Ishmael (2010)
Brief Biography for Brett Colley:
Born: Big Rapids, Michigan, 1968
Brett Colley earned his MFA (with an emphasis in Printmaking) from the University of Iowa in 1994. Since then he has worked and taught at several institutions including the Pima Air & Space Museum (Tucson, AZ), Plymouth State University (Plymouth, NH), Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo), and Kendall College of Art and Design (Grand Rapids, MI).
Colley is currently an Associate Professor of Art & Design at Grand Valley State University (Allendale, MI) where he teaches courses in drawing, printmaking, artists’ books, and professional practices. In addition to teaching at GVSU, Colley has been a regular instructor at the Ox-Bow Summer School of Art and Artists’ Residency (Saugatuck, MI) since 2005.
Colley has exhibited nationally and abroad in over 25 states and 7 countries. Past projects include site-specific murals at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art in Grand Rapids (GULF, 2004), the SPACES Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio (Dissent, 2005), and the Chicago Music Garage (Revisioning America, 2006.)
More recently Colley’s work has been included in the 81st International Competition at The Print Center in Philadelphia, the 2008 North American Print Biennial at the 808 Gallery in Boston, New Pop Prints at the LUX Center for the arts in Omaha, and the 2008 Minnesota Print Biennial at the Katherine E. Nash Gallery, Minneapolis.
In addition to his career as an exhibiting artist and educator, Colley is actively involved in the curatorial programming of the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, having served as a member of their Visual Arts Committee since 2004. Colley’s work with the UICA has included national and international exhibitions of contemporary artists’ books (Under Cover, 2006), drawing (Drawing No Conclusions, 2007), and printmaking ((S)Edition, 2010.)