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Biography
Born in Herington, Kansas (1944). Attended Kansas State University (1963-66). In college studied civil engineering and studio art. Studied the work of Buckminster Fuller. Participated in Summer Theater Workshops at the University of Maine (1966-67). Moved to New York City (1968). Showed with Paula Cooper Gallery (1968- 1991). Begins three-dimensional, two-sided paintings (1970). Purchased a house on Shelter Island, but kept studio in New York City (1971). Took up permanent residence on Shelter Island (1972). Focused on print and papermaking and made over thirty editions between 1971 – 1974. Received Guggenheim Fellowship and traveled in South America for three months (1973). Went to the Ahmadabad retreat in India (1980). Died in Shelter Island, NY (2005).Museum exhibitions include: Alan Shields: Common Threads, Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY (2018); Alan Shields: A Different Kind of Painting, Beeler Gallery at Columbus College of Art & Design, Columbus, OH (2017); Alan Shields: Protracted Simplicity (1966-1985), Aspen Art Museum, Aspen, CO (2016), Alan Shields: In Motion, Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY (2015), Into the Maze, SITE Santa Fe, NM (2014), Stirring Up the Waters, Parrish Art Museum, Southampton, NY (2007); Alan Shields: A Survey, The Beach Museum of Art, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS (1999); 1968 – 1983: The Work of Alan Shields, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN (1983), traveled to Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, FL and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO; Alan Shields: Paintings and Prints, Williams College Museum of Art, Williamstown, MA (1981). Included in museum collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY, Tate Collection, London, UK, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. -
Works
Alan Shields
Tartin Worm Whorl, 1997Acrylic, thread and yarn on canvas46 1/2 x 46 1/2 in
118.1 x 118.1 cmExhibitions-
Small is Beautiful
2nd Floor Gallery February 6 - April 4, 2025Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present Small is Beautiful, an exhibition of small-scale works by 22 artists, both familiar and new faces to the gallery’s program. The exhibition features...Read more -
Tales of Brave Ulysses
November 9 - December 22, 2023Garth Greenan Gallery and Van Doren Waxter are pleased to announce Tales of Brave Ulysses , an upcoming two-venue exhibition opening November 9, 2023, which explores the personal and working...Read more -
Alan Shields
3rd Floor May 12 - June 30, 202323 East 73rd StreetRead more -
Abdolreza Aminlari | Polly Apfelbaum | Marilyn Lerner | Fanny Sanín | Alan Shields
3rd Floor February 15 - March 25, 2023This special presentation of works by Alan Shields, Marilyn Lerner, Fanny Sanín, Abdolreza Aminlari, and Polly Apfelbaum presents an intergenerational, global selection of artists working in vibrant geometric abstraction. The...Read more -
Sewn Burnt Folded Drawn Painted Collaged
Special Presentation: 3rd Floor January 12 - February 26, 2022Caetano de Almeida Marsha Cottrell Richard Diebenkorn Moira Dryer Jeronimo Elespe Robert Mangold Harvey Quaytman Alan Shields Anne Truitt Jack TworkovRead more -
Alan Shields
Worms With Bedroom Eyes; 3rd Floor October 29 - December 19, 2020Van Doren Waxter is delighted to present Worms With Bedroom Eyes , a selected survey of intimately scaled wall-based works by the acclaimed visionary American artist Alan Shields (1944 -...Read more -
Chroma
2nd Floor July 17 - August 16, 2019For its summer group exhibition, Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present Chroma, a show that brings together color-specific works by artists from the gallery’s roster and program. On view...Read more -
Alan Shields
Rolling Orbit: Prints from the 1970s May 17 - July 27, 2018Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present Rolling Orbit, an exhibition of 18 prints from the 1970s by Alan Shields, on view from May 17 through July 27, 2018. The...Read more -
Alan Shields Project
Lisa Alvarado | Cheryl Donegan | Aiko Hachisuka | Channing Hansen | Naotaka Hiro | Alan Shields | Martha Tuttle | B. Wurtz: 195 Chrystie St January 5 - February 4, 2018Lisa Alvarado | Cheryl Donegan | Aiko Hachisuka | Channing Hansen | Naotaka Hiro | Alan Shields | Martha Tuttle | B. Wurtz Van Doren Waxter is pleased to present...Read more -
Alan Shields
Selected Prints September 14 - October 28, 2016Read more -
Alan Shields
Space Sisters: Work from the 1970s September 14 - October 28, 2016Van Doren Waxter is pleased to announce Space Sisters, an exhibition of paintings and works on paper by Alan Shields, on view from September 14 through October 28, 2016. The...Read more -
