EVENT PHOTO COVERAGE: Opening Reception of Vitality and Verve III: Transforming the Urban Landscape, at Long Beach Museum of Art : Cartwheel Art

EVENT PHOTO COVERAGE: Opening Reception of Vitality and Verve III: Transforming the Urban Landscape, at Long Beach Museum of Art

Posted by Michelle Homami

Friday, June 30 marked the opening of Vitality and Verve III: Transforming the Urban Landscape. This is the third iteration of the Vitality and Verve series, presented by Long Beach Museum of Art, and in curatorial collaboration with Thinkspace Projects Los Angeles and POW!WOW! Long Beach, a week-long mural festival dedicated to bringing art and culture to public spaces by beautifying the city and cultivating community pride.

The exhibition showcases unique site-specific works from 21 artists of the New Contemporary Art Movement:

Bordalo 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
Lauren YS

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.

Vitality and Verve III continues to explore the physical community it inhabits, and how art has influenced its surroundings, hence the title: ‘Transforming the Urban Landscape’. The exhibition continues to celebrate the presence and growth of street and contemporary art in our communities, and how we’ve been able to expand traditionally urban public art by bringing it to the nontraditional gallery walls.

The opening also coincided with the opening reception for the museum’s annual ‘After Dark’ summer exhibition celebration, which was decked with live music, food, and drinks.

Live music by:

POW WOW School of Music
furcast
DJ Lili Bird / www.facebook.com/lili.delamora.3
DJ Clifton Weaver / www.cliftonweaver.com/
Brandon Eugene Owens / instagram.com/eugenespusher

‘VITALITY AND VERVE III’
at the Long Beach Museum of Art

On View June 30, 2018 thru September 9, 2018 at:
Long Beach Museum of Art
2300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA. 90803

Long Beach Museum of Art hours and admission:
Thursday: 11AM to 8PM
Friday – Sunday: 11AM to 5PM
$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 3PM on Thursdays and ALL DAY on Fridays**

Photos by Michelle Homami: