In a profile of Edmonton-born, Berlin-based artist Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw, writer Lauren Lavery examines how Shaw’s treatment of industrial materials lends insight into our evolving relationship with urban landscapes and technology.
Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw
Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw (b. 1987, Edmonton, Treaty 6 Territory) lives and works in Berlin and Edmonton. Shaw completed his MFA at The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2016), his BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design in Vancouver (2013) and participated in the Berlin Program for Artists (2021). Selected solo and two person exhibitions include Wschód Warsaw (2025, 2021); Towards, Toronto (2024, 2017); Frieze Focus, London (2024); Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin (2023); BPA// Raum, Berlin (2022); Liste, Basel (2021); and Ashley, Berlin (2018). Selected group exhibitions include Catriona Jeffries, Vancouver (2025), Kunstverein Gastgarten, Hamburg (2025); Wschód, Warsaw (2023); Studio for Artistic Research, Düsseldorf (2022); KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2021); Union Pacific, London (2020); The Loon, Toronto (2019); and Alyssa Davis Gallery, New York (2018).
Coming together for the first time in my tenure without a prompt, the following issue nonetheless feels as though it is circling something specific, even if that something is difficult to name.