BLOW UP II: Inflatable Contemporary Art explores the imaginative ways that air is used as a tool to create large-scale sculptures. The artists in BLOW UP II translate everyday materials and imagery into larger-than-life, yet nearly lighter-than-air art that is rich with meaning, resulting in a wide array of works that are figurative, conceptual, and abstract. Inflatable works are often initially regarded as whimsical or humorous, yet they can contain serious critiques of pop-culture, social norms and the politics of space. BLOW UP II explores the complex relationship between the familiarity of the material combined with serious commentary, creating a dialogue around reinterpretation. Organized by Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA and produced in response to their popular 2015 traveling exhibition, BLOW UP I.
Artists Chromaforms (Oakland, CA), Sharon Engelstein (Houston, TX), FriendsWithYou (Los Angeles, CA), Joshua Harker (Ann Arbor, MI), Susan Lee-Chun (Miami, FL), Matt Ritchie (San Francisco, CA), Lizabeth Rossof (Denver, CO), Jen Stark (Los Angeles, CA), and Max Streicher (Toronto, Canada).
Venues Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, Montgomery, AL | Oct. 31 - Jan. 31, 2021 Dennos Museum Center, Northwestern Michigan College, Traverse City, MI | Feb. 27 – May 16, 2021 Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, MI | June 11, 2021 - Oct. 3, 2021 Museum of Art|Fort Collins, Fort Collins, CO | Oct. 29, 2021 – Jan. 9, 2022 Oklahoma State University Museum of Art, Stillwater, OK | Feb. 8, 2022 – May 1, 2022 The Jepson Center at the Telfair Museums, Savannah, GA | May 27 - Sept. 18, 2022 Appleton Museum of Art, College of Central Florida, Ocala, FL | Oct. 15 – Dec. 18, 2022 Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, TX | Jan. 19 – April 9, 2023 Neville Public Museum, Green Bay, WI | May 20 - Oct. 8, 2023 Gregg Museum of Art & Design at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC | Nov. 4 - Jan. 28, 2024 Portsmouth Arts & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA | Feb. 24 - May 4, 2024