2009–2010.
The artist's work from this commission has been documented and analysed in the book ''Double War'' by Kit Messham-Muir, published by Thames and Hudson, 2015.
''Skateboarders VS Minimalism'' 2016
In January 2016, Gladwell presented a new video work titled ''Skateboarders VS Minimalism''. The project was commissioned for the 40th Anniversary of the
Sydney Festival
Sydney Festival is a major arts festival in Australia's largest city, Sydney that runs for three weeks every January, since it was established in 1977. The festival program features in excess of 100 events from local and international artists an ...
and illustrates the artist's interest in juxtaposing popular sports culture with art history and museum culture. The video features skateboarders (including professional
Rodney Mullen
John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding. He is considered one of the most influential skaters in the history of the sport, being credited fo ...
) riding on exact replicas of well known minimalist artworks. The soundtrack for this video features the music of
Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
.
Shaun Gladwell: Pacific Undertow
In mid to late 2019, Gladwell exhibited at the
Museum of Contemporary Art Museum of Contemporary Art (often abbreviated to MCA, MoCA or MOCA) may refer to:
Africa
* Museum of Contemporary Art (Tangier), Morocco, officially le Galerie d'Art Contemporain Mohamed Drissi
Asia East Asia
* Museum of Contemporary Art Shangha ...
, Sydney with Pacific Undertow. Pacific Undertow was the largest survey exhibition to date of the work of Australian artist Shaun Gladwell, best known for his videos representing the body in motion. The exhibition title, Pacific Undertow, is taken from a pivotal video piece. It resonates with a sense of elemental forces, motion and the heft of gravity: key principles that inform Gladwell’s work.
Virtual reality
In 2016, Gladwell co-founded BADFAITH, an independent
virtual reality
Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), educ ...
content collective with senior film and television producer Leo Faber. Members of BADFAITH include artists, film directors, and a scientist involved in VR and AR research. They have been dubbed VR pioneers by
Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
and
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
– who described their approach to the new immersive medium as "punk".
In interviews, Gladwell stated BADFAITH as a direct reference to the concept proposed by Jean Paul Sartre and Simone de Belvouire. Gladwell has produced several VR experiences through the BADFAITH network including the 6 minute animation Orbital Vanitas. Orbital Vanitas premiered at
Sundance's 2017 New Frontiers.
In 2017, Orbital Vanitas was also shown at
Cannes film festival
The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
and the
Sydney Film festival
The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize.
the festival's director is Nashen Moodley.
Histo ...
amongst others. Orbital Vanitas was also selected for distribution via the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
op docs VR distribution platfor
NYTVR Under the BADFAITH moniker, Gladwell and Faber co-curated the 2017
Sydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize.
the festival's director is Nashen Moodley.
Histo ...
s VR program. In 2016 Gladwell was the first documented artist to sell a virtual reality artwork on the Australian market.
Opera
Gladwell was commissioned by the 2013 Gergiev Festival to produce video art for a concert version of Richard Wagner's
''The Flying Dutchman''. The opera was performed by the
Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra
The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra (RPhO; nl, Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest) is a Dutch symphony orchestra based in Rotterdam. Its primary venue is the concert hall De Doelen. The RPhO is considered one of the Netherlands' two principal orc ...
, conducted by
Yannick Nézet-Séguin
Yannick Nézet-Séguin, CC (; born Yannick Séguin;David Patrick Stearns, "Nezet-Seguin signs Philadelphia Orchestra contract". ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', 19 June 2010. 6 March 1975) is a Canadian ( Québécois) conductor and pianist. He ...
on Sunday 15 September 2013 at De Doelen, Rotterdam. Gladwell interpreted Richard Wagner's opera as an Australian surf film by replacing all sailing references in the
libretto
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...
with ones involving surfing. Regarding this work, Gladwell has stated that he was inspired by the seminal Australian surf film ''
Morning of the Earth
''Morning of the Earth'' is a 1971 classic surf film by Alby Falzon and David Elfick.
The film's soundtrack was produced by G. Wayne Thomas and included music and songs by noted Australian music acts Tamam Shud, John J. Francis, Brian Cadd, Mik ...
'' (1971). The video used a cast of performers that were both professional dancers and surfers.
Performance and choreography
Gladwell has presented several live performances and choreographies since 2011. Gladwell's performance piece ''Reversed Readymade'' (2014) features a professional BMX bicycle rider performing stunts on Marcel Duchamp's ''
Bicycle Wheel
A bicycle wheel is a wheel, most commonly a wire wheel, designed for a bicycle. A pair is often called a wheelset, especially in the context of ready built "off the shelf" performance-oriented wheels.
Bicycle wheels are typically designed ...
'' (1913). The work premiered at the inaugural Per4m program at Artissima 21, Turin, Italy, in November 2014. Initially, the piece was performed by professional Welsh BMX rider, Matti Hemmings, however subsequent performances in Australia have been enacted by Simon O'Brien.
Film
In 2012, Gladwell directed a chapter titled "Family" for the feature film ''
The Turning'' (2013). The anthology film is based on a collection of short stories by Australian author,
Tim Winton
Timothy John Winton (born 4 August 1960) is an Australian writer. He has written novels, children's books, non-fiction books, and short stories. In 1997, he was named a Living Treasure by the National Trust of Australia, and has won the Miles ...
