Upper Iowa University to host Ed Shay’s ‘Ghosts: A Retrospective of Watercolors’
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Ed Shay’s watercolor, “Aborigines”, will be one of |
FAYETTE, Iowa (September 26, 2011 -- Upper Iowa University will host the opening reception for Ed Shay’s “Ghosts: A Retrospective of Watercolors” on Thursday, September 29, from 3:30- 5 p.m. in the Edgar Fine Arts Hall on the UIU campus. The event begins with a lecture by Shay at 2:00 p.m.
Shay is a visiting professor at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale. His work centers around watercolors, oils, and cast bronze sculptures.
“As it is my job is to make the work, I don't wish to say too much and impose my limited views on a viewer's creative speculations,” Shay says. “However, I will say this: these pieces are the archeological finds of my psychic past. They are ghosts. They are metaphors. They are visualized dreams. They present a record of how I saw the world psychologically at different stages of my life. As the work became more personal, I discarded literal imagery and began to build theatre sets in my back yard to reflect a more intimate psychological reality. This initiated a process of looking inward, rather than outward, for a sense of what was important.”
“I make work to see how I think, to have a discussion with myself; the process is always one of self-discovery. No matter how similar in tone or subject a work may seem to a previous work, for me the result is always revelatory,” he adds.
Shay earned his bachelor of fine arts, painting and printmaking at Murray State University, Murray, Ky., and his master of fine arts in painting and printmaking from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. Previously, he was a professor of art at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, where he was head of the graduate school of art and design for five years. He has been coordinator for the Scottish Summer Workshop since 2003. He has been a visiting art professor at several other universities as well.
Shay’s work has been on exhibit in a wide variety of galleries and can be found in permanent, private, corporate, university, and selected museum collections. More information is available online at www.edshay.com.
Shay’s “Ghosts: A Retrospective of Watercolors” will be on exhibit at UIU through November 5. The UIU Bing-Davis gallery is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Contact:
Monica Bayer Heaton
Executive Director of Communications and Marketing
Phone: 563-425-5773
Cell: 515-291-2070
heatonm@uiu.edu
About Upper Iowa University
Founded in 1857, Upper Iowa University is a private, not-for-profit university providing undergraduate and graduate degree programs and leadership development opportunities to nearly 6,800 students—nationally and internationally—at its Fayette campus and learning centers worldwide. Upper Iowa University is a recognized innovator in offering accredited, quality programs through flexible, multiple delivery systems, including online and independent study. For more information, visit www.uiu.edu.