SHAUN TAN home books paintings film and theatre comments prints FAQ about contact blog CREATURE, March 28 - April 18 March 25, 2021 As a child I rarely stopped to think about the reasons for drawing so many weird creatures, and even now I don’t contemplate it much at the easel or sketchbook. I just trust in some deeper attraction that is not especially studied, just the simple allure of drawing a creature to which I always return, as if sitting right beside my three-year-old self. It’s an attraction as old as a prehistoric carving (from which I often draw inspiration), and as new as a robot cobbled together from roadside junk. The idea of a novel and nameless living being ­– as all animals, including ourselves, inherently are ­– never fails to fascinate, and each begs to tell its own secret story. CREATURE runs from March 28 to April 18, 2021 at Beinart Gallery in Brunswick, Melbourne. A full online catalogue of works is accessible here: https://beinart.org/collections/shaun-tan-creature The March, pastel on paper, 70 x 50cm, 2021 Share Old New World March 13, 2021 I was invited late last year to create the poster and other visual materials for Children’s Book Week 2021, on the theme ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’. The resulting oil painting references The Arrival, my own experiences of fatherhood and also to some extent the feeling of coming out of a tough lockdown in 2020 Melbourne. I wanted to somehow collapse ideas of the past, present and future into a single image that also suggests alternate history. Painting for this year’s Book Week, August 21-27, on the theme ‘Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds’. For more info, visit www.cbca.org.au Share RULES OF SUMMER exhibition October 27, 2020 Original paintings and sketches for the 2013 picture book Rules of Summer will be exhibited throughout Western Australia over summer 2020 and until late 2021 courtesy of Art On The Move. My hope is that everyone will feel as free as possible to find their own ‘nostalgia’ in these painted dreams, and perhaps unlock some other real emotion relating to friends, siblings and partners. Objects in a rear-view mirror may be closer than they appear: the same might be said for many works of so-called fiction, where strange and far-away things are not really so strange, and not really so far away. Shaun Tan, 2014. Exhibition Details The Cannery Arts Centre, Esperance September 18 - November 8, 2020 Geraldton Regional Art Gallery November 20 – December 12, 2020 Ellenbrook Arts January 15 – February 14, 2021 Goldfields Art Centre February 24 – March 20, 2021 Shark Bay World Heritage Discovery Centre April 2 – May 31, 2021 Bunbury Regional Art Gallery June 19 – August 22, 2021 Katanning Art Gallery October 7 – November 7, 2021 For more information, interviews and images please contact Grace on (08) 9249 3479 or marketing@artonthemove.art. About ART ON THE MOVE ART ON THE MOVE is a not-for-profit visual arts organisation encouraging connections and fostering a sense of belonging, creativity and a greater understanding of ourselves and the world through visual art. We do this by touring quality contemporary art with appropriate learning and development opportunities that speak to and develop the unique cultural narratives of communities whatever the cultural practice, age, ability and engagement with culture. The last day of summer, oil on canvas, approx. 130 x 60cm Share DOG October 15, 2020 DOG, an illustrated story previously published in Tales from the Inner City has been released as a stand-alone picture book in Australia this month by Allen & Unwin, and last month by Walker Studio UK. You can find out more about it here. Comment Share Blog Archive October 12, 2020 For an archive of older blog posts, pre-2020, please visit The Bird King, thebirdking.blogspot.com, and you can also check Instagram @shauncytan Share Search Posts