Laguna Art Museum Announces Christian Sampson As Featured Artist For 12th Annual Art + Nature

Laguna Art Museum (LAM) will present its 12th annual Art + Nature, an annual event celebrating the dynamic exchange between artistic expression and environmental awareness, beginning the week of November 1.

The dynamic event is the museum's largest initiative 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 festivities beginning the week of November 1 are 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 Art + Nature featured artist is LA-based Christian Sampson, an artist who creates dynamic, 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, molecules with electrical charges, affect both our environment and our 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 Laguna Art Museum. “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!”

Additional Art + Nature exhibitions include Jay DeFeo: Trees and Fred Tomaselli: Second Nature. Jay DeFeo: Trees will be on view from September 21, 2024, through January 12, 2025 and is the first exhibition dedicated to DeFeo's fascination with trees and exploration of the natural world. The exhibition encompasses 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 rare glimpse into the artist's drawings produced between 1953 and 1954 in Berkeley, California, following extensive travels in Europe and North Africa.  Among the nine extant works from the Tree series, all of which are on view in the exhibition, are two pieces from Laguna Art Museum's esteemed 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. Major support for the exhibition was provided by Elie Weaver and Hilton Weinberg, and The Segerstrom Foundation. Generous support was provided by The Jay DeFeo Foundation. Additional support was provided by Barbara and Tad Danz. Major support for the publication was provided by Nancy Dustin Wall Moure. Generous support was provided by The Jay DeFeo Foundation.

Fred Tomaselli: Second Nature will showcase the influential work of Southern California native artist, Fred Tomaselli. The exhibition, on view from October 6, 2024, to February 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 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. Major support for the exhibition provided by Elie Weaver and Hilton Weinberg; generous support provided by The Offield Family Foundation. Generous support for the publication provided by James Cohan, New York.

“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 that we live within.”

Art + Nature will feature a range of events and activities from November 2 through November 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 November 2, Live! at the Museum Art + Nature Performance on November 3, a choreographed dance performance and community arts projects on November 9 and Free Museum Day on November 10.

Continuing Laguna Beach's legacy as a center for the arts, Art + Nature provides a unique opportunity for the Southern California community to come together for a festival of art and ideas, to inspire artists and enhance the appreciation of nature in order to foster environmental awareness.

For more information, please visit www.lagunaartmuseum.org.

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