Two Exhibition Openings - Holding Time & Why Paint a Landscape?

Join us on Friday, March 20, for the opening reception of Holding Time: The Works of Elyse Pignolet and MyungJin Kim, and Why Paint a Landscape? Selections from the Permanent Collection.

• LBMA Members: 5:00–7:00 PM
• General Public : 7:00–9:00 PM (Complimentary)

LBMA Members Only reception includes complimentary light bites and beverages.

Click here to become an LBMA Member.

March 20, 2026 – June 7, 2026

The Long Beach Museum of Art is pleased to present Holding Time, is an exhibition highlighting the work of Elyse Pignolet and MyungJin Kim, two contemporary Southern California women artists who use ceramics, particularly vessels, as a medium for storytelling. While their visual styles and narratives differ significantly, this exhibition brings their work together to explore how both artists have broken from the conceptual traditions in ceramics introduced by Southern California ceramists in the early 1960s.

Despite their differences, Pignolet and Kim share a common language: the use of botanicals and decorative motifs on the surfaces of their vessels. These aesthetic elements become tools for layered, symbolic storytelling centered around themes such as femininity, social justice, cultural stereotypes, mythology, deities, and folk-art traditions.

Artwork:
Elyse Pignolet, Gold Digger, 2019. Ceramic three-piece tulipiere vase with glazes and gold luster, 17 x 13 x 13 ½ inches. Courtesy of the artist and Track 16 Gallery.

MyungJin Kim, Homeward Soar – Sculpture 14, 2024. Terra cotta, terra sigillata, underglaze, 24 x 12 x 11 inches. From the Collection of the Artist.

March 20, 2026 – June 7, 2026

In his book To See Is to Think: Looking at American Art, Joshua Taylor asks, “Why paint a landscape?” At first, the answer appears simple. However, throughout the long history of art, painting a landscape for its own sake—rather than just as a background for another subject—is relatively recent. Among the landscape paintings in the Museum’s permanent collection, several responses to Taylor’s question emerge, indicating motivations that go far beyond just pleasant wall decoration.

Artwork: Gail Factor, Salmon Stripe, ca. 1980s. Oil on linen canvas, 47 1/4 x 71 1/2 inches. Gift of the Estate of Gail Factor 2015.53.

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Host or Publisher Long Beach Museum of Art