b. Pittsburgh, PA
Shirley Irons is a New York-based artist who employs both photography and painting as a medium to depict fleeting environments with low levels of information using horizons, composition, and still life in search of the permanence of an image.
In Common Landscapes (2001) and Objects & Institutions (2003), Irons paints fragmented landscapes and stark urban interiors utilizing careful compositional organization to invoke the temporary state of vacancy and aloofness–a built environment for these transient spaces (freeways, hallways of institutions, airports, and galleries).
Irons balances realistic details with abstract applications of paint as well as photographic conventions to explore decisions about how much information is necessary to render an image.
Education
| 1976 | B.F.A. Parsons School of Design, NYC |
Teaching
| 2007- | Instructor, Fine Art Department, School of Visual Arts |
| 1999-2001 | Lecturer, graduate special project class, New York University School of Art & Art Education |
| 1993- | Instructor, "Exploring Multimedia," School of Visual Arts, NYC |
| 1993-1996 | Co-director, Theoretical Studies in Art, a seminar series at White Columns |
Selected Solo Exhibitions
| 2014 | galleries, etc., Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA |
|
| 2012 | Saul Ostrow Presents: Shirley Irons, 21st Street Project Space, NYC |
|
| 2010 | Objects & Institutions, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
| 2009 | A Perfect Day, Staniar Gallery, Washington and Lee University, VA | |
| 2006 | Meadowland, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
| 2003 | Common Landscape, Luisotti Gallery, Santa Monica, CA | |
| 2002 | Tyler Gallery, Temple University, Philadelpha, PA | |
| 2001 | Project: Painting-in-the-Floor, Postmasters, NYC | |
| 1998 | Road Show, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
| 1992 | White Columns, NYC | |
| 1985 | Queens Museum, Queens, NY |
Selected Group Exhibitions
| 2014 | Whitney Biennial as part of Critical Practices, Inc., Whitney Museum, NYC |
| 2013 | The Way We Live Now, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA |
| 2012 | Social Studies, La Conservera, Murcia, Spain |
| 2011 | Chain Letter, Samson, Boston, MA |
| Social Photography II, NYC | |
| 2009 | Octet, Pera Museum, Istanbul |
| Night Town, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA | |
| 2008 | Thresholds of Visibility, Surface Library, Springs, Long Island, NY |
| 2007 | Brief Encounters, Caren Golden Gallery, NYC |
| The End(s) of Photography, MCDonough Museum of Art, Youngstown, Ohio | |
| Holiday Shopping, Emily Harvey Gallery, NYC | |
| 2006 | Now Voyager, Islip Museum, Long Island, NY |
| 2005 | On Paper, Pace University, NYC |
| Copilandia, Seville, Spain | |
| Anthologie der Kunst, Academy of Art, Berlin | |
| 2003 | Small Works, Marcel Scheiner Gallery, Hilton Head, NC |
| 2001 | Visibility, Fair, Murray Guy, NYC (w/Bill Adams and Judith Eisler) |
| 2000 | Trailer, Gallery Luisotti, Santa Monica, CA |
| I’m Still in Love with You, Steven Hull exhibition and LP publication, LA | |
| Mapping the Imaginary, Hobart & Wm Smith Colleges, Geneva, NY | |
| 1999 | Rita McBride, Sylvia Mangold, and Occasional Guests, Alexander and Bonin, NYC |
| 1998 | Disappearing Act, Bound & Unbound and Leslie Tonkonow, NYC |
| Valentine, Rosamund Felson Gallery, Santa Monica, CA | |
| 1997 | Get Busy, P.S. 122, NYC |
| Blind Date, Cal Arts, Valencia, CA | |
| Possessions, School of Visual Art, NYC | |
| 1996 | The Baseball Show, Curt Marcus Gallery, NYC |
| Scratch, Threadwaxing Space, NYC | |
| Conceptual Documents for Impossible Art, 473 Broadway, NYC | |
