SHANE HYDE
Personal and Authentic
Figurative Paintings from a Contemporary British Artist
My work, realised primarily in paintings, is Politically and socially engaged figurative pieces that are critical of society and it's power structures. My ideas are angry responses to political, environmental and social concerns - climate change and the threat of environmental destruction, the domination of technology, the decline of diversity, the huge disparities between rich and poor, the retreat from knowledge, the obedience to authority, the rise of denialism, the right-wing resurgence, and what I see as the dysfunctional society.
Since 2010 my interest in political, social and environmental problems has magnified and a feeling of outrage has growth within me at the shameful actions of our government and also the electorate who supports them. The Tory mindset. I feel a moral and social responsibility to be engaged with these issues and want to create personal works exploring contemporary history. To confront and challenge, to go against the consensus, to be antagonistic to mass culture. To feel free to explore unpleasant, unpopular and forbidden material. To be angry and provocative. Not caring about success. Pursuing my own artistic interest. To make warnings. I don't create work for the market, it compromises integrity. I reject prevailing fashion. I make them purely for myself. Not caring about the establishment or the public and certainly not the art market.
