LONG BEACH, CA.- The Long Beach Museum of Art launched its 2015 programmatic season with three new exhibitions on February 19. The three exhibitions are an eclectic mix of contemporary art and artists that exemplifies the Museum’s goal of showcasing Californian artists. All three exhibits will run through April 12.
The exhibitions are:
A Memoir of Water: Works by Young-Il Ahn
February 19, 2015 – April 12, 2015
A Memoir of Water: Works by Young-Il Ahn features large-scale abstractions that examine the seemingly endless portrayals of the element. The extraordinary life of contemporary artist Young-Il Ahn is inextricably interwoven into the layers of his work. Due to the transformative experience of being lost at sea and his mastery of the medium, Young-Il Ahn skillfully and methodically paints portraits of the ocean in an array of colors and textures that has led him to develop his work into a profoundly contemporary aesthetic. Seemingly simple, his dexterity with paint must be seen to be appreciated. His practice is meticulous and encourages a meditative state during the creative process.
Milton Wichner Collection
February 19, 2015 – April 12, 2015
The Milton Wichner Collection at the Long Beach Museum of Art illuminates a significant aspect of art history in Southern California. In the 1930s and ‘40s, Southern California became a creative refuge for European artists fleeing the ravages of World War II. Milton Wichner arrived in Los Angeles in 1936 to set up his law practice. His interest in European modern abstraction was intensified upon meeting Galka Scheyer, a representative of the artists Oskar Fischinger, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Wassily Kandinsky, Lyonel Feininger, and Alexej Jawlensky. At Scheyer’s exhibitions, Wichner saw contemporary European Modernists paintings on the west coast for the first time. Scheyer’s efforts to interest Southern Californians in this work met with minimal success at the time, but Wichner was convinced and was especially enthusiastic about the colorful work of Jawlensky. With this exhibition, the Museum welcomes back five striking paintings by Jawlensky that have been on loan to the Getty Museum since 2011.
Presence and Absence: Black and White
February 19, 2015 – April 12, 2015
Color is a powerful tool in the artist’s repertoire, but what happens when artists eliminate color and depend upon the stark contrast of black and white to convey all of their visual expression? Over the last two years, the Museum has presented first Seeing Red followed by the Many Moods of Blue, both drawn from the Museum’s permanent collection. Presence and Absence: Black and White explores the permanent collection through black and white in many different media and formats including paintings, glass, and ceramics. Color, when it appears at all, becomes a nearly fleeting, subtle accent. This selection of artworks offers an eloquent argument for the evocative presence of black and/or white. Rather than the distraction of color, the eye rests on the shapes and forms for the aesthetic experience of the work. The selected artworks may be either completely black or completely white, or play with the contrast of the two. The overall impact is simultaneously restrained, refined, energetic, and elegant.
