Dear Friends & family of Ian, we are deeply saddened to let you know of his passing. We created a GatheringUs memorial to celebrate the life of Ian Michael Summers. Collecting GatheringUs Support stories and memories here will offer us great comfort. Click on the heart to let us know you were here and... see moreDear Friends & family of Ian, we are deeply saddened to let you know of his passing. We created a GatheringUs memorial to celebrate the life of Ian Michael Summers. Collecting GatheringUs Support stories and memories here will offer us great comfort. Click on the heart to let us know you were here and sign the guest book. Thank you for contributing to this lasting memorial.
OBITUARY
Ian Summers, husband to Wendy Summers, father to Shaun Cott and Amy Summers, father in law to Danny Cott & Drebra Sterling, Grandfather to Sara and Tori Cott and Laszlo Sterling, Brother to Henry Summers & Brother in law to Marilyn Summers and Uncle to Molly Summers has transitioned from his body and moved into pure light where he will be free from the pain of bladder cancer and Dementia and paint faces in the clouds. The family has... see more
Ian Summers, husband to Wendy Summers, father to Shaun Cott and Amy Summers, father in law to Danny Cott & Drebra Sterling, Grandfather to Sara and Tori Cott and Laszlo Sterling, Brother to Henry Summers & Brother in law to Marilyn Summers and Uncle to Molly Summers has transitioned from his body and moved into pure light where he will be free from the pain of bladder cancer and Dementia and paint faces in the clouds. The family has chosen to create wearable talismans with his ashes, there will be no formal funeral. We ask that you post a memory here about how Ian has touched your life and that you remember him through your appreciation of art and by sharing love with others.
Ian Summers is a painter, print maker, photographer, professor, raconteur, artist coach, author, and former Random House and the Creative Black Book publishing and advertising director. He earned a BA in Fine Art in 1962 from University of Bridgeport,... moreIan Summers is a painter, print maker, photographer, professor, raconteur, artist coach, author, and former Random House and the Creative Black Book publishing and advertising director. He earned a BA in Fine Art in 1962 from University of Bridgeport, studied Painting at New York University in 1968, and did Graduate School in Fine Art at Montclair College. He has taught and lectured at FIT, Parsons, The New School for Social Research, Syracuse University, UCLA, The Portfolio Center, PhotoExpo, and the American School in London, while continuing to exhibit throughout the US and UK.
Summers' undergrad mentors at the University of Bridgeport were disciples of Josef Albers and the Yale crowd, which is apparent in Summers' treatment of color in his paintings. According to Summers, the artists who most inspired his work as a child were illustrators from classic comic books such as Frank Frazetta and Kelly Freas. Later influences, while living in the thick of it, the New York School, Abstract Expressionists, Surrealists and artists such as Pollock, Rothko, Motherwell, DeKooning, Twombley, Kline and Warhol, clearly have left their "marks" on Summers' psyche, especially in many of his series not only in what reveals itself on the canvas but the backstories as well. less
Ian Summers was born in Patterson, NJ. He studied at the University Bridgeport, CT where he completed a degree in Art Education, later becoming an art teacher in Wayne, NJ. His desire to create and expand his artistic career took him to Europe in the mid... moreIan Summers was born in Patterson, NJ. He studied at the University Bridgeport, CT where he completed a degree in Art Education, later becoming an art teacher in Wayne, NJ. His desire to create and expand his artistic career took him to Europe in the mid 1960’s. He lived in Paris for a short time, when an unexpected opportunity took him to London, where he taught art the American School. He exhibited in London and conducted speeches at art clubs and centers, like the Unites States Information Center. In 1967, Summers moved to New York where his first daughter was born. After the birth of his second daughter, he started working in advertising as a creative director, working with some of the most important authors in the world. Amongst these, Isaac Asimov, whose book cover landed Summers a place in the science fiction community. As a member of the Society of Illustrator of New York, he received an award for best paperback cover, for several years. After years working for Random House publishing, he became a career consultant to people in the creative field, using a problem solving technique he called “Heart-storming.” In 2021, he joined the Union Artist Studios in Fort Myers, FL.
In an article published in 2015 in The Elucidator, when explaining his art, Summer says “I am for an art of memories that are chipped and fragmented, but not nostalgic. Faces conjure forming associations with people, with persons who may never have lived anywhere, but in my mind. Faces haunt me in my sleep and when I am awake.” – concludes the artist.
Summers’s main subject is faces, which he does not consider portraits, but conjured. He works primarily in acrylics on large scale canvases and other surfaces, such as tar paper and board. less