About Ira Upin
I was born in Chicago, IL USA in 1948, went to college in Illinois and Maryland and settled in Philadelphia, PA in 1973 and stayed. For 35 years I'd go back and forth between working at construction and working in my studio. At age 57 I decided to spend the rest of my time in the studio.
The two constants in my work have been the narrative and the intensity of the visual. I want the viewer to be intoxicated and perplexed by how I make my paintings and intrigued by the stories I'm trying to tell. I'm interested in human dynamics whether they be social, political, or emotional.
- In the end though it's about randomness and our inability to control that randomness. Things happen - anything can happen and we want somehow to control it, but we can't. Art is a good attempt at trying.
- Fashion is ephemeral, so I never concern myself with what is fashionable, which in the end puts me in and out of fashion depending in what decade my work is being considered. I’ve been doing some version of the same thing for 50 years.
- At the elemental level of life itself, if you stop and think, everything is essentially something we do to keep ourselves busy between birth and death. The in between is the variable from one person to the next. Are you decent, are you compassionate, do you seek truth and a clear understanding of reality? Those are the questions I ponder to justify my life and what I do with my time.
Events:
Solo Shows -
2013, Artspace, Raleigh, NC
2013, Giles Gallery, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY
2013, The Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, CO
2011, Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, PA,
2008, Kelly and Weber Fine Art, Philadelphia PA
1992 & 3, F.A.N. Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1981, Cheney Cowles Museum, Spokane, WA
1979, Zaks Gallery, Chicago,IL,
Exhibitions:
Group Shows:
2015 Black Cube Collective Annual Show, Gayfield Creative Spaces, Edinburgh, Scotland
2015 Art of the State, The State Museum, Harrisburg, PA
2014 Art Undressed Event, McCormack Place, Miami, FL
2014 Irreversible, Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, Miami, FL
2014 Square Foot Art Basel Redux, Projects Gallery, Miami FL
2014 Projects Gallery at Red Dot Art Fair, Miami, FL
2014 Experiencing War, Ann Street Gallery, Newburgh, NY
2014 Arte Laguna Prize Exhibit, Venice Arsenale, Venice, Italy
2014 Part ll no barking aRt Biennale 2014 “Material World”, Espacio Gallery, London, UK
2014 Part l no barking aRt Biennale 2014 “Material World”, Space 25 Truman Brewery, London, UK
2014 Kinsey Institute, Juried Art Show, Grunwald Gallery, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
2014 Mid-Atlantic New Paintings, UMWG Galleries, Fredericksburg, VA
2013 Rag Dolls, Robots, and Rocketships, Foundry Art Centre, St. Charles, MO
2013 Summer Juried Show II, Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, CA
2012 No Dead Artists, Jonathan Ferrara Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2012 Death is the Destination, Welch School Galleries, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
2012 Living With Others, Giles Gallery Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, KY
2012 Au Naturel International Juried Exhibition, Clatsop Community College Art Center Gallery, Astoria, OR
2011"Hello World", October, Inaugural Opening Milavec Hakimi Gallery, NYC, NY
2011, "TO-DAY IS ANOTHER DAY, MAKE ART. (ART IN THE GREAT RECESSION)" Group Show Pterodactyl Creative Project Space, Philadelphia, PA,
2011, Juried Show, Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, CA
