Brian Shure


Brian R. Shure is an American printmaker, painter, author and educator. He is best known for his mastery of printing techniques, knowledge of lesser known art techniques and has published multiple books about the art of chine-collé.

Early life

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he grew up in Willowick and then Mentor. As a teenager he started taking art classes at Cleveland Institute of Art. In 1974 he graduated with a B.A. in art from Antioch College. He apprenticed with Ernest deSoto and Collectors Press, a lithography press in San Francisco.

Work

Shure was a printer at Collectors Press, Editions Press, Ernest F. deSoto Workshop, and also worked on projects at Houston Fine Art Press and Graphicstudio. He later worked with Kathan Brown and Crown Point Press as a master printer and coordinator of the Chinese Woodblock Program from 1987 to 1994. Through his work at Crown Point Press he was able to work with artists such as John Cage, Wayne Thiebaud, Francesco Clemente and others.
From 2000–2006, Shure was awarded a General Services Administration commission, for three murals in historic courthouses in Pittsburgh.
Shure taught in the printmaking department at Rhode Island School of Design from 1996–2016. He was granted multiple RISD faculty study grants to travel and study traditional scroll mounting, byobu repair and the Chinese watercolor woodblock printing process. He also taught printmaking at Cornell University and Brown University.
Shure's oil paintings are often still life scenes from city life. He was quoted as saying, "I love drawing from life but I work from photographs now. When people are standing on the street waiting for a bus, reading paper on the train, or crossing the street, they appear comfortable and natural around their fellow human beings".
He began working at the artist workshop, Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles in late 2016. As of 2018, he is working as a master printer and director of a new print shop, Anderson Ranch Editions at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass Village, Colorado.

Collections

Shure's own artwork is included in various museum collections including the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and more. Shure's work as a printmaker is in museum collections, including; Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Gallery of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and others.

Publications