The Shellof Vitus

  The Dedication: An Exploration of a People Vitus Shell, Painting Visiting Artist lecture: Thursday, October 11, 5pm, TVAC 103  Reception 6-7 pm The School of Design invites all faculty, staff and students to the closing reception for current exhibitions in the Bethea and Moffett Galleries at the F Jay Taylor Visual Arts Center. Painter Vitus Shell will present an artist lecture related to his exhibition The Dedication: An Exploration of a people now on view in the Bethea Gallery. An audience Q and A and closing reception follows the presentation. Refreshments will be provided.

  Vitus Shell: Picturing the Black Experience BY JOHN R. KEMP / May-June 2018 / Louisiana Living Magazine The poet and playwright Bertolt Brecht said, “Art is not a mirror to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.” To Vitus Shell of Monroe, art is indeed a hammer. It is a means to shape reality for the outside world to see the African American experience through strong, compelling and often unsettling images of black contemporary life in America. His paintings focus public attention on a long dormant subject that has become as relevant today as it was in the troubled 1960s. Three themes drive that message — irony, activism and his notion of black coolness. “My large scale paintings are geared toward the black experience, giving agency to people from this community through powerful image deconstruction, sampling and remixing identity, civil rights and contemporary black culture,” Shell says. “In my work, I strive to bridge the gap between the older and younger generations by e...

 

  Artists Selected to Participate in Winter/Spring 2018 Residency Program Omaha, Neb.– Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts announces  artists selected for its international Artist-in-Residence Program  taking place  January 10–April 6, 2018 . The diverse range of disciplines includes painting, drawing, poetry, digital animation, sculpture, performance, printmaking, installation, graphic design, music, photography and filmmaking. Represented areas of focus include identity; how materialism forms culture; generational stories; social systems and institutions; psychological and physical iconography; black culture in America; recreational activities and their relationship to the landscape; and speculative fiction. Participating artists include: Trevor Amery  ( San Diego, CA) Trevor Amery is a multidisciplinary artist interested in what happens at the intersection of objects,  socializing, collecting and personal narratives. During his residency at Bemis, he plan...

  LOUISIANA CONTEMPORARY PRESENTED BY THE HELIS FOUNDATION AUGUST 5 - OCTOBER 15, 2017 Kristen Downing,  Baby Dolls , 2017, Acrylic and Paint Marker on Canvas, 48 x 60 inches Established in 2012, this statewide, juried exhibition promotes contemporary art practices in the state of Louisiana, provides exhibition space for the exposition of living artist’s work, and engages a contemporary audience that recognizes the vibrant visual culture of Louisiana and the role of New Orleans as a rising, international art center. Sarah Amacker David Armentor Luis Cruz Azaceta Brian Barbieri Peter Barnitz Aron Belka Thom Bennett Michele Blevins Lily Brooks Andrea Brown Laurie Alan Browne C+J Eliseo Casiano Tim Cavnar Aaron Collier Anita Cooke Dean Dablow Michelle Dashev Thomas Deaton Chance DeVille Amy Diaz Kristen Downing Michael Eble James Flynn David Gamble Mitchell Gaudet Maja Georgiou Spencer Gregory L. Kasimu Harris James Henderson Ana Hernandez Miro Hoffman Stephan Hoffpauir Peter Hor...

  Vitus Shell  appear in issue "South #130" juried by Veronica Roberts,  Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art,  Blanton Museum of Art .  " New   American   Paintings " is a juried exhibition-in-print, where each museum-quality issue features the results from a highly-selective juried competition and presents the work of forty painters. Endangered Blossom Medium:  acrylic, foam cut and paper on canvas Dimensions:  72 x 68 inches Year:  2016

With the help of Accie Sullivan III, Kayden Lirette, and Roneshia Robichaux, three of my students from the University of Louisiana at Monroe, we recently completed a mural for the Community Soup Kitchen in South Monroe at 219 Plum St. The mural depicts the founder Lillie "Granny" Goins and celebrates her love of the community. The project was possible with the donations from the community. The Community Soup Kitchen has served the community of South Monroe since 1989. After talking with the Salvation Army and finding that they didn't have a feeding program, Lillie "Granny" Goins and her husband, Poppa, started feeding the homeless of downtown Monroe from the trunk of their car. The Soup Kitchen moved into it's current location in 1997. After Granny Goins passed 2007, her daughter, Gladys has keep the vision of her parents alive by feeding the community every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.