Anchorage Daily News

Mississippi artist Steve Shepard has strong feelings about the politics of development in the northern Gulf of Mexico region, and he's not afraid to tell you what they are. Thirty-eight of his drawings fill the Kimura Gallery at the University of Alaska Anchorage, illustrating his opinions of development, politicians and George Bush.

The images are layered and accessible on different levels: as creative endeavor, as social criticism or as intensely personal statements. The artist speaks what he calls a "visionary language of deep ecology" inspired by his love of the Gulf environment and its "disintegration at the hands of developers (Republicans) investing in sprawling overpopulation."

In the context of visual art usually seen in Alaska, the work is unique in style and content. There aren't many drawing shows here, and few purely political shows.

Shepard draws with a consistent and unencumbered personal style. Using Prismacolor (soft colored pencils), he meticulously fills large areas of the paper surface with a dot-dash mannerism. The style is not unlike the ink drawings of Vincent Van Gogh, who is portrayed in one of Shepard's drawings, along with Lincoln and Elvis, pointing "the accusing finger" at Republicans.

The figures, landscape and handwritten script are stylized in an intentionally unsophisticated, cartoon manner. Perspective is skewed for the sake of impression. Figures are distorted and caricatured.

"In pursuit of complexity," he explains, "I favor frenetic compositions with attention to spontaneous absurdity." Hence, surfaces are busy, replete with signage, strong color and a dizzying array of references.

The Alamo battlefield is depicted in a compelling maze of uniforms, abstracted grassland and traces of gunfire. He illustrates a 1925 wholesale cutting of a forest with a beautiful landscape of line and color, including comparisons to the death of Lincoln.

In an intricately drawn portrait of Andrew Jackson, the general is holding a bayonet full of skewered Southeastern Indians. The title, lettered on the drawing, sarcastically proclaims Jackson's "friendship" with the Indians.

"Developers and Other Scum" is blunt. There is no political nuance in the work. References to Bush and God, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and the bulldozer as emblem of overdevelopment are straight-arrow and provocative.

Shepard's style, he writes in his artist statement, reflects an appreciation of "Native and narrative art expressed outside the restraints of Western perspective."

This poses the question: At what point does an outsider become "in"? Does inclusion by academia alter the outsider's status as maverick? Is he outside-in or inside-out? Shepard may intend to be seen as apart -- primitive and unspoiled -- but his sensitively practiced drawings suggest that he is ignorant like a fox.

In the postmodern world, hierarchical and traditional criteria are less revered. Shepard's work appeals to different segments of the public for different reasons, but the visual complexity and poetic immediacy of his art can be appreciated by all.

Don Decker is an Anchorage artist, teacher and writer.

SWAMPWADER POLITICS AND OTHER GESTURES, a show by Steve Shepard, will remain on view through Sept. 26 at the Kimura Gallery in UAA's Fine Arts Building. COMMENT on this review or the exhibit at

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