Q&A with Vitus Shell
Q&A with Vitus Shell (from Crosstown Arts newsletter, Sept. 25, 2020) Crosstown Arts residency alumnus Vitus Shell is a mixed-media collage painter born in Monroe, Louisiana, where he lives and works as a visiting assistant professor at the University of Louisiana at Monroe. His work is geared toward the Black experience, giving agency to people from this community through powerful images that deconstruct, sample, and remix identity, civil rights, and contemporary Black culture. He received a BFA from Memphis College of Art in 2000 and an MFA from the University of Mississippi in 2008. Vitus Shell has been in residence at Crosstown Arts, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Hermitage Artist Retreat, Mass MoCA, Joan Mitchell Center, Skowhegan School of Art, and Masur Museum of Art. Vitus has participated in exhibits at universities, museums, and private galleries across the country, including The McKenna Museum of African American Art, Stephen F. Austin U