Shaun Gladwell on Beyondism, Art and Cycling
‘A lifetime of inspiration’: Shaun Gladwell on riding and art.
Australian contemporary artist Shaun Gladwell talks about his relationship with cycling and bikes from a young age, and how it informs and inspires his work.
Born in Sydney, artist Shaun Gladwell now lives and works in Melbourne, where his video performance artworks have drawn audiences with their capacity to harness the feeling and experience of moving and being in urban spaces. Skateboarding and surf culture, BMX riding and city environments, are all captured and transformed when taken on as subjects of art.
Gladwell’s ideas resonate with Pedla’s Beyondism campaign, part of a celebration of cycling’s depth, capturing personal moments of meaning, a gesture to the untold parts of an everyday experience.
For Pedla it’s the spark of a never-ending love affair with riding, with the road, the connections we make with others but also with ourselves when we ride.
Gladwell’s art is one striking manifestation of Beyondism, of the connection between the bike and freedom and creativity: ‘I love how powerful riding is…the proportions of the bike to the body, the way that the bike kind of responds to every single move the body makes…the decisions that you make on a bicycle…there’s so many possibilities.’
