STAN SHELLABARGER
Nov. 13 to Dec. 18, 2004

See
Brian Sholis' review on artforum.com
here
See Susan
Snodgrass' review in Art in America here
This is Stan
Shellabarger's first solo show with Western Exhibitions.
Stan Shellabarger pays intense
attention to the body's everyday activities, particularly walking and
breathing. At WX, he'll show artist books that reflects an obsessive-compulsive
approach to cataloging the body: a year's worth of fingernail and toenail
clippings, hair collected from the bathtub drain, 3 years worth of butter
wrappers used by Stan's husband Dutes Miller in everyday cooking. Despite
the visceral nature of these books, they are surprisingly elegant (and
fragrant, in the case of the Butter Books), betraying a simple, pleasing
design. In the past year, Stan has celebrated the vernal and autumnal
equinox by walking in a circle for 12 hours and during an 8-hour performance,
documented every breath he took by marking the moment with charcoal
on 26 sheets of 18 x 24 paper. These drawings and documentary photographs
of the walking performances will be a part of the show. Stan will also
execute a still-to-be-determined repetitive performance during gallery
hours every Saturday for the run of the show.
Stan Shellabarger's recent shows
and performances include two walking performances, on the both the Vernal
and Autumnal Equinoxes, a crotcheting performance with Dutes Miller
at the Stray Show, an installation and breathing performance at Chicago's
Suitable Gallery and he performed and showed sculptures in "Here
and Now" a survey of emerging Chicago artists at the Chicago Cultural
Center in the fall of 2002. In 1996 he received the Blockstein Emerging
Artist Award from the Madison Art Center, in conjunction with his inclusion
in the Wisconsin Triennial exhibition. In 1997 he participated in the
Second Annual Indy Installation Festival in Indianapolis, Indiana and
was presented a special exhibition award. In 1999 Shellabarger and his
husband, Dutes Miller, were featured artists of the Twelfth Annual Cleveland
Performance Art Festival. Shellabarger received a MFA from the University
of Wisconsin in Madison in 1996 and his BFA from Illinois State University
in Normal in 1991. He currently resides in Chicago, Illinois.