Eric Avery
On View: October 24, 2003 – November 24, 2003
Friday, October 24, 2003 from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
The public is invited to visit Highpoint as we host an exhibition of prints by renowned psychiatrist and artist Eric Avery. The show, titled A Life In Art And Medicine, will feature a variety of both recent and older works (most will be available for purchase.)
Eric Avery is assistant professor of psychiatry at University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston (UTMB). His specialization in the medical field is working with HIV and AIDS patients. He is currently the director for the University’s HIV Psychiatry Services, and in the past has worked extensively with female prison inmates and other ‘high-risk’ people. However, Mr. Avery is especially unique in that he is equally committed to his work as an artist and printmaker. In his home studio, a converted vintage corner store, he creates images that confront and comment on the utterly human aspects of treating and working with AIDS/ HIV patients. In addition, Avery’s prints feature a distinctive technical approach: in the relief-cut process, handmade paper is pressed into the block while it is still wet, creating a print that retains the two-dimensional result of ink on paper, as well as sculptural and textural qualities. He has also combined live medical practice with his prints in one-of-a-kind event-installations, to further mesh the seemingly polar professions of medicine and art. “The art of healing is a sacred art,” he explained in a 2001 UTMB interview. “Art stands in opposition to all the bad things that happen in life, which is where physicians stand. That’s what doctors do: affirm life. And that’s what artists do.”
Avery’s prints can be found in the permanent collections of the Walker Art Center, the Library of Congress, and The Whitney Museum of American Art, among others. He has also participated in solo and group exhibitions nationwide, and is gearing up for the Impact Print Conference in Cape Town, South Africa, in August 2003.
Eric Avery: A Life in Art and Medicine will open at the Highpoint gallery on Friday, October 24, with an opening reception from 6:30 – 9:00 PM. The public is invited to attend this free event; the artist will be here to discuss the work and his experiences as an artist/doctor. Highpoint’s contributing members are also invited to an exclusive print demonstration with Avery on October 25, to get a more in-depth look at his approach to art and life.
Dr. Avery’s artwork is online at his website www.DocArt.com.