VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

This November, fans of both visual and literary arts welcome a unique exhibition to the Bay Area. University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Art Gallery will present photography by Van Edwards with poetry by his son Joshua Edwards. Titled Campeche, the name of pirate Jean Lafitte’s colony on Galveston Island, the exhibition will be on display Nov. 14 through Jan. 13, 2012. All are invited to an opening reception and poetry reading on Monday, Nov. 14, 6 – 8 p.m., in the Art Gallery and the Garden Room, located on the first floor of UH-Clear Lake’s Bayou Building.

First conceived as a book of poetry and photographs and published by Noemi Press earlier this year, Van Edwards and Joshua Edwards describe “Campeche” as a meditation on life by the sea, natural forces and the future. It is also a dialog between a father and a son, and an ode to disappearance.

In conjunction with the opening reception on Nov. 14, Joshua Edwards, with UH-Clear Lake Assistant Professor in Humanities Shreerekha Subramanian and Professor of Humanities and Fine Arts John Gorman, will read a selection of original poetry. Other events planned for the evening include an opportunity for local poets to read their own works during an open mic session and poetry activity led by Gorman.

“I’m absolutely thrilled about ‘Campeche’ at UH-Clear Lake. The gallery allows the project to take on a new life beyond the limits of the book, adding a sense of time, space and scale that really opens up its collaborative aspect,” says Joshua Edwards. “To have my poems displayed with my father’s incredible photographs, so near to where I grew up, is an astonishing opportunity,” he added

“We tell stories and sing songs to give meaning to our lives,” explains Van Edwards, who has also served as an adjunct faculty member at the university. “With a camera, I chose light and shadows in time and space to improvise – like a jazz musician – on the song of life. The less there is of me, the more there is of this enchanted world.”

Admission is free, and complimentary parking is available. For more information, call the gallery, 281-283-3376, or visit http://hsh.uhcl.edu/Art_Gallery.

About the Artist and Poet:

Joshua Edwards directs and co-edits Canarium Books. His first collection of poetry, Campeche, was published by Noemi Press in 2011, and his translation of Mexican poet María Baranda's Ficticia was published by Shearsman Books in 2010; another poetry collection, Imperial Nostalgias, is forthcoming from Ugly Duckling Presse in 2013. He has received grants and fellowships from the Fulbright-Garcia Robles Program, Vermont Studio Center, Zoland Poetry, University of Michigan, Stanford University and the Akademie Schloss Solitude, where he will be a fellow in residence from October 2012 through September 2013.

Van Edwards is a photographer, educator and carpenter. He has received grants from Houston Endowment Inc., the Harris and Eliza Kempner Fund, and The Brown Foundation, Inc., and his work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions. He lives in Clear Lake Shores, Texas, and is an adjunct faculty member at UHCL.

UH-Clear Lake’s Art Gallery’s exhibitions and programs are made possible by Houston Endowment Inc. and by UH-Clear Lake’s Office of University Advancement, Cultural Arts programs, and the Office of the Dean of the School of Human Sciences and Humanities. Any person needing an accommodation for a disability in order to participate in this event should contact Office of Disability Services at 281.283.2626 at least one week prior to the event to arrange for the accommodation.