Ealy Mays
Ealy H. Mays | |
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Ealy Mays (born January 15, 1959) is a
Mays counts
Background
In a September 1996 Dayton Daily News article on Ealy Mays, "A Pure Painter", writer Kathy Whyde Jesse[2] profiled the then 37-year-old local Daytonian and Fairview High School graduate who was a medical school student and a recipient of the "Camille Cosby Fellowship for American Artists of African Descent", on completion of his fellowship at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, while on a sabbatical from medical school in Mexico. Mays discussed, among other things, the influence of Maxfield Parrish on his work and his affection for legendary African-American artist Jacob Lawrence, who inspired him to apply to the Skowhegan program. According to Mays, Jacob Lawrence, returned the affection by telling him that he, Mays, was a "pure painter".
Early years
The west
College and university
On graduating from Fairview High School in Dayton, Mays attended
The Mexican years
While in Mexico, Ealy Mays met celebrated Mexican painter
Local familiarity with Mexican cultural history led to artworks which took on distinctive Mexican themes and characters and which paid tribute to the subtleties of the Mexican culture - from Lucha Libre and Mexico's love of free-wrestling to “Día de los Muertos” (
Skowhegan with Jacob Lawrence
On his return from Mexico Ealy Mays was accepted for a residency at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, which he still regards as a significant period in his life. Colleagues in residence included fellow artist Anish Kapoor, video artist Gary Hill, photo-artist Nan Goldin, and bartist Jessica Stockholder. Jacob Lawrence was also in residence.[1] Lawrence would later befriend, mentor, and provided a hand written recommendation for Mays, to the Studio Museum in Harlem.
The Paris years
Ealy Mays headed to Paris shortly after leaving the
Past exhibits / featured
In an April 2009 New York Times article, "An American (Celebration) in Paris", Ealy Mays was cited as one of the expat artists featured in a Barack Obama-themed exhibition. Writer Jon Frosch described his work as "A more satirically edged black-and-white painting by African-American artist Ealy Mays invites the viewer to locate two figures — a lone black soldier and a white man with an Obama T-shirt strumming on a banjo, among a sea of zombie-like Wall Street workers.".[3]
A September 2011 Washington Post article by travel writer Robin Bennefield, "Understanding black Paris", featured Mays in his favorite pastime as a local historian in pursuit of preserving the legacy of African-American artists and intellectuals in the city.[4]
In the March 2012 Modern Luxury DC Magazine, Ealy Mays's "Mona Lisa Likes Pancakes" was featured along with Romare Bearden's "Untitled", Laura Abbate's "Untitled", John McMahon's "Obama 2008", and C. M. Birge's "Dancer Male Bronze", among the collection of fame philanthropist and patron of the arts Reginald Van Lee.[6][5]
In 2012, Mays exhibited in the Contemporary Art Fair in New York.[6] He appears regularly in local Parisian newspapers art round-ups such as a Le Monde October 2008 piece that featured Mays' submarine in a local art show and described it as "a formidable submarine which takes one into other waters",[7] and Le Figaro′s coverage of a local Barack Obama-themed gallery exhibition, "Obama in a Parisian Gallery",.[8]
Current exhibits and feature
Over the years, Ealy Mays has produced contemporary and historical stories through his visual art. He has carefully infused ethnic, political, and satirical subtleties, in tribute to generations of artists before him, while keeping his guard as a social critic of his time. "Cleaning Out Picasso's studio" is his nod to the influence of African artifacts on the legendary painter's work. "Le Garçon" is his nod to his adopted city with a depiction of a bustling Parisian waiter in early morning action. Mays' submarine installations include cross cultural depictions of Russian culture in "The Russian Sub" and "The Kursk" which pays tribute to sailors of the doomed Kursk in the Barents Sea.
Mays' work is featured in American exhibits both at the University of Maryland's
Ealy Mays' works "Death of an American Boom Town", "Submarine of Radicals" and "Uptown Ice Cream", were featured in "Landscape of Being",[11] Agency Art Life and Society's international ebook, (pp. 24–25, 30), and tribute project by global artists, to the state of being in the world, based largely on the philosophies of German sculptor and performance artist Joseph Beuys.
Ealy Mays was also profiled in The Artist Showcase magazine's December 2012 Art Basel Miami edition, which also featured the works of Nelson Mandela at Robben Island.[12]
In 2021 Ealy Mays was able to acquire the red carpet used for the induction of Josephine Baker into the Panthéon. By 2023 he completed a collection of works depicting Baker throughout her highest points of fame; and he would paint these images on the very same red carpet used during the induction ceremony.
References
- Notes
- ^ a b The Artist Showcase, Winter 2012 Art Basel edition; Profiled Artist: Ealy Mays Archived 2012-12-31 at the Wayback Machine, pp. 100–101.
- ^ Dayton Daily News, "A Pure Painter - Med Student Quietly Impresses Art World With His Natural Talent".
- ^ New York Times Travel, "An American (Celebration) in Paris".
- ^ Washington Post, "Understanding black Paris".
- ^ Modern Luxury DC Magazine, March 2012, pp. 96–97.
- ^ "Contemporary Art Fair New York". Archived from the original on 2012-10-29. Retrieved 2012-11-04.
- ^ Ealy Mays in Le Monde′s "Nail Hunting" section.
- ^ Ealy Mays in Le Figaro′s "Obama in a Parisian Gallery".
- ^ University of Maryland David C. Driskell Center For The Study of The Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and The African Diaspora.
- ^ Rice University's Travelling Art Exhibition, Tradition Redefined.
- ^ Landscape of Being, pp. 24–25, 30.
- ^ "The Artist Showcase, Winter 2012 Art Basel edition; Featured Artist: Nelson Mandela, pp. 14–17". Archived from the original on 2012-12-31. Retrieved 2013-01-09.