Artist Talk with Peter Shear

Peter Shear born in 1980, in Beverly Farms, Massachusetts is a self-taught painter known for richly hued paintings made on an intimate, human scale. His work resists fixed interpretation, operating between abstraction and representation without allegiance to either. Suggesting figures, landscapes, or architectural forms while remaining resolutely open, Shear’s paintings privilege intuition, restraint, and material sensitivity over declarative imagery. 

Shear has exhibited widely in the U.S. and internationally, with recent solo shows at Mendes Wood DM, New York (2025); BLUM, Los Angeles (2024); Cheim & Read, New York (2023); and Fortnight Institute, New York (2021). A solo exhibition with Mendes Wood DM will open in Brussels in February 2026.

Sponsored by Denison University Department of Visual Arts & The Vail Visiting Artist Series.