The psychological depth of Jim Shaw’s pop culture dreamscapes

HYPERALLERGIC
By Melissa Stern

Jim Shaw, “The Burning Bush” (2013) (detail), acrylic on muslin backdrop with two acrylic, muslin and plywood cut-outs 

MASSACHUSETTS---There’s a big, funny, emotional, and political exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA). The exhibition, entitled Entertaining Doubts, presents a massive retrospective of the Los Angeles-based artist Jim Shaw. The work is at once universal in its popular imagery and intensely personal in its self-expression. It would be a bore and frankly remove all the magic from the art to try to decipher everything in this dizzying mix. I find a deep sense of anxiety in the art, amidst its equally apparent humor. [link]

Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art: "Jim Shaw: Entertaining Doubts" (Ends January 2016), 1040 Mass MoCA Way, North Adams, MA;(413) 662-2111; MassMoCA.org