By Kalena Reynolds | Staff Writer
On Dec. 10 at the Martin Museum of Art, a new exhibition titled “400 Degreez: The Act of Making Nothing Out of Something” will open featuring artist Vitus Shell. The exhibition will include work from his “Gold Everything” series and will also serve as a guided tour for CAE credit.
On Jan. 30, 2025, the museum will host an opening event with Shell. The event will begin with a light refreshment reception in the student lounge and then move into the museum for an interview session between Shell and a host.
Elisa Crowder, education coordinator at the Martin Museum of Art, said that the museum first started building a connection with Shell after he submitted a presentation of his art and expressed interest in the museum.
“Both our department, our museum director and the people involved in the committee were very excited to see the work he’s doing, so they began to develop a relationship with him about timing,” Crowder said. “We always have a two to three-year process between when we say, ‘Okay, we want to pursue this artist. Now, let’s get in touch with them and see what are the openings at the Martin and what openings does the artist have?'”
The exhibition’s title refers to a hip-hop artist named Juvenile, who has an album titled “400 Degreez,” according to Shell.
“It’s a way for me to first pay homage to him, but also fit them in this conversation of being a philosopher because I feel like hip-hop artists are also philosophers,” Shell said. “I feel like they’re speaking from the point of view of certain communities. It’s not always perfect, or it’s not always politically correct, but it is other times, and I think that’s just important.”
Crowder said that Shell is a mixed-media artist. He creates paintings of his portraits, cuts them out and puts them on top of a base.
“You’re also going to see in the images where he’s trying to connect generations and he’s trying to make statements about how in the Black experience, there are advertisements, terms, wording that impacted the Black experience,” Crowder said. “For example, behind one of the girls that he painted, he puts images of hair relaxer ads and various ideas like wigs, kind of implying that their hair is a different texture than a lot of European-based countries.”
The title of his series “Gold Everything” was inspired by the musician Trinidad James, who released a song with the same title. Hearing this song inspired Shell to explore the history of gold and how it was used in art.
“It dates back to the medieval paintings and Byzantine paintings, and it’s about this conversation of royalty and who could afford to be included in their work and who could be included in the history of portraiture,” Shell said. “And usually, it was white men that were at the center of those paintings. So, the work that I’m doing is about everyday Black folk being put in a place of importance and simply being able to exist. And that just being is a political statement, that’s what I’m trying to say.”
This exhibit by Shell will be open to the public until April 17.
