I create other worlds, magical never-never lands where the camera is my weapon and the battles I fight are with the elements. I stretch the laws of the mind and displace people from their realities to capture a side of them they didn’t even know they had. Photography has the ability to freeze people in this time and space—no matter what happens after that moment, it cannot change—they are exactly how I want them to be.

(Tyler Shields)

Embracing the spirit of summer in Aspen, Casterline|Goodman Gallery presents the pop art of acclaimed artist Tyler Shields, newly represented by the gallery. These works, available at our downtown Aspen gallery, are both irreverent and provocative, prompting the title of this show ‘The Dirty Side of Glamour’.

Name a celebrity and Shields has probably shot them; from Hollywood legends like Bruce Willis to industry titans like Elon Musk and everyone in between.

The series of work Shields is bringing to Aspen is both playful and provocative; features both bright colors in some work juxtapositioned with striking images in black and white. Shields is multidimensional, just like his work. He is currently one of the world’s most celebrated fine art photographers but his background started in action sports, as he was once a professional in-line skater and X Games World Champion.

From the first time I went to Aspen, when I was a teenager, I have always had a love for it. Long before I was a photographer, I remember thinking how beautiful it was. Such a magical place! Over the years, I have always thought about doing a show there, but the right people and the right location never seemed to find me. Then, I had the opportunity to team up with the amazing people at Casterline|Goodman Gallery. Everyone there is a great lover of art.

Tyler Shields (American, born 1982) has made a name for himself as one of the most celebrated fine art photographers. But before the world knew Shields as the photo provocateur that he is today, he seemingly lived a life as complex and diverse as his pictures. As a child growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, Shields became a professional in-line skater and went on to compete in the x games and win the world championship. At an early age Shields became custom to success and the unwavering dedication that it takes to be the best. So, it should come as no surprise that shortly after starting his photography career Shields became the youngest living artist to be in auction at Sotheby’s. Countless auctions later Sotheby’s deemed him “the Andy Warhol of his generation.” Stating that “Shields has produced images that play with notions of the gaze, power structures, hyper-realism, iconoclastic-tendencies and cinematographic practice”.

He has galleries with record breaking attendance across the globe and his limited addition prints are some of the most sought-after images in the world, with a total of just 3 images ever made in each of his available sizes.

His earliest work broke the internet with images featuring Lindsey Lohan running wild through LA, Emma Roberts jumping off of buildings and countless other young A-list stars doing what every magazine told him could not be done. At the start of his career Shields was turned away by every magazine in publication all of which told him that there was no way a celebrity would ever shoot outside of a studio and that his lavish stunts broadcasted across every website meant nothing because and I quote “the internet was never going to replace magazines”. Today the very same magazines would need a miracle to find a time where Tyler was available for a commission with his constant revolving door of galleries. Galleries with the very images he was told would be “impossible” to take.