![\"luke-gregorio-2\"](\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/luke-gregorio-2.jpg\")
Luke’s farewell \u201cMural\u201d lecture promises not to disappoint: he\u2019ll be taking on, for the first time, Vincent Van Gogh.<\/p>\nTomorrow marks the last \u201cMural Under the Stars\u201d hosted by art historian and lecturer Gregorio Luke, who created the series twelve years ago and has taken it across the country.<\/p>\n
Luke’s farewell \u201cMural\u201d lecture promises not to disappoint: he\u2019ll be taking on, for the first time, Vincent Van Gogh.<\/p>\n
\u201cVan Gogh is my family; he is the hero of all artists,\u201d Luke said. \u201cMy mother in Mexico read to me his letters every day, the way other people read the Bible. I know him intimately more than any other artist.\u201d<\/p>\n
The purpose of the “Mural” series is simple: murals are meant to bring people to the massive, immoveable pieces of art. Luke inverses that concept by bringing the murals to the people with massive projectors and screens. The event has often been hosted by Long Beach\u2019s Museum of Latin American Art, where Luke uses the museum\u2019s massive 100-foot by 30-foot wall as a canvas of sorts.<\/p>\n
Luke is known for his eloquent, intelligent approach to art history and his \u201cMural\u201d series exemplified that. When it debuted at MOLAA in 2002, it was an instantaneous hit and would often sell out, especially when Luke took on \u201cLos Tres Grandes\u201d of Mexican art: Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros.<\/p>\n
Luke even echoes those masters when discussing his leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not departing; I’m enlarging, I’m enriching,\u201d Luke said. \u201cRivera, Orozco and Siqueiros admired Van Gogh and would be happy to see me lecturing on him. They would want me to lecture also on Goya and Picasso.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the next person to step up to the plate, Luke says he isn\u2019t sure why no one has taken on the endeavor. Humbly describing himself as just a \u201cteacher with a huge screen and a projector,\u201d Luke is forthright in his sentiment that teachers need to teach more.<\/p>\n
\u201cSadly, I don’t see anybody stepping up,\u201d Luke said. \u201cWhy? Why can’t others do it also? I want to teach teachers. I want to empower them so they can blossom as performers and send all those idiotic politicians to hell, reclaim their turf and teach as much and as well as they can. To liberate teachers and make them artists, that is my higher calling.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luke was invited to lecture on Van Gogh at the prestigious Florence Biennale in Italy, making Van Gogh an obvious and easy pick for his last \u201cMural.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a hit,\u201d Luke said. \u201cVan Gogh resonates with the experience of most of those who try to be an artist. No recognition, no money, no fame; only toil, only the glory of getting it right and for one moment become one with light and color.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMural Under the Stars: Vincent Van Gogh,\u201d sponsored by the ArtExchange, Vice Mayor Suja Lowenthal, and ARCOS, will take place on Saturday, August 23, at 8PM. The event will be held at parking lot north of Acres of Books at the corner of Long Beach Blvd. and 3rd St.<\/em><\/p>\n {FG_GEOMAP [33.7705028,-118.1893144] FG_GEOMAP}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tomorrow marks the last \u201cMural Under the Stars\u201d hosted by art historian and lecturer Gregorio Luke, who created the series twelve years ago and has taken it across the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":211,"featured_media":68504,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[880,1356,1357],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-3237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","tag-arts-council","tag-gregorio-luke","tag-mural-under-the-stars","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/211"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3237"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=3237"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=3237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}