Summer Group Exhibition: Part II
James Brooks, Richard Diebenkorn, Al Held, Manny Farber, Alan Shields July 28 - August 29, 2014Read more -
Group Show
Dryer, Murray, Shields, Jansana, Nesbit, Letha Wilson July 9 - August 8, 2014Group Show July 9 – August 8, 2014 | 11 Rivington St & 195 Chrystie St, NY Moira Dryer | Elizabeth Murray | Alan Shields Eleven Rivington is pleased to...Read more -
Summer Group Exhibition: Part I
Al Held, Alan Shields, Frank Stella June 2 - July 18, 2014Read more -
Alan Shields
Maze November 7 - December 21, 2012Greenberg Van Doren Gallery is pleased to present Alan Shields: Maze, a solo exhibition featuring Alan Shields’ interactive installation Maze (1981-82) organized in cooperation with the Estate of Alan Shields....Read more -
Alan Shields
Something Goin' On & On April 28 - June 24, 2011Curated by Jill Brienza Fully illustrated catalogue with essay by Bob Nickas Greenberg Van Doren Gallery is pleased to present Something Goin’ On & On , a solo exhibition of...Read more
News-
Woven Histories Textiles and Modern Abstraction
Alan Shields | MoMA September 13, 2025Through September 13, 2025 Textiles touch every aspect of our lives and connect us to history. “Threads were among the earliest transmitters of meaning,” the...Read more -
Sculpture at Sylvester Manor
Alan Shields June 22, 2024Curated by Tom Cugliani, the exhibition engages a diverse spectrum of artists local to the East End of Long Island and takes place on the...Read more
Publications-
Alan Shields
Space Sisters work from the 1970s 2016Book, Softcover; 36 pagesRead more -
Alan Shields
Frieze New York – Spotlight | Maze Art Basel Unlimited 2016Book, Hardcover; accordion fold double sided; 36 pagesRead more
ISBN: 978-88-7336-606-5 -
Alan Shields
Something Goin' On & On 2011Book, Softcover, 47 pagesRead more
ISBN: 978-0-9801259-9-3 -
Tales of Brave Ulysses
2023Paperback, 248 pagesRead more
Art fairs-
Art Basel Miami Beach
Booth G4 December 6 - 8, 2024Van Doren Waxter will present a select group of works that embody expressionism and restraint. The variety of formalist impulses behind this concept will be...Read more -
The Art Show | ADAA
Booth B2 October 30 - November 2, 2024Van Doren Waxter's booth will showcase collage works by artists Rosemarie Beck, Richard Diebenkorn, Louise Fishman, Sonia Gechtoff, Vera Molnár, Alan Shields, and Jack Tworkov....Read more -
Art Basel Miami Beach
December 8 - 10, 2023Meridians : Alan Shields Kabinett : Alan Shields: Works on PaperRead more -
The Art Show | ADAA
November 1 - 5, 2023Read more -
Art Basel Miami Beach
December 1 - 3, 2022Main Booth Marsha Cottrell Karin Davie Moira Dryer Judy Fiskin Helen Frankenthaler Carmen Herrera Vera Molnar Mariah Robertson Dorothea Rockburne Jackie Saccoccio Hedda Sterne Anne...Read more -
The Armory Show
September 9 - 11, 2022Works By: Caetano de Almeida Marsha Cottrell Jeronimo Elespe Jessie Henson David Hockney Volker Hüller Joshua Nathanson Evan Nesbit Gareth Nyandoro Mariah Robertson Brian Rochefort...Read more -
Dallas Art Fair
April 21 - 24, 2022Caetano de Almeida James Brooks Marsha Cottrell Richard Diebenkorn Jeronimo Elespe Jessie Henson Hans Hofmann Volker Hüller Robert Motherwell Joshua Nathanson Evan Nesbit Harvey Quaytman...Read more -
The Art Show
February 27 - March 3, 2020Read more
Press-
Tales of Brave Ulysses
The Brooklyn Rail | By Andrew Paul WoolbrightDecember 19, 2023 -
Shows! Shows! Shows! 34 New York Must-See Gallery Exhibitions to See This May
by Sarah Cascone & Caroline Goldstein, Artnet News, May 1, 2018 -
February’s New York City Art Crawl
By Noah Dillon, Elephant, February 5, 2018 -
Alan Shields Project
The New Yorker, January 26, 2018 -
Old Belts and Fishing Tackle Transformed
A Review of ‘Alan Shields: In Motion’ and ‘Steven and William Ladd: Mary Queen of the Universe’ at the Parrish Art MuseumBy JOYCE BECKENSTEIN, The New York Times, January 9, 2015 -
Maze of Glory: Get lost in SITE’s latest installation
Santa Fe Reporter, December 18, 2013 -
Mixed Media — Tailor-made masterpiece: Alan Shields’ labyrinth
by Michael Abatemarco, Santa Fe New Mexican, December 13, 2013 -
A Maze and Grace: Alan Shields take Color Field for a walk
Artcritical, December 18, 2012 -
Alan Shields
ARTnews, August 31, 2011 -
Alan Shields / Greenberg Van Doren Gallery
Artforum, August 26, 2011 -
All Nooks, Crannies, Bedrooms and Trees are Backdrops for Art
The New York Times, August 7, 2011 -
Critic's Pick: Alan Shields: Something Goin' On & On
Artforum.com, June 6, 2011 -
Alan Shields: Something Goin' On & On
The Brooklyn Rail, June 6, 2011 -
Goings On About Town: Alan Shields
The New Yorker, May 30, 2011 -
Critic's Pick: Alan Shields, "Something Goin' On & On"
Time Out New York, April 26, 2011
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