ENCINITAS, CA – July 1, 2008 — Lux Art Institute, San Diego’s interactive art destination, announced today the five artists who will participate in Lux’s second Artist-in-Residence season, which begins this September.

Lux, known as one of the significant contemporary art venues in San Diego County where visitors can “see art happen,” is one of the first museum facilities in the United States to establish an innovative artist-in-residence program that focuses on the living artist and the creative process.

“We’re extremely fortunate to have recruited such a diverse and talented group of artists for our next season,” said Lux Director Reesey Shaw. “Moving toward our first anniversary as a bricks-and-mortar institution, it’s a thrill to mark our growth and welcome our visitors with this exciting line-up.”

Ray Smith
In-Studio Sept. 12 - Sept. 27, 2008
On-Exhibit through Nov. 1, 2008
Smith, a painter and sculptor born in Texas and raised in Central Mexico, kicks off Lux’s 2008-2009 season on September 12, 2008. His surrealistic work often features dogs, animals, and distorted figures as surrogates, shamans, or symbols of the more primal nature of man lurking beneath the surface. His exhibit at Lux will include some of these pieces, as well as paintings of warped clocks and watches whose faces were originally photographed, scanned, then digitally manipulated, cut, and unfolded before being reproduced with watercolors or oils. He will also complete a 5’ x 7’ painting on-site.

Among other prestigious venues, Smith has exhibited in the 1989 Whitney Biennial Exhibition at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City and the Musee National d’Art Moderne at the Pompidou Center in Paris, France. His paintings are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia in Madrid, Spain, and many others.

Alison Moritsugu
In-Studio Nov. 8 - Dec. 6, 2008
On-Exhibit through Jan. 3, 2009
Moritsugu, born in Hawaii and currently living in New York, is Lux’s second artist of the new season. Moritsugu is known for her on-going series of Luminist landscapes painted on log slices that frame the environment in fresh ways. She also creates lush floral wallpaper patterns. Her work has been exhibited throughout the country, including solo exhibitions at the Beacon Project Space in Beacon, NY; Littlejohn Contemporary in New York City; and Knoxville Museum of Art in TN.

Jolynn Krystosek
In-Studio Jan. 10 – Jan. 31, 2009
On-Exhibit through March 18, 2009
Krystosek, who lives and works in New York City, opens the New Year as Lux’s third resident artist. She will exhibit three bodies of work: wax floral relief carvings, large-scale, site-specific paper cut-outs, and drawings of exotic fowl. Krystosek has exhibited at the Philadelphia Art Alliance in PA, Lucas Schoormans Gallery in New York City, and The Horticultural Society of New York.

Victoria Adams
In-Studio March 26 - April 4, 2009
On-Exhibit through May 20, 2009
Contemporary landscape painter Adams lives and works on Vashon Island in the Puget Sound south of Seattle, WA. Adams arrives in late March as Lux’s fourth artist-in-residence. Inspired by the weather, sky, and land of the Pacific Northwest, Adams’ work combines her memories of paintings and places that suggest timeless views of the landscape. She has exhibited at museums in the Northwest and galleries throughout the country.

Derrick Guild
In-Studio May 28 – June 20, 2009
On-Exhibit through August 1, 2009
Guild will complete the 2008-2009 season. Born in Perth, Scotland and currently living and working on the Island of Ascension in the South Pacific, Guild paints in the ongoing tradition of the “kitchen still life,” a genre practiced by European masters of the 15th to 19th centuries. He has shown extensively in Europe and the United States, where his work is in many public and private collections.

Lux Hours: Thursday and Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. $10 for two visits.
For more information about Lux Art Institute, visit www.luxartinstitute.org or call 760.436.6611.

About Lux Art Institute
Lux Art Institute, located in Encinitas, opened its doors to the public in November 2007 and is redefining the modern museum experience with its artist-in-residence program. Artists live and work on site, while producing a commissioned work of art. 

Throughout the year, Lux invites significant regional, national, and international artists to participate in the Lux residency and encourages visitors from across the country to observe and engage with them. This one-of-a-kind institution invites visitors to not only “see art” but also to “see art happen.”

Slated to be the first “green” (LEED certified) art museum in California and located alongside one of Southern California’s remaining coastal wetlands, Lux’s four-acre site overlooks the San Elijo Lagoon and is surrounded by a wildlife preserve that stretches to the Pacific Ocean. In an effort to seamlessly meld the conservation and restoration of art beyond the museum walls, an array of rare native plants blends naturally into the nearby preserve.

Santa Monica, California-based Renzo Zecchetto, AIA – whose other significant architectural projects include the award-winning Church of the Nativity in Fairbanks Ranch, Calif. and the Alusa Printing Company in Santiago, Chile – designed the two-story building to utilize energy-saving strategies such as the use of natural light and recycled materials to preserve resources for future generations.