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.

Objects
10 large-scale inflatable sculptures/installations. 

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).

VenuesMontgomery 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