Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw
Neither Parts, nor Spares

17.09.–12.11.22
Opening 16.09.2022, 18:00 – 21:00

Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw draws from an archive of photographs he has built-up over years, cataloging civic, industrial and vernacular architecture. The images featured within Neither Parts, nor Spares include pictures taken by the artist as well as by his mother, spanning the early 1980s to present day. They serve as a starting point for his sculptures, which appear like abstracted composites of architectural details. At BPA// Raum, Shaw merges these elements by means of bespoke picture frames that formally relate to what is displayed within them. Inkjet prints and photographic transfers merge with their armatures to form sculptural entities that are, in turn, integrated into a room-encompassing installation. The relationship of print to frame is equal as the works spread beyond their contours. Extending this reflective method into the exhibition space itself, he responds to the idiosyncrasies of BPA// Raum through highlighting and transforming existing spatial elements. Different types of wood, glass, concrete, plaster and found materials form a composition of excerpts from documented angles that are copied, scaled and inserted elsewhere. The entire ensemble is accompanied by sound recordings of several walks orchestrated by Shaw across the southern boroughs and peripheral waterways of Berlin.

Through his works, Shaw approaches questions of memory, acts of remembering and archiving, by citing the surfaces shown, depicting parts of buildings or spatial details. By doing so, he addresses the temporal relationship between fluctuating environments and their recollection. 

Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw (born in Edmonton, Treaty 6 territory, Canada) works between Berlin and Edmonton. He received his MFA from The Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm (2016), and his BFA from Emily Carr University of Art + Design (2013). Shaw has recently exhibited at Wschód Gallery, Warsaw (2021) and KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2021) and in 2023 will have presentations at Towards Gallery, Toronto, Wschód Gallery, Warsaw, and Echo, Cologne. Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw was a BPA// participant from 2020–2021 and is a guest mentor since 2022.

BPA// Raum
Sophie-Gips-Höfe, Sophienstraße 21, 10178 Berlin
Opening hours: Friday – Saturday, 15:00 – 18:00

Image: Adam Shiu-Yang Shaw: Neither Parts, nor Spares, 2022. Photos: Eric Bell