University of Calgary International Visiting Artist
· exhibition
Alex May presented a solo exhibition of Shadows of Light at the University of Calgary, alongside an artist talk and a Painting With Light video-mapping workshop.
Alex May was presented as an International Visiting Artist at the University of Calgary from 29 February to 4 March 2016, with a solo exhibition of Shadows of Light in The Little Gallery. The work’s slow, cumulative interaction made it a strong fit for that context: rather than rewarding instant response, it asked visitors to remain still long enough for their presence to build up gradually as layered colour, silhouette, and digital residue.
The Calgary visit also included an artist talk on 1 March and a Painting With Light video-mapping workshop on 4 March. Together, those events showed both sides of May’s practice: the exhibition presented a finished interactive installation shaped by attention and duration, while the workshop opened up his custom software as a live method for thinking through projection, objects, and spatial experimentation.
Seen together, the exhibition, talk, and workshop made the Calgary visit more than a single showing of existing work. It became a compact presentation of how May moves between public display, technical process, and teaching, using digital systems not as spectacle but as a way to explore how image, time, and participation produce memory.