OCEANSIDE, CA (JULY 11, 2024) – Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) is thrilled to announce the upcoming exhibition Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean, part of Getty’s initiative PST ART: Art & Science Collide. Open to the public from August 17 in part, and from September 7 in full, through January 19, 2025, Transformative Currents will showcase works by 21 contemporary artists and collaborative teams from diverse Pacific regions, exploring the cultural and environmental dynamics of the Pacific Ocean.
Transformative Currents is the first exhibition of its kind in Southern California to channel this geographically diverse range of perspectives on environmental issues throughout the entirety of the Pacific Ocean. It is a testament to the power of collaborative and interdisciplinary approaches, bridging artistic, scientific, and Indigenous knowledge systems to foster a deeper understanding of the Pacific’s vast cultural and ecological landscapes. Each project addresses a specific issue affecting the oceanic environment; together, they highlight interdependency and the impact of local actions on global problems.
The participating artists, all hailing from various Pacific regions, include:
· Irwan Ahmett and Tita Salina (Jakarta, Indonesia)
· Ana Andrade (Tijuana, Mexico and San Diego, CA)
· Jake Atienza (Irvine, CA/Bantayan Island, Philippines) and Martha Atienza (Bantayan Island, Philippines) / DAKOgamay in collaboration with GOODLand
· Isabel Beavers (Los Angeles, CA)
· Ohan Breiding and Shoghig Halajian (Brooklyn, NY)
· Sean Connelly (Honolulu, HI)
· Megan Cope (Meeanjin/Brisbane, Australia)
· L. Frank (Santa Rosa, CA) and Jane Chang Mi (Honolulu, HI)
· Maja Godlewska and Marek Ranis (Charlotte, NC)
· Beatriz Jaramillo (Los Angeles, CA)
· Liz Larner (Bellingham, WA)
· Charles Lim (Singapore)
· Marcos Lutyens (Los Angeles, CA)
· Alex Monteith (Te Piha, Aotearoa/New Zealand) and Maree Sheehan (Waikato, Aotearoa/New Zealand) in collaboration with Te Kāhui o Taranaki Takutai Kaitiaki (Te Kāhui o Taranaki Iwi) and Project Reef (Te Tai-O-Rehua/Tasman Sea, South Taranaki Bight)
· Enrique Ramirez (Santiago, Chile and Paris, France)
· Tiare Ribeaux (Honolulu, HI) and Qianqian Ye (Los Angeles, CA)
· Genevieve Robertson (Nelson, British Columbia)
· Paul Rosero Contreras (Quito and Galápagos, Ecuador)
· Fran Siegel (San Pedro, CA)
· Angela Tiatia (Sydney, Australia)
· Cecilia Vicuña (New York, NY and Santiago, Chile)
The exhibition features diverse media, including video, sculpture, drawings, and photography, organized around the theme of ocean currents. This metaphor suggests fluidity, interconnectivity, and collective responsibility, central to the exhibition’s narrative.
Curated by Cassandra Coblentz with assistant curators Aaron Katzeman and Ziying Duan, Transformative Currents emphasizes the role of art in addressing ecological challenges and fostering community engagement. The inclusion of artists from across the Pacific regions echoes the exhibition’s far-reaching material and highlights the interconnectedness of the issues explored.
“We cannot separate the issues facing the Pacific; they are interrelated and affect us all,” explains Cassandra Coblentz, lead curator of the exhibition. “This exhibition is a call to recognize our shared responsibility and the dynamic interconnectedness of our actions.”
OMA Executive Director Maria Mingalone adds, “Creating a dialog between Southern California artists and others in Pacific regions, who are interconnected by oceanic currents that traverse the Pacific, is a beautiful way to celebrate OMA’s mission of sharing the art and stories of Southern California artists.”
Transformative Currents: Art and Action in the Pacific Ocean will have two off-site satellite installations with partner organizations: the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in Costa Mesa will present work by Liz Larner, and the Crystal Cove Conservancy in Newport Beach will present an installation created by Maja Godlewska and Marek Ranis.
Please find images of artworks from Transformative Currents here.
For more information about Transformative Currents at Oceanside Museum of Art, please visit https://oma-online.org/transformative-currents/.
For more information about PST ART, please visit https://pst.art/.
About Oceanside Museum of Art
Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA) is a non-profit organization that began providing exhibitions and public programs in 1995 as part of their mission to bring people together to explore the art and stories of Southern California artists. OMA’s exhibition program is dynamic and robust, surprising visitors with a fresh and exciting visual experience nearly every visit. In addition to these boundary-pushing contemporary art exhibitions, OMA’s programming includes youth education programs, adult art classes, concerts, films, and creative community parties and events that appeal to locals and tourists alike. The OMA experience stimulates imagination, presents new ideas, and challenges the familiar in a welcoming environment for those new to art, longtime museum-goers, artists, art students, or simply the curious. For more information on Oceanside Museum of Art, visit https://oma-online.org/
About PST ART: Art & Science Collide
Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART, returns in September 2024, presenting more than 60 exhibitions from organizations across the region exploring the intersections of art and science, both past
and present. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit https://pst.art/.
