Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach

Detail of The Ghost of G Sharp Seven by Camille Rose Garcia

Detail of Trapped by Beth Cavener

Sun and the Moon by Jeff Soto

The waterfront at Virginia Beach

At the top of Mt. Trashmore. A park on top of the old garbage dump. Virginia Beach.

I have never had a reason to travel to Virginia Beach. If I didn’t have an instagram account following one art stream that lead to another link then to another, I may have never started following the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art and would not have discovered that the 10 year retrospective of the magazine Hi-Fructose was on the east coast. The general focus of the magazine is on a narrow band of contemporary art born out of a mix of surrealism and pop-culture, with the influence of comic book illustration and tattoo art, but realized with a refined, highly technical degree of craftsmanship and presentation. The subject matter varies but almost always plays along the fringes of surrealism with imagery focusing most heavily on a loose version of portraiture.In general, wonder, draftsmanship, and craft precede high concept although the art is not void of cultural criticism or narrative. I think that the art itself is more accessible to a greater group of people than most contemporary art due to the fact that it is rendered realistically.As with the first time visiting the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, FL, I was stunned at how amazing the originals were after seeing reproductions for years. There is a good variety of both 2-D and 3-D work, and so many good pieces that there isn’t a particular standout in the group. The show is open until December 31st, 2016. If you didn’t have a reason to visit Virginia Beach you do now.