The Shellof Vitus

  Photos by Lawrence McNeal  

  FUTURE HISTORIES The works of Masur Museum resident artist Vitus Shell are a mixed media tour-de-force that bring the viewer face to face with the lives that are and the lives that might have been. article by  Michael DeVault |  photos by  Brad Arender for  BayouLife Magazine When Vitus Shell watches the news or reads a magazine, he’s struck by the complexities that swirl about, lurking just beneath the surface and out of view. Layers of history and corollaries pile one atop the other until, at last, the neatness of story is lost amidst the chaos of realness. By the time Shell puts brush to canvas, the nuances and folds of events have woven throughout him, permeating him until he’s at once equal parts skeptical observer, empathetic spirit, and willing co-conspirator. If there’s a subversive quality to Shell’s works–collages that are decidedly political, challenge the norms, and defy the conventions of contemporary young artists–that quality is underscored by a...

 

  Mural celebrates Indianola BY RECARDO THOMAS for Enterprise-Tocsin 12/10/2015 The community has begun to paint a picture of unity in more ways than one. Delta Health Alliance/Indianola Promise Community, the city of Indianola, the Roosevelt Community Association and individuals from across the city gathered on Saturday to engage in what Delta Health Alliance calls “one of the biggest projects we have undertaken since the playground build, at the Bethune Center, a few years ago.” IPC contracted with urban artist Vitus Shell to design and create two full-color, 9-foot-by-25-foot murals on the exterior walls of the city swimming pool on Roosevelt Street. “It’s all part of the restoration and beautification project we’ve begun with the city,” Anthony Powell, IPC project manager/community relations, said. The design on the east wall features the words “Indianola” and “Mississippi” along with other symbols of the Delta including musical notes, a bayou scene and a Magnolia blossom.

 

 

SAMO Journey is a visual and psychological exploration of the dichotomy of progress pitted against the status quo of both people and place in an ever-changing New Orleans, nation and world. The struggle becomes glaringly evident when examining racial inequities and the imbalance that pervades class, education and neighborhoods. From Reconstruction to now, a social climate persists, where the ascension of blacks into the upper rungs of leadership is as common as the assassination of blacks on the street–the new lynching. SAMO Journey seeks to uncover the warring ideals of progress and sameness using “man against man”, “man against nature”, and “man against self” and “man against society.” These motifs, that are the common pillars of literature, also refer to Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work that explored “suggestive dichotomies”, including wealth versus poverty, integration against segregation, and inner versus outer experience. -L. Kasimu Harris