The Shellof Vitus

  Memphis College of Art Announces Water, Bones and Blood: NIA Artist Collective Exhibit MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis College of Art will present the Water, Bones and Blood: NIA Artist Collective Exhibit from Oct. 5–Nov. 1 in the Hyde Gallery of the Nesin Graduate School, 477 S. Main St. An opening reception will be held Friday, Oct. 23 from 5–9 p.m. The exhibit centers around three elements that unify humankind—water, bones and blood. “It goes without saying that we as a society are bombarded with imagery and commentary that are divisive in nature and presentation; politics, economics, sexuality and—probably the most concerning to many members of NIA Artist Collective—race relations,” said NIA spokeswoman Shalishah “Petey” Franklin. The group views this show as an opportunity to present content that affects and impacts all humanity.

  Local artist hopes to make big impact with his work By Kaleb Causey for The News Star August 22, 2015 Photo: MARGARET CROFT For local artist Vitus Shell, art is two different worlds divided by the color of the sky. “During the day, I’m a graphic designer. I do party fliers, business cards, banners and stuff like that,” he said. “And late evenings I usually do the business of being an artist.” What Shell calls the business of being an artist consists of more than just doing his personal art. “I sit down and research grants and I look up proposals,” he said. “A lot of museums, galleries and colleges will put out callings for artists. I put out packages to do shows like that. And I work on my own art at night. I might work until 2 or 3 a.m.” Shell, a Monroe native, has been creating art for as long as he can remember. “I’ve been doing art since I was about three,” he said. “I can remember doing little drawings and all kinds of crazy stuff. In elementary school, one of my teachers ma...

  HOUSTON, TX (Press Release) -- The Masur Museum of Art is proud to announce Vitus Shell will participate in a two person exhibition at Gallery Jatad in Houston, Texas. Shell is the pilot artist for the Masur’s Studio Program. The Studio Program is designed to provide professional development for local artists of merit. The program is by invitation only and participants have a close working relationship with Masur staff. Shell’s exhibition, Identity, will be on view at Gallery Jatad from May 7 to June 13, 2015. The Opening Reception is on Saturday, May 9, from 3-6 pm. Shell will speak at 4pm. Gallery Jatad is located at 1517 Blodgett St, Houston, TX 77004.

  Vitus Shell: Slim Crowism by  L. Kasimu Harris  for  Burnaway May 23, 2013 The February sky was dark and Vitus Shell mixed colors hours before the golden light of morning. The previous day, his workspace was filled with visitors and other artists. Now, he painted alone, transforming a pencil outline into a shade of life on paper. As the sun rose, Shell took an x-acto knife and cut the painting from the paper, easing his workflow for that afternoon, when he would paint and pack, before darkness fell again and the next group of Joan Mitchell Center resident artists arrived. Six weeks earlier, Shell had driven from his hometown of Monroe, Louisiana to New Orleans on Interstate 55 South, a route filled with overpasses crossing swampy waters. After a short hiatus from making art, Shell again had a clear grasp of himself and his work. Now, between telephone conversations and switching CDs, he thought as he drove. His thoughts repeatedly returned to the bridges between Ji...

  Art student makes bold statements By  Alex McAdams for The Daily Mississippian February 29, 2008 Media Credit: Kyle Kruse. The combination of out-of-date advertisements and African-American stereotypes are usually too taboo to be emblazoned in American culture today, but Ole Miss student Vitus Shell isn’t afraid to make a bold statement. Shell, who is in the process of earning a master of fine arts degree from the University of Mississippi art department, has devoted his studio graduate work to African-American ethnocentric culture by using and recreating images of sharecroppers of the Reconstruction Era, portraits of contemporary inner-city thug life and works along other themes. The progression from past to present African-American lifestyles was intentional, Shell said. “In my first body of work, I would search through archives and find pictures of sharecroppers (to use),” the 28-year-old artist said. “I felt they might have been under-appreciated at that time. (My intent...

  NIA advances work of young black artists By Fredric Koeppel for   Memphis Commercial Appeal July 28, 2006 The NIA Artist Collective kept a pretty low profile for several years until it mounted "The Salon" exhibition a year ago at Memphis College of Art's On the Street gallery on South Main. The event returns with a reception tonight from 6 to 9, but instead of a one-night show, the exhibition went up July 14 and will be displayed through Aug. 13. NIA is the Swahili word for "purpose," which, in this case, is to advance the cause of young black artists and their work in the art community.  Vitus Shell  is vice president of NIA, and since he curated "The Salon for Memphis' Arts Creators," we asked him some questions about the organization and the event.

  Brown Paper Bag Test Artist explores the politics of race identity and skin shade By DAVID MADDOX for  Nashville Scene June 08, 2006   F rantz Fanon, the French psychologist and theorist of colonialism and Third World liberation, observed that members of an oppressed group will frequently internalize the attitudes of their oppressors and then direct that aggression at each other: “The colonized man will first manifest this aggressiveness which has been deposited in his bones against his own people.” The phenomenon shows itself in America’s internal corollary to colonialism, the long generations of slavery, and Jim Crow laws, when African Americans accorded higher social status to people with a lighter complexion. The brown paper bag test was a ritual once used by black sororities and fraternities and other social organizations to determine social ordering based on skin color: anyone whose skin was darker than a brown paper bag was ineligible to join. Frantz Fanon, ...