When told an artist doesn't do many interviews and will not be photographed, it's not unreasonable to expect a difficult encounter with a bristly, reclusive artiste. But when Steven Shearer opens the door to his enormous Vancouver studio, the 6-foot-3 painter and found-art master is affable, friendly and keen to talk about the Venice Biennale, where he will represent Canada this year.
Similarly, the encounter with the Canadian Pavilion at Venice, as shaped by Shearer's vision, will hold surprises this year for anyone familiar with the Giardini venue. The diminutive cottage-type building in the shadow of its powerful German and British neighbours will be transformed with a bold shocker: death metal in black and white.
For his exhibition at the 54th Biennale, opening to the public June 4, Shearer has altered the entrance to the Canadian Pavilion with one of his garden-shed installations (he's worked with the tool-shed idea before) - an intimate space that serves as an ode to suburban life, and plays on the garden theme; they're in the Giardini, after all. Above it stands an enormous mural, Poem for Venice: his latest poem created with lyrics from death-metal songs.