Shelby Shadwell

SPACE BLANKET 4

Charcoal, pastel on polyester

"I make large-scale charcoal and pastel drawings of space blankets (aka solar blankets, emergency blankets, thermal blankets, etc) which are made of a compact lightweight material used to regulate temperatures of things like spacecraft and human beings in particularly cold circumstances. One might see them packed in a first aid kit for camping or, more poignantly in recent years, wrapped around migrants detained in camps near the border between the US and Mexico. "

– Shelby Shadwell

About the artist

Shelby Shadwell

Shelby Shadwell is an Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Wyoming. Born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, he received his BFA in 2003 from Washington University in St. Louis and his MFA in 2006 from Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

A two-time recipient of the Visual Arts Fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council, he actively exhibits across the nation. His recent exhibitions include LIKE AND SHARE IF YOU AGREE!!!, a solo show at the South Bend Museum of Art, DRAWN at Manifest Creative Research Gallery in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Drawing Discourse at the University of North Carolina Asheville. Shadwell was awarded a solo exhibition at the APEX Space at the Portland Art Museum in Oregon in 2016, and his work is included in their permanent collection. For his research sabbatical from 2021 – 2022, he accepted the Manifest Artist Residency Award, and spent the year making new work at their gallery and collaborating on educational opportunities at their Drawing Center in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Shadwell was recently honored with the Stone & Deguire Contemporary Art Award from his alma mater, Washington University in St. Louis. Current and upcoming 2023 solo exhibition venues include Artworks Contemporary Art Center in Loveland, Colorado, STRATA Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the Firehouse Art Center in Longmont, Colorado, and the Kentler International Drawing Space in Brooklyn, New York.