ARTIST TALK FEATURING JENNIFER LUGRIS: WEDNESDAY, JULY 20

Jennifer Lugris. When Life Hands You Lemons (provided courtesy of the artist)

What: Artist Talk with Jennifer Lugris. When Life Hands You Lemons: Radical Joy in the Age of the Internet

When: Wednesday, July 20 from 1:00-2:55PM PT

Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/j/86536989501

Website: www.jenniferlugris.com

Instagram: @jenniferlugris

Jennifer Lugris. Esperanza (provided courtesy of the artist)

Artist Bio:

Jennifer Lugris is best known for her colorful, patterned, paintings that transform ordinary scenes to show the simple world as vibrant and astonishing. As the granddaughter of North Korean refugees on her mother’s side and a Franco Spanish refugee grandfather on her father’s side, she comes from a long line of ancestors who fled from persecution. Her paintings reflect this multi-layered, complex family history of tragedy and triumph, which has given her a sense of the fragile nature of life. In her paintings, she shows the beauty and joy that exist in everyday moments, which are often taken for granted. Her award-winning work has been exhibited and published internationally. Solo exhibitions include Verge Center for the Arts, Richmond Art Center, Merced College, and Maturango Museum, among others. Her work is included in the permanent collection of the Art, Design & Architecture Museum in Santa Barbara, CA and as a mural installation for the Meta Open Arts artist-in-residence program in San Francisco, CA. She received a Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is Chair of the Sierra College Art Department and currently lives in Sacramento, CA with her family, dogs, and cats. For Lugris’s full CV click here.

ARTIST TALK FEATURING DAVID WESLEY WHITE: MONDAY, JULY 18

What: Artist Talk Featuring David Wesley White

When: Monday, July 18 from 1:00-2:55

Watch Recorded Talk HERE

Website: davidwesleywhite.com

Instagram: @davidweswhite 

Artist Bio:

David Wesley White is a conceptual artist working across mediums. He was born and raised in Worcester County, Massachusetts before moving to New York City where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Parsons School of Design in 2016. In 2020, David received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara. His work has been exhibited in Massachusetts, New York City, and Southern California. 

David approaches the material world from a revolutionary, queer perspective. He is guided by the existential plight of politics; finding nuggets of humor and beauty inside a continuum of frustration and fear. His finished works exist as sculptures, videos, performances, and paintings. David’s process involves deconstructing and transforming objects to reveal hidden philosophies. His interventions and replications expose the fatal contradictions of a post-colonial, anthropocentric society that is increasingly teetering on the edge of collapse. These criticisms play out against a backdrop of personal and American history; tracing and breaking through the edges of the established past.

For the past couple years, David has also been working on recording his first full-length studio album. The music serves as a nostalgic escape; indulging emotions of deep love, home, ecstasy, and loss.

 

Photo Credit: Christopher Velasco

ARTIST TALK FEATURING CHRISTOPHER VELASCO | THURSDAY, MARCH 4 FROM 12:30-1:45

Artist Talk Featuring Christopher Velasco

 Day: Thursday, March 4 

Time: 12:30-1:45

Zoom Link: https://ucsb.zoom.us/s/82599076564

Christopher Anthony Velasco is a photographer and performance artist who lives and works in Los Angeles. He emphasizes the queer brown body incorporating horror and camp aesthetics. Christopher received his Master of Fine Arts from UC Santa Barbara in 2019. He received his BFA from California Institute of the Arts. As a Getty Marrow Undergraduate Intern, Velasco interned at the Santa Monica Museum of Art (Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles) and UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center and Library. Velasco is an instructor at CSSSA (California State Summer School of the Arts). Velasco’s work has been featured in exhibitions at Art Center College of Design, AD&A Museum, Avenue 50 Studios, California Institute of the Arts, Hibbleton Gallery, the Getty Museum, and the Vincent Price Art Museum. In addition, he has also performed with Harry Gamboa, Jr., with Virtual Vérité, Los Angeles Union Station, UC Santa Barbara, and LAST Projects.

https://christopheravelasco.wixsite.com/cav-photography

Instagram: @caver83