Art gallery with framed black-and-white photos on gray walls and globes on pedestals. Wooden flooring, dim lighting.
From the ever-changing exhibits at MoCa, to the eclectic works featured throughout the ViBe Creative District, we love to celebrate our area’s artistic roots every chance we get. Here are some of the exhibits we’ll be checking out this spring and summer.
As the cornerstone of the ViBe Creative District in Virginia Beach, the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) is an exploration of the masterpieces of today by artists of regional and national notoriety. With regularly changing exhibits, there is always something new to see, but that is not all that the museum has to offer.
Embroiderer Annie Layne creates art for the world around her. With bright and colorful pieces, her work uses humor to spark thought-provoking discussion. Annie Layne’s embroideries portray imperfect women who embrace life, with moles, extra eyes, and weird facial hair, but a certain sense of extravagance, as well. It’s amazing to see how a collection of string and fabric can so eloquently convey the strength of womankind that you won’t be able to resist.
In a collection organized by the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art and Curated by Allison Byrne, Director of Exhibitions and Education and Heather Hakimzadeh, Curator, the artists in The Rest of History, including Gina Adams, Andrea Geyer, Fabiola Jean-Louis, Mary Reid Kelley, and Charles Edward Williams, help to showcase a more complex historical narrative. Each one brings to light the stories and voices of those overlooked from history. A wider perspective is rarely pretty, and questions the moral integrity of everyone involved. But, it also offers a broader range of human stories and a more complex and interesting narrative. Through this exhibition, we can see that there is room for more characters in our human story.
Featuring local artists, Maria Galuszka, Mary Menzer, and Spencer Tinkham, Modern Makers celebrates each artist’s ability to make traditional objects with a contemporary eye. Maria Galuszka creates ceramics, Mary Menzer sews quilts, and Spencer Tinkham carves in wood. For all three, the formal qualities of their work outpace the traditional functionality. Each artist recalls masters of the modernist art movement: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Henri Rousseau, Anni Albers, Constantin Brâncuși, Jean Arp and Frank Lloyd Wright while moving beyond the intellectual inquiry of that modern movement. They embrace materials that are tactile, alluring and part of our everyday life. The works step away from lofty idealism, landing in a place where the beauty of bold, simplified form is knowable.
In partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the ViBe Creative District, and the City of Virginia Beach, Irish artist, Maser, was tasked with a series of local art installations including a large mural, titled People and Plants on the back of the museum, a sculptural installation across the street from the Virginia Beach Convention Center, and a Performing Arts stage in ViBe Park on Cypress Avenue.
BOJUart
Located in the ViBe Creative District, BOJUart is an original contemporary art curation and gallery that spotlights local, regional, statewide, and national artists. With works ranging from environmental photography and mixed media to painting and glasswork, the gallery features a variety of artists, as well as a rotating visual artist pop-up exhibition.
Multiple Xpressions
April 5 – May 4
Sculpture using a dried allium flower mounted on a black metal box with a wind-up key mechanism.
Multiple Xpressions is a juried group exhibition featuring notable artists from Hampton Roads, Richmond, and Washington D.C.: Ajibade Awoyemi, Monée Bengtson, Katherine (Kay) Goldsby, Tim Harper, Laurie Hoen, Dathan Kane, Meghan Kramer, Jubee Lee, Matt Lively, Austin “Auz” Miles and Hasson J Roberts. The exhibition will feature work by eleven local and regional artists new to the gallery, and has a range of mediums from glass and textile, to mixed media and painting as well as kinetic sculpture.
As a new addition to the ViBe Creative District, the Virginia Beach Arts Center is finding that they fit right in. With art classes, pottery, and monthly exhibitions, this unique community of artists is excited to introduce to the art adorning their walls. The Center is a volunteer-run organization formed to provide an educational environment to support and inspire all ages and skill levels to experience, engage with, and create art.
The Artists Gallery at Virginia Beach Art Center-VBAC, Facebook
Think globally, create locally. Celebrate the lands, the waters, all the elements that comprise the world ecology in a special exhibit related to Earth Day.
The Artists Gallery at Virginia Beach Art Center-VBAC, Facebook
Nature’s brilliant colors combine with ingenious design in our area’s gardens, public and private. See our salute to the season that revels in everything floral and fascinating about spring.
The Artists Gallery at Virginia Beach Art Center-VBAC, Facebook
Our area is surrounded by water. The ocean, the bays, the rivers – all define the lifestyle of Tidewater and its attraction to so many visitors and residents alike. Come enjoy art that is born of the element so much a part of us.
Fusion
July 5 – August 11
Exterior view of the Virginia Beach Art Center with people visible inside through the window.
Mixed-media artwork from a regional call for entries and selected by a juror from the Virginia Museum will show the breadth and incredible creativity of a category often overlooked.
Back Bay’s Living Room Artist Series is a 14-month long series that supports local artists and musicians, with a portion of the proceeds donated to fund a new mural in the ViBe Creative District. Each month, the brewery will feature two musicians and one visual artist, whose work will be displayed throughout the tasting room for a two-month period. Each event will unveil the artists work, and have a musical host and a musical feature and, of course, delicious Back Bay beer. Come out for a great time in the Blind, with psychedelic vibes and groovy decor, and help celebrate the depth of talent that can be found right here in Virginia Beach.
