Today's visit to LUX was unexpectedly fun when I discoverd the "gift shop" and found they are showing regional art.
From the LUX website:
Lux Art Institute Presents New Store Project by Art Stars Jean Lowe and Kim MacConnel
J & K Souvenir Inc. to Open April 21 at Museum in Former SPECIMEN Space
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, the 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.
My souvenir: a J&K Inc LUX coin
I hope I can get back to get a souvenir plate!
