George K. Shortess

Resumé

George K. Shortess

Introduction. An award winning artist, I have had thirteen one person exhibits and participated in over one hundred group exhibits. These have included exhibitions internationally in Europe, Japan and Canada as well as nationally here in the United States. My formal studio art training occurred at the Boston Museum School, the University of Hawaii and the University of Rhode Island. The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts awarded me Artist Fellowships in both 1988 and 1991, as well as a conduit grant through Open Space Gallery, Allentown, PA., and more recently an S.O.S. grant in support of my work. My work is in a number of public collections and many private collections. Recently, the Museum of Modern art in NYC acquired one of my earlier artist books.

Artwork. As an artist, I use a variety of art media to create works which explore, in a social context, the relationships among art, human experience, and our sense of reality.

Two Dimensional Work. My studio training concentrated on painting and drawing, and I continue to paint and draw, using acrylics, watercolor and ink. Most of the work has centered on landscapes, both natural and human modified. In more recent work I have often incorporated words or free form poetry in the work. I have shown them in both group and one man exhibits over the years. My computer graphics have also been shown internationally in Vienna, Austria and Groningen, Holland.

Three Dimensional Work. A number of years ago, I completed a series of temporary outdoor site-specific sculptures, using found materials and painted wood. Most recently, I completed a three-dimensional book involving tree trunks. Many of my sculptural works have been installations in which I incorporate computer interactive sounds. Other works of this type were two installations based on childhood memories, at Elizabethtown College (PA) and at the Banana Factory in Bethlehem, PA. More recently, I exhibited at Lafayette College, an interactive rustic hut that spoke to viewers about shelters. In addition, I have been invited to create interactive installations internationally at Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria, and in Canada at A Space in Toronto and at Galerie Rene Blouin, in Montreal.

Artist Books. Over the years I have also created both two and three dimensional artist books which are described under the books section, most recently exhibiting with the Center for Book Arts in New York.

Art Residencies. I am rostered with the Arts in Education Division of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and have done a variety of residencies at the university, high school, middle school and elementary levels. In these residencies I worked with students to help them understand the nature of installation art and in some cases to create computer-based interactive installations. We discussed my work and ideas concerning creativity and visual thinking. I was also the supervising artist at the art festival, Mayfair, in Allentown, PA. During the past ten years, I have participated in workshops and other training session for teaching artists.

Conferences/Publications. I have also presented my ideas and my work at conferences in Japan, The Czech Republic, Russia, Germany, The Netherlands, Hungary, Italy, and Belgium, as well as closer to home in Philadelphia and New York. Published accounts of my work have appeared in Arts Magazine, Leonardo, Kunstforum, Compute, The Computer Artist's Handbook as well as numerous regional publications. I have taught studio and lecture courses on visual perception and the arts at Lehigh University, PA.

Public Performances. In 1989-90, I collaborated on a series of public performances with Gary Hassay, saxophonist, and Karen Carlson, dancer. We created interactive sculptural environments, in which the performances took place.

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