Greg Simkins, The Pearl Thief, 2009. Acrylic on canvas.
This fall, the Long Beach Museum of Art will host its newest exhibition, Masterworks: Defining A New Narrative, from October 23, 2014 to February 1, 2015. Visitors will experience a unique and truly thought-provoking array of 14 large-scale paintings by accomplished artists, who have, for the last decade or more, been consistently exploring new narrative directions in painting, according to the LBMA. Each artist was asked to provide one piece of art that could be considered pivotal within their careers, a work of art toward which they have dedicated considerable thought, time and skill. Featured artists will include Esao Andrews, Sean Cheetham, Natalia Fabia, Alex Gross, James Jean, Josh Keyes, Mario Martinez, Greg Simkins, Nicola Verlato, Eric White, Aron Wiesenfeld, Martin Wittfooth, and Curating Artist and Author Nathan Spoor and Co-curator Jeff McMillan.
Josh Keyes, Stampede, 2011. Mixed media on panels.
The artists featured in Masterworks are from diverse backgrounds; each painting of the 14 featured works reflects upon a broad spectrum of genres, scenes and movements. The entire exhibition asks what a decade means to an artist, summarized in the thoughts, theories and personalities each painter brings to their culminating work. Substantive objects are placed within fantastical, dream-like scenes, conventional pictorial environments are disrupted with the artist’s surrealist narrative. The paintings in Masterworks drift between fantasy and reality in a world where the artists are heavily influenced by the oftentimes overwhelming availability of information from today’s online society. Each painting represents a decade of dedication, creative expertise and stands as the product of a career’s worth of grueling work and artistic excellence.
Martin Wittfooth, The Aviary, 2013. Oil on linen.
“In the Museum’s 60-plus years of collecting and exhibiting art by contemporary artists, its relationship with them has been one of collaboration and respect,” said Ron Nelson in a statement, executive director of the Long Beach Museum of Art. “This exhibition is another example of that respectful relationship. The genesis of this exhibition came about in conversations with artists about their work and responses to today’s cultural environment, which is increasingly filled and stimulated with images due to our 24/7 online society.”
The exhibition is sponsored by InterTrend Communications, Hi-Fructose, Juxtapose, Nuvango, Victoria Foote Trust, BCM Foundation, Knockaround, and Dr. Ronald and Sylvia Hartman. The galleries and store are open Thursday 11:00AM to 8:00PM and Friday – Sunday 11:00AM to 5:00PM Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for students and seniors age 62 and older, free for Members and children under 12, and free for everyone on Thursday evenings from 5:00PM to 8:00PM, and all day on Fridays.