Groveland Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of Homer’s Odyssey, an exhibition of new paintings by Jim Conaway. Conaway is a former Hamline University professor who taught studio art and art history for over three decades and has since worked as a full-time artist. He has been exhibiting his paintings at galleries throughout the U.S. for over 50 years. His work has been part of numerous group exhibitions at museums and art centers including the Walker Art Center, Milwaukee Art Museum, and the Scottsdale Center for the Arts. His work is found in permanent collections nationwide and internationally. Conaway has been represented by Groveland Gallery since 1996.

Painting throughout his life, Conaway’s interest in ancient Greek art and architecture started in high school and followed him into adulthood. Jim spent four years aboard a Navy ship in the Mediterranean as a radio operator – a formative period in his trajectory as an artist. Stories of celebrating his 21^st birthday in the Acropolis and converting an emergency radio room aboard the Navy ship into his painting studio are recollected by Jim when discussing this new body of work. Jim’s commitment to observation and storytelling continues, as his lifelong studies of “The Odyssey” are actualized for the first time in this upcoming exhibition of paintings. He writes:

“In 1951, the U.S. Navy sent me to the Mediterranean on board the USS Kankakee, as a radio operator (Morse Code). One day when we were sailing towards Athens, a senior officer said, “In ancient times, this area of the sea was one of the most dangerous places in the world for vessels because the current was so powerful, many vessels sank, so they built a temple of Poseidon on the tip of the peninsula.” Several days later, I went to visit the temple of Poseidon. This was my first of many experiences.”