Shaw announced at the beginning that he intended only to discuss the three paintings that he is currently showing at BAS7 (Your End, Blocked Drain, The Next Big Thing), but that the idea was that this would open up to more and more things- other works along the same themes, inspirations, memories...
He spoke largely (and unsurprisingly) about growing up in the 1970s on a Coventry housing estate- about his influences being musicians like The Specials and Joy Division, his fondness for Millais, for ancient standing stones and especially for, in his words, "looking for that wilderness in the place that I grew up."
A recurring theme in Shaw's work is that of place, and of a changing place. Having heard him talk about the paintings he makes in the context of the place that he grew up, and revisiting these places when they have changed and moved on, you get the sense that making these paintings is almost a cathartic process for him (though he disagreed with this in the Q&A session). To make these paintings, he visits and revisits this council estate, takes thousands of photographs, and although this is not exclusively what he does, there are instances where he has made up his paintings from memories- e.g. for many of his 'Garage paintings', he stated that these garages had been long gone by the time he had made these.
In that sense, you feel almost a denial, or a feeling of unrest about these changes, however there are also many pieces where Shaw has actively documented these shifts with a sense of fascination; as in the case of the dozens of paintings of pubs that he has captured in varying stages of closure and demolition, trees being sawn down, and the eventual removal of his beloved garages.
The most exciting thing about George Shaw, is that he makes hundreds of these Tile Hill paintings that could so easily appear mundane. His palette is very muted, and he sticks to only a few colours of the Humbrol Enamel he uses to make these; the scenes that he paints are bleak and grotty, but he thinks that they are absolutely beautiful. And they are, and they are fascinating. There is something truly British and associable about them, which I suppose is what makes up much of George Shaw's appeal. But there's more than that still, because with these paintings of Tile Hill Council Estate, he summons the sounds of The Specials, and thuggish kids in turn-up jeans, and out-of-bounds places that you were supposed to steer well clear of when you were a kid. His work is so evocative, even without hearing him speak about it.
There is also a sadness with much of his work- especially with that made around the time of the death of his father, which makes itself very evident in many of his pieces. A feeling of things lost and left behind. He talked about it himself, of things being 'cut off', with you only being left to wonder what would have come next.
Despite this, George Shaw is an absolute pleasure; to listen to, and to speak with, which I had the fortune of being able to do after his talk. He laughs very freely and frequently at his own jokes, and at his associations and memories, and goes off on regular rants and tangents. At times it felt as though you could hear his mind working, even stood there as he went over works he must have talked about a hundred times. And the one thing that he said, if I had to pick just one, that really stuck with me, was right at the end. Just as he was leaving the building and I was dashing in to pick up a forgotten book I said how much I enjoyed his talk, and what he said was "it's just about cutting out the bullshit, isn't it?"
