Long Beach Museum of Art

The Long Beach Museum of Art is pleased to present MOTION PICTURES; a solo exhibition of works by Los Angeles based painter Greg Ito. This exhibition will be Ito’s second institutional survey, continuing a cycle which began with past exhibitions and bodies of work. The various stages of his life, from adolescence, to husband, to father are represented through the culmination of the natural elements of water, fire, air, and earth in the form of paintings, sculpture, and Ito’s first video installation. Ito is a vibrant storyteller, and uses the sensory elements of light, texture, and poignant nostalgic objects to engage the viewer’s memory and to foster connection between his own story and the audience’s personal histories. Ito’s past exhibitions have reflected on his family lineage and how his parents, grandparents, and Japanese heritage have impacted his life and outlook.

As a fourth-generation Angeleno of Japanese heritage, Ito primarily centers graphic visuals in his surrealist-style paintings and installations, which act as symbols and portals into his memories. His compositions contain meticulous backdrop choices, as well as domestic objects which are partly inspired by his Japanese heritage and his affinity for Los Angeles. Using common acrylic house paint, Ito has created a discernible palette of vivid colors associated with the Southern California landscape, which serves to evoke both collective and individual memory.

Greg Ito (b. 1987, Los Angeles, CA) earned his BFA from San Francisco Art Institute. His work has been exhibited widely in solo and group exhibitions including at Institute of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA; Long Beach Museum of Art, Long Beach, CA; The Cantor Center of the Arts at Stanford University, Stanford, CA; Maki Gallery, Tokyo, Japan; Anat Ebgi, Los Angeles, CA and New York, NY; SPURS Gallery, Beijing, China; Lyles and King, New York, NY; Jeffrey Deitch, New York; NY and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), San Francisco, CA. Ito’s work is included in the permanent collections of public institutions including the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, CA; Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; Institute of Contemporary Art Miami (ICA Miami); K11 Art Foundation, Hong Kong; and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Ito lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.

Greg Ito
The Winds of Change, 2024
Acrylic on canvas over wood panel
60 x 48 inches
Courtesy of the artist
This exhibition is supported in part by the Pasadena Art Alliance.

The Long Beach Museum of Art is pleased to present our forthcoming exhibition, LBMA VIDEO: Shared Realities; A Cable Access Series, on view from October 4, 2024 – February 2, 2025. In the early 1980s, LBMA produced the cable television series, Shared Realities: A Cultural Arts Cable Programming Series, which featured interviews, art reviews and discussion, music, and live performances, among many other topics and disciplines. Other LBMA cable programs included Viewpoints on Video, Arts Revue, and Art Off the Wall. This exhibition features eight one-hour programs that aired on Long Beach Cablevision’s local Channel 3 over an 18-week span for residents. As a medium, video art prides itself in providing a fresh perspective on the world. The innovative concept of using cable access to expand this new medium beyond an institutional context elevated LBMA’s community engagement and commitment to contemporary art.

LBMA was one of the first museums in the United States to embrace video as an artistic medium. The museum began collecting and displaying video art in 1974 and consequently developed one of the country’s most significant video collections, consisting of approximately 5,000 videotapes amassed over three decades. In 2006, the Getty Research Institute acquired the video collection in its entirety; 5,000 tapes, documents, and ephemera were transferred to them for stewardship. More than one-third of the collection has been reformatted, and this exhibition would not have been possible without the processing and cataloging by the Getty Research Institute’s Media Archival Department. 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of the inception of the LBMA VIDEO program. This exhibition endeavors to honor LBMA as pioneers in showcasing the medium, and to continue the tradition of enriching our community and beyond via video art.

Courtesy of the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2006.M.7)

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