Street art is often viewed as an act of rebellion. For artists who feel constricted by the confines of an art gallery, urban spaces offer them canvases as limitless as their creativity. This mentality is being challenged at the Long Beach Museum of Art in Long Beach, California, where a handful of street artists are taking their projects indoors.
“Vitality and Verve: Transforming the Urban Landscape” is an exhibition that opened last June, showcasing work from street artists making the transition to a studio setting, as well as traditional artists experimenting with urban spaces. Nineteen emerging artists were offered the blank walls of the museum to use however they wanted, free from direction or censorship. The result is a collection of stunning pieces that play with medium, style, and space in their own unique ways.
“Vitality and Verve" is scheduled to run until September 27; after that the walls will be painted over in preparation for the next exhibit. If you can’t swing a trip to California before then, check out some of the pieces below and keep an eye out for more work from these artists on the streets and beyond.
Artist // Greg 'Craola' Simkins
Sick piece at the #VitalityAndVerve #StreetArt exhibit at #LongBeachMuseumOfArt pic.twitter.com/XTyGpA1abP
— Victor Webster (@webstervictor) August 24, 2015
Artist // Aaron Horkey
more amazing #art #VitalityandVerve @LBMAorg @PowWowLongBeach #LongBeach #AaronHorkey#mural #streetart #urbanart pic.twitter.com/MbryNQW2HD
— Lily Moayeri لی لی (@LilyMoayeri) July 16, 2015
Artist // Audrey Kawasaki
#vitalityandverve so dope to see all the urban street art ?? pic.twitter.com/X8S5MoLjUO
— Valeria (@lmnopop) August 17, 2015
Artist // James Bullough
Artist // Brendan Monroe
@LBMAorg is open until 8 pm today! Discover the @Brendan_Monroe mural at “Vitality and Verve!” pic.twitter.com/FN7LFZI81X
— Long Beach Museum of Art (@LBMAorg) August 6, 2015
Artist // NoseGo
It’s Free Friday at LBMA! Visit us and see Nosego’s mural from "Vitality and Verve"! #lbma #vitalityandverve pic.twitter.com/MSDQh5XMEv
— Long Beach Museum of Art (@LBMAorg) July 24, 2015
Artist // Cryptik
Artist // Andrew Schoultz
Artist // Alex Yanes
Art museum gives artists white wall and carte blanche - love this! http://t.co/3yLaHYON0d via @demilked pic.twitter.com/rA5PzinE2P
— Michelle Abrahall (@MishAbrahall) July 9, 2015
Artist // Esao Andrews
Artist // Jeff Soto
[h/t: Collectively Conscious]