Inside Iowa State

Aug. 24, 2007

Albert Paley exhibition is on campus this fall

Transformation, by sculptor Albert Paley, was commissioned by University Museums for the east entrance to Morrill Hall. The sculpture becomes part of Iowa State's Art on Campus collection. Photo by Bob Elbert.Photo by Bob Elbert.

More than 50 works of art by American metal sculptor Albert Paley are featured in an exhibit that opened Aug. 20 at the Christian Petersen Art Museum, Morrill Hall. It will run through Jan. 15, 2008.

The exhibit coincides with the installation and exhibition of Paley's east entrance portal at Morrill Hall, Transformation, installed the week of Aug. 13. It was commissioned by University Museums and is the newest addition to the university's Art on Campus collection.

The works of art for "Albert Paley: Portals and Gates" were selected from private and museum collections. The exhibition and a companion publication offer an overview of public, private and institutional passageways created by Paley. The selection includes drawings; models in cardboard, wood and steel; and full-scale gates that are forged and fabricated of steel, copper and bronze.

An opening reception and dedication of Transformation will be held from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 13, in Morrill Hall. Paley also will give a public lecture at 5 p.m. that day in the College of Design auditorium.

Paley has completed more than 50 works of art for both public institutions and private corporations over his 30-year career, including Portal Gates for the New York state senate chambers in Albany, a plaza sculpture for AT&T in Atlanta, and a 65-foot sculpture for the entry court of Bausch and Lomb's headquarters in Rochester, N.Y.

Paley is a Distinguished Professor holding an endowed chair at the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is the first metal sculptor to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Institute of Architects, the AIA's highest award to a non-architect.

Two companion exhibitions will be on display during the same time period. At the Brunnier Art Museum, the focus will be on Paley's 2006 sculpture for the St. Louis Zoo, an elaborate archway that is 36 feet tall and 130 feet long titled Animals Always.

At the Carnegie Library Museum in Perry, the focus will be on Paley's project drawings and small scale models.

Sculptor Albert Paley, who created the newly installed portal outside Morrill Hall, will have his work featured in two campus exhibits and the Carnegie Library Museum in Perry.