Online magazine Cartwheel Art featured the opening reception of Vitality and Verve III: Transforming the Urban Landscape at the Long Beach Museum of Art.
Each artist’s installation is activated by the space it occupies and the work it sits next to. Occupying both floors of the museum’s galleries, it is nearly impossible to view one artist’s installation on it’s own, without seeing another out of the corner of your eye. This aspect of the exhibit challenges you to experience the layers of artworks as they bounce off one another and consume the space in totality. – Cartwheel Art
Nearly 1,900 of you came out this past Friday to witness the kick-off of the third iteration of our Vitality and Verve exhibition series with the Long Beach Museum of Art as part of the special programming for POW! WOW! Long Beach. If you didn’t make it out this weekend, hours and days are shared below. This history-making exhibition will remain on view through September 9, don’t miss your chance to catch these murals before they are painted over and gone forever. Many thanks to Birdman for capturing them for the ages.
The Long Beach Museum of Art presents:
VITALITY AND VERVE III
Curated by Thinkspace as part of POW! WOW! Long Beach
Amy Sol Tea Leaves II, 2018 Acrylic on museum wall
Bordalo II Plastic Seal, 2018 Spray paint on recycled plasticsCASE In This Together, 2018 Acrylic on museum wallDan Witz Trompe L’Oeil grates and vents, 2018 Oil and digital media on SintraDennis McNett Back in 5, 2018 Wolfbat’s blood and love installationDrew Merritt Coward, 2018 Acrylic on museum wallEvoca1 Unrest, 2018 Acrylic on museum wallFintan Magee American Fortress, 2018 Acrylic, oil on woodHERAKUT ALL QUEENS HERE AGREED that they depended on each other and no kingdom was too small to matter, 2018 Spray painted canvas, acrylic on cardboard on museum wallHush Three Sirens, 2018 Acrylic, spray paint, screen print inks made on paper then deconstructed and reassembled as collage on wall with wheat pasteJaune What A Wonderful World, 2018 Acrylic and spray paint on museum wallJuan Travieso The Guardian, 2018 Gold leaf, acrylic, oil, on museum wall
KOZ DOS NU-VES, 2018 Acrylic on museum wallLeon Keer Buy, Consume and Die, 2018 Acrylic on museum wallLauren YS The Lotus Eaters, 2018 Acrylic on museum wallMichael Reeder Death from Above 2079, 2018 Spray paint, acrylic, acrylic on wood on museum wallRISK Metallic Tissue, 2018 Spray paint, enamel on repurposed license plates and signsSEEN Multi-Tags, 2018 Spray paint on museum wallSergio Garcia RISK and SABER, 2018 Oil, acrylic on resin with spraypaint on museum wallSpenser Little Matisse Drawing in Bed, 2018 Welded metal with projected LED lightSpenser Little Spiritual FlucDiety, 2018 One continuous 16 gauge steel wire with projected LED lightSuper A Down The Rabbit Hole (from the Trapped series), 2018 Acrylic on museum wallJaune Trash Planet Spray paint and acrylic on the side of the Long Beach Museum of ArtJaune Coffee Break Spray paint and acrylic on the side of the Long Beach Museum of Art
The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA) presents Vitality and Verve III, an exhibition dedicated to showcasing new works by artists of the New Contemporary Art Movement. Presented in curatorial collaboration with Los Angeles’ Thinkspace Projects and the support of POW! WOW! Long Beach, the exhibition is the third iteration in the collaborative series which has secured record-breaking public attendance since 2015.
Vitality and Verve III presents a relevant cross-section of some of the most exciting artists working under the New Contemporary handle today and will feature site-specific works by these 21 individuals brought together in the same space for the first time. Their impermanent installations are tangentially activated, transforming the ground floor and Ocean View gallery of the LBMA into an immersive ephemeral playground for the senses.
The exhibition features new, site-specific works by internationally renowned artists, Bordalo II, CASE, Evoca1, Sergio Garcia, Herakut, Hush, Jaune, Leon Keer, Koz Dos, Spenser Little, Fintan Magee, Dennis McNett, Drew Merritt, Michael Reeder, RISK, SEEN, Amy Sol, Super A, Juan Travieso, Dan Witz and Lauren YS. Each has contributed a unique piece and vantage point, working across a variety of media.
The New Contemporary Art Movement is known for its diversity; several styles, media, contexts, and exhibition platforms fall within its expansive cast, including public art interventions and site-specific urban murals. This breadth has long been embraced as a subversive impulse vis-a-vis the more exclusionary and contained tenets of contemporary art production, particularly those minted in academe and aspiring to the vetted legitimacy of the ‘white cube.’ The movement’s vested interest in incorporating the social and representational, counter to its often systemic disavowal, has allowed it to thrive outside of institutional support, though this exclusionary paradigm is rapidly shifting.
