Vitality and Verve: Transforming the Urban Landscape at The Long Beach Museum of Art

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The highly anticipated “Vitality and Verve: Transforming the Urban Landscape” exhibition, featuring murals and multi media installations, by well-known US and internationally urban contemporary artists, opens at The Long Beach Museum of Art (LBMA), this friday, June 26.

The exhibition which is a collaboration between Thinkspace Gallery, POW! WOW Long Beach and The Long Beach Museum of Art will be focussing on current developments in the growing field of urban contemporary art that will feature site-specific ephemeral murals and multi-media installations. “Vitality and Verve: Transforming the Urban Landscape”, will be an incredible opportunity to see established and emerging cutting-edge artists demonstrating their skills.  From the Long Beach Museum of Art: “Vitality and Verve aims to illuminate the sensory value and powerful practice of these artists as they transform the urban landscape around them. The meticulous renderings, the hyper-realistic imagery and patterns and the gestural strokes assert the diversity in a fully immersive experience.”

Participating artists include: Aaron Horkey, Alex Yanes, Andrew Schoultz, Audrey Kawasaki, Brendan Monroe, Brandon Shigeta, Cryptik, Esao Andrews, Greg ‘Craola’ Simkins, Hot Tea, James Bullough, Jeff Soto, John S. Culqui, Low Bros, Meggs, Nosego, Nychos, Saber, and Tristan Eaton.

“One of the goals behind Vitality and Verve is to spotlight artists who are stepping out of their studios to paint on a grand scale using outdoor walls as their canvas as well as urban artists who are beginning to work in a traditional studio setting.” said Ron Nelson, executive director of the Long Beach Museum of Art.

“Most of the works in this exhibition will be created on our gallery walls using both traditional and non-traditional art media resulting in an immediacy that extends well beyond the confines of a picture frame. Once the exhibition ends, the walls will be repainted and prepared for the next exhibition. Therefore, it is important for art enthusiasts to see this amazing exhibition before it closes.”

The Vitality and Verve exhibition is just one of several locations in Long Beach that will  feature mural art this summer. POW! WOW! Long Beach 2015, an inaugural art festival celebration, featuring mural projects, gallery shows, and exciting programming – throughout downtown and nearby locations began last week and will run through June 28, 2015, with the Long Beach Museum of Art Vitality and Verve exhibition, running through September 27,2015.

In conjunction with the opening of the Vitality and Verve exhibition, the museum will also be hosting its famed LBMA After Dark on Friday, June 26 from 7pm – 10pm located on the museum campus. Admission is $10 for non-members. For more information please visit www.lbma.org.

Below are a few progress photos from last week of some of the artists working on the install for the exhibition, many of whose mural work we see through Cartwheel Art Tours in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District. All photos below by Andrew Hosner of Thinkspace Gallery,  Jordan Ahem, Vantage Point Radio and Arrested Motion.

Also related are two posts here and here. on POW! WOW! Hawaii by Mike Cianciulli that were previously published on Cartwheel Art.

10511296_10203691304996338_4823999939610645581_nLow Bros working on their mural yesterday.

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Saber creating a very impactful mural featuring the names of all those lost to senseless police shootings in the past year along with a very powerful and poignant exclamation point that will hit home strong in the Long Beach community.

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Alex Yanes putting up his massive three dimensional installation.

11425470_10152868154501681_3647376559235344625_nAaron Horkey working on his mural last week. Photo by Arrested Motion

DSC03779Audrey Kawasaki working on her mural last week. Photo by Arrested Motion.

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Nosego working on his mural last week. Photo by Arrested Motion.

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Cryptik woking on his mural last week. Photo by Arrested Motion.

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James Bullough working on his mural last week. Photo by Arrested Motion.

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Esao Andrews working on his mural. Photo by Arrested Motion.

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Brendan Monroe working on his mural last week. Photo by Arrested Motion.

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Greg “Craola” Simkins working on his mural last week. Photo by Arrested Motion.

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Hot Tea. Photo by Arrested Motion.

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