Lux Unveils a Diverse 2011-12 Season

Families across San Diego County need to get over to Lux Art Institute before Claudette Schreuders’ installation is gone. Even if you can’t make it by June 18, which is when Schreuders vacates the Lux studio to return home to South Africa, her family-friendly exhibit is well worth a visit.

Schreuders’ work perfectly captures everyday family moments in an extraordinary way. One of her wooden sculptures depicts a child hiding his face while hugging his father’s legs; another shows a nanny wearing a child on her back. A third sculpture shows a couple spooning in bed.

“When you have small children in the house, everything gets really intimate,” she said.

Since becoming a mother, Schreuders said she found it a natural transition to incorporate familial themes in her work. Similar to many working moms, she said she has little time to do anything other than what comes naturally.

“You don’t have time to sit around thinking about your work,” said the mother of two. As a result, Schreuders has produced a collection that is refreshingly relatable to any parent.

Schreuders has had solo and group shows at the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town; the Contemporary Museum in Honolulu; the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University; the British Museum in London; and New York City’s Museum of Modern Art and Museum for African Art.

Schreuders’ work will be on display until July 30. Her installation neatly wraps up the 2010-2011 season.

Lux’s new season holds much promise with a diverse lineup of artists. From classical porcelain work to bronze sculptures to avant-garde creations, the scheduled artists-in-residence will not disappoint.

Ann Agee: New York City artist Agee’s work combines her mother’s upper-class upbringing with her father’s humble roots. Her ceramic creations braid modernity into the traditional. Agee has been recognized by several organizations – she received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. In studio Sept. 8 through Oct. 9; on exhibit Sept. 8 through Oct. 29.

Emilio Perez: Also based in New York, Perez conjures chaos within vivid paintings. Influenced by graphic novels, pop art, music, woodcuts and the baroque, Perez’s purposely ambiguous work allows the viewer to attach whatever meaning to which they’re drawn. He’s also a surfer, according to Lux director Reesey Shaw. “I think he’ll really dig being in Encinitas,” she said. In studio Nov. 9 through Dec. 4; on exhibit Nov. 10 through Dec. 31.

Lila Jang: South Korean sculptor Jang may not speak English, but her art translates just fine for anyone who’s ever felt confined by limited living space. Inspired by her desire to maintain a bit of normalcy at home while earning her master’s in fine arts from Ecole National Superieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, Jang said, “My work represents who and where we are as human beings: in the midpoint of that constant struggle between reality and the ideal.” In studio Jan. 12 through Feb. 15; on exhibit Jan. 12 through March 3.

Gwynn Murrill: Southern Californian treasure Murrill creates modern classics from bronze and wood. The UCLA-educated artist has garnered several awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Prix di Roma Fellowship from the American Academy in Rome, and a Purchase Award from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. In studio March 15 through April 15; on exhibit March 15 through May 19.

Brett Bigbee: Shaw calls Lux’s acquisition of Bigbee as an artist-in-residence a coup. The reclusive Bigbee, who lives in Maine, will be multitasking during his trip west. In addition to his work at Lux, Bigbee will also be visiting his mother, who moved to Solana Beach several years ago. Realist painter Bigbee’s art is breathtakingly real and easily holds anyone’s attention. “I feel like (Bigbee’s painting of his wife, Ann) is as close to the Mona Lisa as you can get,” Shaw said. In studio May 31 through July 1; on exhibit May 31 through July 28.

Lux Art Insitute is located at 1550 S. El Camino Real and is open to visitors on Thursdays and Fridays 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.