Laguna Art Museum’s 12th annual Art + Nature, a celebration of artistic expression and environmental awareness, kicks off the week of Nov. 1.
The event is the museum’s most prominent of the year, featuring large-scale installations that bring together thousands of participants to cultivate a love of nature, raise environmental awareness and discover cross-sections between science and the arts. The week of Nov. 1, the festivities begin the kick-off to Laguna Art Museum’s Art + Nature period that lasts through February 2025 with three indoor exhibitions and exciting public programs.
This year’s featured artist is Los Angeles-based Christian Sampson, known for creating layered installations of color, light and form. Sampson’s Ocean Ions will explore the intersections of color theory, spirituality and abstraction. Installed throughout Laguna Beach’s Heisler Park and Main Beach, Sampson’s work investigates the complex interplay between light, color and movement, reflecting how ions and molecules with electrical charges affect our environment and perception.
“With a solid 12-year history of attracting thousands to the beach right outside the museum’s door, there is always a bit of pressure in selecting a featured artist for Art + Nature,” said Julie Perlin Lee, executive director of LAM. “We are so excited for Christian Sampson’s Ocean Ions to come to Laguna Beach as we know it will dazzle audiences, help draw deep introspection about our human interaction with our environment and push us to think deeper about time, perception, unseen forces and even the possibility of transcending dimensionality. I am looking forward to sharing the experience with everyone who can make it down to the beach for Art + Nature 2024.”
Other Art + Nature exhibitions include Jay DeFeo: Trees and Fred Tomaselli: Second Nature. Jay DeFeo: Trees will be on view from Sept. 21, through Jan. 12, 2025 and is the first exhibition dedicated to DeFeo’s fascination with trees and exploration of the natural world. The exhibition includes the artist’s drawings from the Tree series made in the 1950s and photographs of trees created during the early 1970s.
Curated by LAM Curatorial Fellow Rochelle Steiner, Jay DeFeo: Trees will offer a glimpse into the artist’s drawings produced between 1953 and 1954 in Berkeley, Calif., following extensive travels in Europe and North Africa. Among the nine works from the Tree series that are still in existence, all on view in the exhibition, are two pieces from Laguna Art Museum’s permanent collection. They are juxtaposed with DeFeo’s photographs of trees from the 1970s, creating a dialogue that accentuates the breadth of her visual vocabulary.
Fred Tomaselli: Second Nature will showcase the influential work of Southern California native artist Fred Tomaselli. The exhibition, which will be on display from Oct. 6 to Feb. 2, 2025, delves into the confluence of art, nature and contemporary culture.
Also organized by LAM Curatorial Fellow Rochelle Steiner, the exhibition features nearly fifty of Tomaselli’s latest works, many of which feature images of birds, animals, the coastline, and the pressing environmental conditions of our time. His vibrant and intricate resin paintings will be shown alongside his New York Times series, in which he reinterprets newspaper front pages to document the world’s events and their impact on daily life.
“Over the years, LAM has championed artists and projects that address critical environmental issues, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of our natural world,” said Rochelle Steiner, LAM curatorial fellow. “Through its exhibitions, educational programs and community outreach, LAM continues to feature artists whose ideas encourage us to look deeply at the natural world we live within.”
Art + Nature will feature various events and activities from Nov. 2 through Nov. 11, including community art projects, performances and the First Thursdays Artwalk. All activities are designed to foster engagement and appreciation of art and nature. Programming includes the Community Kickoff Event on Nov. 2, Live! at the Museum Art + Nature Performance on Nov. 3, a choreographed dance performance and community arts projects on Nov. 9 and Free Museum Day on Nov. 10.
