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ULM Visual and Performing Arts hires Vitus Shell as assistant professor of art in illustration

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  Photo Credit: Michaela Dorsey MONROE, LA  - The University of Louisiana Monroe School of Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) is proud to announce the appointment of Vitus Shell as assistant professor of art in illustration.  Shell is a mixed-media artist born in Monroe, LA. His works are geared toward the Black experience, giving agency to people from the Monroe community through powerful images of deconstructing, sampling, and remixing identity, civil rights, and contemporary Black culture. In the field of illustration, Mr. Shell has created and exhibited works in-residence for multiple universities across the country, and in just as many art galleries nationwide, including the Bernis Center for Contemporary Arts (Omaha), Art on 38 (Philadelphia), the Joan Mitchell Center (New Orleans), Mass MoCA (Massachusetts), and the Sam and Adele Golden Gallery (New York). Shell has also done illustrative work for the National Civil Rights Museum’s NBA Pioneers exhibit and South Main Art Festival
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Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage exhibition opens at Frist Art Museum

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  Derek Fordjour.  Airborne Double , 2022. Acrylic, charcoal, cardboard, oil pastel, and foil on newspaper mounted on canvas; 60 x 100 in. Frances Fine Art Collection. Courtesy of the artist and Petzel Gallery, New York. The first major museum exhibition devoted to the subject,  Multiplicity: Blackness in Contemporary American Collage  presents 80 major collage and collage-informed works that reflect the breadth and complexity of Black identity. Featuring an intergenerational group of 52 living artists,  Multiplicity  explores the varying ways collage is employed and how the technique suggests diverse conceptual concerns such as cultural hybridity, notions of beauty, gender fluidity, and historical memory. By assembling pieces of paper, photographs, fabric, and salvaged or repurposed materials, these unified compositions express endless possibilities of Black-constructed narratives despite our fragmented society. Artists include Nina Chanel Abney, Derrick Adams, Njideka Akunyili Crosby
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Space 204 welcomes “To Whom It May Concern” exhibition by Vitus Shell

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  The Vanderbilt University Department of Art is proud to welcome a new exhibition,  To Whom It May Concern,  by mixed media collage artist,   Vitus Shell  to Space 204 in October 2023. Vitus Shell, ICE CREAM MAN: WHITE ANXIETY, 2021 Acrylic & Paper on Canvas 28.5” To Whom It May Concern  presents the recent works of Louisiana artist, Vitus Shell focusing on the black experience while giving agency to the community through powerful imagery deconstructing, sampling, and remixing identity, civil rights, and contemporary black culture. Shell strives to bridge the gap between the older and younger generations by exploring and uncovering factors that contributed to the unfortunate relationship breakdown between the two. Visually combining in mixed media works, Shell experiments with portraiture, acrylic paint, oversized photocopies of early 20th century vintage advertisements and foam cutting techniques. To Whom It May Concern  will open on Thursday, October 12, 2023 with a reception fr
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A.P.E.X. Events Presents Grace A. Tanner Visiting Artist, Vitus Shell

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Southern Utah University's A.P.E.X. Events welcomes  distinguished mixed-media collage painter and Grace A. Tanner Visiting Artist, Vitus Shell. Join A.P.E.X. on Thursday, March 16, 2023 at 11:30 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Hunter Alumni Center for Shell’s presentation entitled, “Bout It, Bout It: The Political Power of Just Being”.  Shell is a painter specializing in mixed-media collages, and he was born and currently resides in Monroe, LA. He focuses his artistic efforts on capturing the black experience by utilizing impactful imagery that deconstructs, samples, and remixes identity, civil rights, and contemporary black culture. Shell earned a BFA from Memphis College of Art in 2000 and an MFA from the University of Mississippi in 2008. Throughout his career, Shell has been fortunate to have residencies at several prestigious institutions including Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Hermitage Artist Retreat, Mass MoCA, Joan Mitchell Center, Skowhegan
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Vitus Shell: 'Bout It 'Bout It, The Political Power of Just Being, opening in SECCA's Main Gallery

By Lana Shkadova        Feb 6, 2023 Vitus Shell: 'Bout It 'Bout It, The Political Power of Just Being , opened in SECCA's Main Gallery last Thursday. The public opening reception was held at 5pm, but artist Vitus Shell gave a special gallery tour with the press between 4–4:45pm. The curator was present, and cocktails were available from The Exquisite Taste. Louisiana-based artist Vitus Shell creates empowering portraits of Black Americans through a revision of historical painting. Shell's work is geared toward the black experience, giving agency to people from this community through powerful images deconstructing, sampling, and remixing identity, civil rights, and contemporary Black culture. Learn more at  SECCA's website . In addition to works brought to SECCA, the exhibition also features a large site-specific mural portrait of  Larry Little , the prominent Winston-Salem community leader and founder of the North Carolina Chapter of the Black Panther Party, the fir
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ART ROCKS! Vitus Shell

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Vitus Shell: 'Bout It 'Bout It, The Political Power of Just Being Opens at SECCA February 2

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Louisiana-Based Artist Creates Empowering Portraits of Black Americans Through a Revision of Historical Painting (Winston-Salem, NC) – The Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) is proud to host  Vitus Shell: 'Bout It 'Bout It, The Political Power of Just Being , an exhibition of portraits by mixed-media collage painter Vitus Shell. The exhibition will open in SECCA's Main Gallery on Thursday, February 2 and remain on view through Sunday, June 18, 2023. An opening reception with the artist will be held  Thursday, February 2 from 5–8pm . Admission is free and open to the public. This exhibition is organized by the Hilliard Art Museum, Lafayette, Louisiana and curated by Benjamin M. Hickey, Curator of Exhibitions, Hilliard Art Museum, University of Louisiana at Lafayette. The exhibition is co-sponsored by Blanco Tackabery Attorneys and Counsellors at Law. Vitus Shell,  Bury Me In Gold,  2019. Portraiture as a genre holds a grand position within the history of art an
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