Shaun Caton

Shaun Caton, performance artist, painter, and cultural lobotomist, has been described as 'one the UK's most captivating performers' by Manick Govinda and an 'iconic performance artist' by Aaron Wright Director, Fierce Festival.

In a career which spans 35 years he has given over 435 different performances worldwide in galleries, museums, festivals of live art, cinemas, theatres, unusual indoor and outdoor spaces. His performances are characterized by a sensational use of colour and often employ extended shadow play using cardboard totems and figures made from found materials with whole sections of live painting. 

During the 1980's Caton's work was presented in extreme duration, with performances lasting days on end or often weeks in succession.  His work has tapped into the darker side of humanity and has been seen by some as a parable of 'neo noir psychological horror' (exeunt magazine) or 'like eavesdropping on the home life of a serial killer' (The Scotsman).

Caton creates richly layered performances of great intensity, augmented by powerful soundtracks and fabulous installations of taxidermy specimens with hand painted backdrops. Many of his works involve audience participation and he recently collaborated with 30 children at the Cill Rialaig Arts Centre in Kerry, Ireland. 

His latest work Strange Newes at Experimentica Cardiff (14 April 2018) is a collaboration with Paul Hurley inspired by 17th century woodcuts in pamphlets of the same name, an extension of his shadow play with electronic music and percussion.

On 16 May Caton presents Prancing Poodles and Preposterous Pugs, as part of an evening at LADA about, with, and for Live Art and animals. He will give a visual tour through his extraordinary collection of vintage and historic photographs of performing animals, mostly from the 19th and early 20th centuries, and talk about the animal as performer for the camera, live audience, and the collective creative imagination.

 “These images come from my greater collection of performance related photographs. As a collector, I want to share some of my discoveries and the more outstanding pictures with a much greater audience. The ideal format would be in a book, but I like talking about photographs and offering my own interpretations with some anecdotes about my own performance history. Doing a talk is just another type of performance for me.”

 - Shaun Caton

In 2019 Shaun will present a new performance,  Il giardino grottesco at the Venice Biennale in the Palazzo Papafava. 

Categories: Featured Artist

Date Posted: 25 April 2018