| Blender V, Four Walls, artist/writer collaboration with Lydia Davis, NYC | |
| 1995 | Jobs II, Four Walls at Ronald Feldman Gallery, NYC |
| Partly Sunny, Tomorrow, Geoffrey Young Gallery, Great Barrington, MA | |
| Division of Breath and Air, Patrick Callery, NYC (w/Uta Barth and Karin Davie) | |
| 1994 | Untitled Installation, Hunter College Faculty Invitational, NYC |
| Between, University of Akron, traveling to Allegheny College | |
| 1993 | Songs of Retribution, Richard Anderson Gallery, NYC |
| BOMB Benefit, Fawbush Gallery, NYC | |
| Reversible World, B-4-A, NYC (3-person w/Laurence Hegarty and Lindsay Walt) | |
| 1992 | Mr. B's Curiosity Shop, Threadwaxing Space, NYC |
| 1991 | Physical Relief, Leubsdorf Gallery at Hunter College, NYC |
| Bain Douche, Simon Watson Gallery, NYC, collaborative installation with Andrea Blum and Jeanne Silverthorne | |
| 1984-90 | Fragments, Parts and Wholes, White Columns, NYC, Public Mirror, Clocktower, NYC, Bali Miller Gallery, NYC McNeil Gallery (Vanguard), Philadelphia; AIR Gallery, NYC; Solo Gallery, NYC; Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, NYC; DiMauro Gallery, NYC; Kamikaze, NYC; Printed Matter, NYC; Jack Tilton, NYC; PS l, Long Island City, NYC; De Facto, NYC, ABC No Rio |
Bibliography
| 2013 | L. A. Times, Christopher Knight, “A ‘Way’ that fully resonates” |
| Transformation, Art Papers, Artist Project, March/April | |
| 2012 | “Draw it with your eyes closed: the art of the art assignment,” Paper Monument, eds. |
| 2010 | Shirley Irons, LA Times, April 16, 2010, Christopher Knight review of Luisotti show |
| Seen, Daily du Jour, April 5, 2010, Chris Stanton | |
| Art Papers, Dinah Ryan(review of Staniar Gallery show), March/April | |
| East of Borneo, inaugural issue | |
| 2009 | “A Perfect Day,” catalog for exhibition, essay by Susan Morgan |
| 2003 | Jochen Gerz, L’Anthologie de ‘Art, Les Presses du Reel, French edition |
| C&R, online review of exhibition | |
| 2001 | Art Monthly, review and reproduction, Michael Wilson, June 2001, no. 247 |
| Time Out, review and reproduction, Andrea K. Scott | |
| M. review and reproduction, “Bill Adams, Judith Eisler & Shirley Irons,” Merrily Kerr, May | |
| Flash Art, “Exurbia,” Clayton Campbell, January/February | |
| 2000 | “Between Rural and Suburban,” Los Angeles Times, 12/15/00, Christopher Knight |
| Baltimore City Paper, “A Few Words About 1,000 Pictures, Mike Giuliano, 11/8/00 (reproduction) | |
| “Exurbia,” SantaMonica Mirror, 11/8/00 | |
| New York Times Magazine, Sunday 3/26/00, Mary Tannen | |
| 1998 | LA Times, 10/16/98, Claudine Ise, review of exhibition |
| New York Times, 5/15/98, Holland Cotter, review of Disappearing Act | |
| 1996 | New York Times, 7/26/96, Grace Glueck, review of the Baseball Show |
| Time Out, #45, 7/31-8/7/96, Linda Yablonski; | |
| Village Voice, 7/23/96, Kim Levin | |
| Isaak, Joanna, The Revolutionary Power of Women's Laughter, Ch. "Mapping the Imagination," Routledge | |
| 1995 | Time Capsule, Creative Time |
| 1993 | Promotional Copy (artists' book organized by Robin Kahn) |
| 1992 | Tema Celeste, December, reproduction p. 7 |
| Talk of the Town, NEW YORKER, March 23, 1992 | |
| Dictionary of Art Terms, ACME, Vol. 1, Spring (collaborative project) | |
| 1991 | catalogue essay for Lewis Baltz retrospective, Rule Without Exception, UNM Press |
| 1992, conceptual art calendar for BLAST magazine | |
| 1987 | BOMB magazine, "In Her Own Voice," by Saul Ostrow, Fall issue |
| CODA magazine, Amsterdam, Summer issue | |
| 1986 | Heresies #20 collective, co-editor, Political Activism |
Awards and Honors
| 1983 | New York State Council on the Arts (CAPS), Painting |
| 1977-79 | Teaching Assistantship, Lithography, Parsons School of Design |