PHILADELPHIA, PA.- The La Salle University Art Museum and the Connelly Library present the work of Philadelphia-based artist Jane Irish this winter. Irish’s work explores the impact of the Vietnam War and its continuing relevance today. Through her paintings and ceramic vessels decorated with pastoral landscapes, people and poetry, Irish highlights the heroism of the soldiers as well the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, both of whom fought valiantly for freedom and peace.

Irish has been drawing visual inspiration and historical research contexts from the Connelly Library’s world-renowned rare book and manuscript collection, Imaginative Representations of the Vietnam War, for the past 10 years. This special collection contains over 20,000 creative items related to the Vietnam War, including novels, short stories, poetry, music, screenplays, graphic art, films, sound recordings, posters, prints, video and board games, as well as literary and visual pornography.

The exhibition will be held simultaneously in two locations. The La Salle University Art Museum will feature Irish’s large mural work, The Conversation, along with several related multi-media pieces. The exhibition will also include a selection of landscape paintings and ceramic vases. The Connelly Library will feature additional ceramic vases by Irish, juxtaposed with images and texts from its special collection, Imaginative Representations of the Vietnam War.

Irish was recently awarded a prestigious Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 2011. The artist is represented by Locks Gallery in Philadelphia, http://www.locksgallery.com/.