. Gladwell cast
Meyne Wyatt
Meyne Wyatt (born 14 August 1989) is an Australian actor. Wyatt graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in 2010 and appeared in several theatre productions around the country. For his performance in ''Silent Disco'', Wyatt was name ...
and
Wayne Blair into the roles of two brothers in dispute. ''The Turning'' premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival on 3 August 2013.
Writing
In 2015, Gladwell published an artist book titled ''PATAFUNCTIONS'' in association with his solo exhibition titled ''The Lacrima Chair'' at the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation. Gladwell describes the book as "fictional theory" and "simulated theory." The text features contributions from Denise Thwaites,
Paul Patton and Kit Messham-Muir. PATAFUNCTIONS offers an exegesis on Gladwell's art practice and his wider thinking on issues of function and transformation. The cover design for ''PATAFUNCTIONS'' is an exact graphic appropriation of the
Semiotext(e)
Semiotext(e) is an independent publisher of critical theory, fiction, philosophy, art criticism, activist texts and non-fiction.
History
Founded in 1974, ''Semiotext(e)'' began as a journal that emerged from a semiotics reading group led by Sylv ...
Foreign Agents Series design by Jim Fleming from the 1980s.
Criticism
Gladwell's entire artistic career has been questioned by a number of critics, particularly within Australia. Negative criticism was surveyed in a 2015 feature article in ''
The Australian
''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
'' newspaper by Ashleigh Wilson:
The art critic most vocally against Gladwell's work is John McDonald who identifies the work as 'hype'. In doing so, McDonald calls into question the Australian art institutions that support Gladwell:
Exhibitions
Gladwell has been exhibiting extensively throughout Australia, Asia, the United States and Europe since 2001. He has participated in many international biennales and triennales, including: the Yokohama Triennale (2005); Busan Biennale and Bienal de São Paulo (both 2006);
La Biennale di Venezia
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
(2007 & 2009); the
Biennale of Sydney
The Biennale of Sydney is an international festival of contemporary art, held every two years in Sydney, Australia. It is a large and well-attended contemporary visual arts event in the country. Alongside the Venice and São Paulo biennales and ...
, Taipei Biennial and Biennale Cuvée, Linz (all 2008); Cairo Biennial (2010); the Shanghai Biennale, China (2012); The California-Pacific Triennial and SCAPE 7, Public Art Christchurch Biennial, New Zealand (both 2013); as well as la Biennale d’Arte Contemporain, Douai (2015). In 2009, Gladwell was Australia's representative at the 53rd Venice Biennale.
Elton John
Gladwell's photographs, lightboxes and videos have been collected by
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
, particularly work relating to human interaction with other species and the natural world.
Skateboarding
Whilst skateboarding frequently features in Gladwell's artworks, he himself competed in
freestyle skateboarding
Freestyle skateboarding (or freestyle) is one of the oldest styles of skateboarding and was intermittently popular from the 1960s until the early 1990s, when the final large-scale professional freestyle skateboarding competition was held.
Desc ...
competitions throughout the late 1980s. He occasionally competes in freestyle skateboarding events such as the 2011 Malmo Super Bowl in Sweden and the 2012 World Roundup in Cloverdale Canada. For the 2013 SCAPE 7 public art triennale in Christchurch, New Zealand, Gladwell designed skate-able sculptures that reflected the fractured urban landscape post
2011 Christchurch earthquake
A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the entire of the Canterbury region in the South Island, centred south-east ...
.
For the 2016
Perth International Arts Festival, Gladwell was in a public conversation with legendary freestyle skateboarder
Russ Howell
Russell Wayne Howell (born September 1949) is a professional skateboarder. While working towards his degree in physical education, Howell competed and won many freestyle skateboarding competitions throughout his skating career.
Life and career ...
.
Environmentalism
The artist has described himself as "environmentally concerned", presenting his ideas on art and the environment at ARTCOP 21 in Paris (2015), having been a finalist in the COAL Prize for Art and Environment that same year.
Gladwell lives and works in Sydney and London.
Literature
* ''Shaun Gladwell: The Lacrima Chair'' (2015). Published by the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation.
* ''Double War: Shaun Gladwell, Visual Culture and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq'' Kit Messham-Muir (2015). Published by Thames & Hudson
* ''Patafunctions'' (2015). Published by the Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation.
* ''Cycles of Radical Will'' (2013) Essay by Richard Grayson.
Published by the De La Warr Pavilion, U.K.
* ''Point of View: Afghanistan'' (2013) Published by the Australian War Memorial
* ''Perpetual 360 Degree Sessions'' (2011) Published by Schunck, The Netherlands.
* ''Shaun Gladwell MATRIX 162'' (2011) Published by the Wadsworth Atheneum of Art, Hartford, Connecticut.
* ''Stereo Sequences'' (2011), Published by Schwartz City & The Australian Centre for the Moving Image.
* ''Interceptor Intersection'' (2010) Published by Schwartz City and Cambelltown Art Center.
* ''Maddestmaximus: Planet and Stars Sequence'' (2009) Published by Schwartz City/ Australia Council for the Arts.
* ''Shaun Gladwell Videoworks'' (2008) Published by Artspace, Sydney.
* ''Practices of the City and the Kickflipping Flaneur'' (2000) Kit Messham-Muir. Published by Artspace, Sydney.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gladwell, Shaun
1972 births
Living people
Australian war artists
20th-century war artists
Australian contemporary artists
Australian skateboarders
Archibald Prize finalists