From the KPBS weekend arts preview: Currently on view at the Athenaeum in La Jolla is a site-specific exhibition by Minneapolis-based artist Anne Labovitz that feels immersive. Massive, vividly-hued textiles are suspended from the Athenaeum's ceiling beams, and large wall works play with light, color and space. Details: On view through Jan. 13, 2024. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Athenaeum Music and Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. Free. —Julia Dixon Evans, KPBS From the museum: About the exhibition: Inspired by the blue cast of twilight, Anne Labovitz uses light and its profound meanings in various contexts as the central construct of The Blue Hour. Small libraries, illuminated windows, and Tyvek sculptures explore physical and metaphorical luminosity, color, and materiality, inviting visitors to experience serenity and emergent energy. Labovitz aims to respond to today’s world by challenging isolation, loneliness, and disconnection through activating color and light in large-scale works. “Light and color are connected and are central tenets in my artistic practice and are often what engages viewers at first glance,” she says. “In a world that can be dark, there is something undeniably captivating about the allure of light. But what does it mean for something to be luminous? Luminosity, at its core, is the quality of radiating or reflecting light. These works were created specifically for the Athenaeum to provide viewers a moment of pause, contemplation, and awe.” Local context and creating connections with others are elements embodied in the artist’s creative process and public interventions. About the artist: Anne Labovitz received a BA in art and psychology, with a minor in art education and art history, from Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an MFA from Transart, Plymouth University, in New York City and Berlin. She has an extensive national and international exhibition history. Upcoming and current projects include solo exhibitions at the Minnesota State Capitol (2024); 122 Conversations: Person to Person, Art Beyond Borders at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport; and the I Love You Institute. Labovitz’s work is held in many private and public collections, including the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport; Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota; the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum, Minneapolis; the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, Winona; the Minnesota Museum of American Art, St. Paul; the Tweed Museum of Art, Duluth, Minnesota; the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, La Jolla, California; the Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul; the International Portrait Gallery, Bosnia-Herzegovina; Växjö Konsthall, Sweden; Isumi City Offices, Japan; the University of Raparin, Rania Iraqi Kurdistan; and the City of Petrozavodsk, Russia. Labovitz is currently an adjunct professor and mentor in the MFA program at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Related links: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library: website | Instagram | Facebook
