Lux Art Institute

Lux Art Institute Presents New Store Project by Art Stars Jean Lowe and Kim MacConnel ENCINITAS, CA ' ( April 6, 2010 ) ' Lux Art Institute, San Diego's first LEED-certified interactive art destination, will launch J & K Souvenir Inc, a pop-up shop installation by two of San Diego's most recognized artists Jean Lowe and Kim MacConnel, at its upcoming 21-and-over Lux@Night event on April 21, 7-9 p.m.. J & K Souvenir Inc is the latest in a series of retail installations commissioned by Lux. The new retail experience created by Lowe and MacConnel is a finely edited collection of distinctive, hand-crafted goods, many of which will commemorate one's visit to the museum, be inspired by the museum's unique surrounding physical environment and illustrate the tension between the mass-produced and the aggressively handmade object. J & K Souvenir Inc will replace SPECIMEN, Lux's first store project by art dealer Mark Quint and artist Adam Belt that opened in late November 2009 and is scheduled to close on April 10. J & K Souvenir Inc., Lux's newest retail installation, has been thoughtfully conceived and created to provide a one-of-a-kind experience for our museum guests, said Lux Director Reesey Shaw. The pieces inside the store will be made by two of the craftiest artists in town and will no doubt bring smiles to many. How refreshing to have this bit of whimsy spice up our lives! Featuring items such as coastal flower bouquets fabricated from beach trash, small terra cotta figurines of endangered local animals and birds, commemorative vessels and ceramic plates and select Hulga's of San Diego jewelry, the store will be filled with original artist-made reproductions. J & K Souvenir Inc will also display and sell Delft bowls and plates, clown kits, doorstops, Universal Method of English books and placemats, stickers and more. Compared to Lowe and MacConnel's regular work, the items will be inexpensive, ranging in price from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars. We had a desire to do a different kind of museum store, playing off the idea of 99 Cent Store-pop culture and museum store-high culture and collapsing the difference, said Lowe, whose three-foot tall papier-mache Animal Tales valise is part of Lux's acclaimed educational outreach program, The Valise Project. For Kim and myself, this is an opportunity to break from normal studio practice and goof around a little. Hopefully the store will be both playful and earnest. Expected to run through July 2010, J & K Souvenir Inc store project will be open to the public during Lux's regular open hours ' Thursday and Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. ' as well as during special events, such as Lux@Night and Free Saturday. About Jean Lowe Jean Lowe earned her B.A. at the University of California, Berkeley and her M.F.A. at the University of California, San Diego. A lecturer at UC San Diego from 1992 to 2008, Lowe has shown in more then fifty exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally and is represented by Quint Contemporary art in La Jolla, Calif.; Rosamund Felsen Gallery in Santa Monica, Calif.; and McKenzie Fine Arts in New York. She is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including two WESTAF/NEA Regional Fellowships and the CalArts/Alpert Ucross Residency Prize. Select solo exhibitions include Yes, Yes, Yes!, McKenzie Fine Art, New York, 2010; Love for Sale, Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica, Calif. and Quint Contemporary Art, La Jolla, Calif., 2008 to 2009; The Loneliness Clinic, Dust Gallery, Las Vegas, 2007; The Course of the Empire, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Mo., 2003; and The Evolutionary Cul de Sac, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, 2000. Lowe has taken part in many group exhibitions such as Multiple Vantage Points: Southern California Women Artists, 1980-2006, Municipal Art Gallery, Barnsdall Park, Los Angeles, 2007; National Pysche, The Lab, San Francisco, 2006; Conversational Lag,