Largely self-supported and community-driven since the 90’s, many of the movement’s artists are self-taught or have come into their own through multi-disciplinary backgrounds. Gaining international recognition over the past decade, the movement is now widely recognized as both the largest and longest running organized art movement in history, boasting veterans and established artists as well as emergent ones. The evocative potential of representation inspires these artists to draw from popular and countercultural sources like music, illustration, comics, graffiti, design, punk, tattoo culture, hip-hop, skate culture, etc., looking to the outside world rather than to the self-referential gestures that have typified the traditional exclusions of contemporary art.
Long Beach Museum of Art hours and admission:
Thursday: 11 AM to 8 PM
Friday – Sunday: 11 AM to 5 PM
$7 adult admission / $6 seniors (over age 62) and students with Valid I.D.
Free for museum members and children under 12
**FREE ADMISSION after 3 PM on Thursdays and ALL DAY on Fridays (6/30-9/8)**
Tonight marks the opening of Vitality & Verve III: Transforming the Urban Landscape curated by Thinkspace as a part of the special programming for Pow! Wow! Long Beach.
“Vitality and Verve III” is the third iteration of the collaborative series for the Long Beach Museum of Art and will be featuring ephemeral murals and installations fromBordalo II, CASE, Evoca1, Sergio Garcia, Herakut, Hush,
Jaune, Leon Keer, Koz Dos, Spenser Little, Fintan Magee, Dennis McNett, Drew Merritt, Michael Reeder, RISK, SEEN, Amy Sol, Super A, Juan Travieso, Dan Witz and Lauren YS.
The Long Beach Museum of Art presents:
‘VITALITY AND VERVE III’
Curated by Thinkspace with support from POW! WOW! Long Beach
On View June 30th thru September 9th at:
Long Beach Museum of Art
2300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA. 90803
Detail views of a massive new installation from HUSHLeon Keer playing with perspectives in his installation for Vitality and Verve IIICollaborative installation from Sergio Garcia & SABER | Saber’s hand and forearm has been sculpted in resin and painted by hand by Sergio Garcia to capture the action and energy of one of his iconic tags. Pure magic.
Over the last two decades, Case has mastered the ability to translate the complex detail, and graceful movements of humans and our hands in photorealistic murals and art pieces. A majority of his work focuses on the hands, as they hold the symbolic meaning of “power” and “unity,” but more so represent the universal language that exists within a hand gesture. An ability to communicate that transcends words, Case not only paints compositions but an emotional language, which all can understand if open to it.
Click through Case Maclaim’s mural for Vitality & Verve III: Transforming the Urban Landscape at the Long Beach Museum of Art opening this weekend.
Vitality and Verve III” is the third iteration of the collaborative series curated by Thinkspace Projects with the support of POW! WOW! Long Beach for the Long Beach Museum of Art, and will be featuring ephemeral murals and installations fromBordalo II, CASE, Evoca, Sergio Garcia, Herakut, Hush,
Jaune, Leon Keer, Koz Dos, Spenser Little, Fintan Magee, Dennis McNett, Drew Merritt, Michael Reeder, RISK, SEEN, Amy Sol, Super A, Juan Travieso, Dan Witz and Lauren YS
The Long Beach Museum of Art presents:
‘VITALITY AND VERVE III’
Curated by Thinkspace with support from POW! WOW! Long Beach
On View June 30, 2018 thru September 9, 2018 at:
Long Beach Museum of Art
2300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA. 90803
Elio Mercado, also known as Evoca1, was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to Florida at the age of 11. While growing up his artistic talents were encouraged by teachers, but at the time, the idea of pursuing art was not a privilege that was granted to his family. This is why the figurative painter, street artist, and designer feels that his ability to create today is a gift. In his work he aims to reach a balance of craftsmanship and substance, imbuing his work with an idea or concept that has deeply moved and inspired Elio. His creative process is also an emotional one, and in turn asks more of the viewer than to enjoy the works, but to find empathy within them as well.
Click through Evoca1’s mural for Vitality & Verve III: Transforming the Urban Landscape at the Long Beach Museum of Art opening this weekend.
“Vitality and Verve III” is the third iteration of the collaborative series curated by Thinkspace Projects with the support of POW! WOW! Long Beach for the Long Beach Museum of Art, and will be featuring ephemeral murals and installations fromBordalo II, CASE, Evoca, Sergio Garcia, Herakut, Hush,
Jaune, Leon Keer, Koz Dos, Spenser Little, Fintan Magee, Dennis McNett, Drew Merritt, Michael Reeder, RISK, SEEN, Amy Sol, Super A, Juan Travieso, Dan Witz and Lauren YS
The Long Beach Museum of Art presents:
‘VITALITY AND VERVE III’
Curated by Thinkspace with support from POW! WOW! Long Beach
On View June 30, 2018 thru September 9, 2018 at:
Long Beach Museum of Art
2300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA. 90803
