Blip of the Moment

Matt Lively and Ed Trask
September 17 – October 24, 2021

“Blip of the Moment”
Matt Lively and Ed Trask
September 17 – October 24, 2021

Opening reception on Friday, September 17 from 5-8 p.m. (Outdoor Location: Cabell Courtyard at the Visual Artist Center of Richmond.)
Gallery talk begins at 6 p.m.
Masks Required Inside the VisArts Building

The Visual Arts Center of Richmond and Glave Kocen Consulting presents an exhibition of work by Matt Lively and Ed Trask titled “Blip of the Moment”. This joint show is the culmination of these two artists’ connections to the metaphysical world, a period of deep introspection, and reflecting upon their beloved home of Richmond, Virginia. Through a series of small blips in time, this exhibition considers how we can all stop what we are doing and simply experience what the natural world holds for us. 

Matt Lively earned a BFA in Sculpture from Virginia Commonwealth University and has exhibited nationally and internationally in numerous solo, juried and group exhibitions. He has taught at VCU and the Virginia Museum Studio School and currently operates his own classes, “Painting Outside with Matt Lively”. Lively serves on the board of 1708 Gallery, is a co-founder of the award-winning collaborative environmental sculpture duo, Lively/Harper, and is a contributing founding member of Ink Tank Lab. He serves as art director for various short independent films and is the producer of the documentary titled “Death”. He continues to be involved with several Richmond community projects, including Mending Walls, Artists of Hope, and All In Together. Matt Lively is a recipient of the Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts and his work can be viewed in collections throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and China. 

Ed Trask is a musician, painter, and muralist whose work has been collected into many permanent collections. Trask grew up in Loudoun County, Virginia, and by the time he was eighteen, he moved to Richmond where he enrolled into Virginia Commonwealth University’s painting program. Trask earned a BFA in Painting & Printmaking from VCU and while in school, he transformed many of the dilapidated buildings around Richmond City into his very own art gallery through painted murals. Paintings were done directly on buildings or finished ahead of time on large boards that were illegally installed onto buildings. After graduating in 1992, he continued painting illegal murals around the world while on tour with his own bands and friends. Trask has since become involved with bringing creative changes to Richmond through public art. He co-founded the RVA Street Art Festival and served as a commissioner for Richmond’s Public Art Commission. He is a past board member of the Visual Arts Center of Richmond and has lectured and facilitated creative consulting programs for numerous corporations while working with community nonprofits to bring creative, inclusive public art throughout the city. Ed Trasks’ paintings and murals appear in many permanent collections, including the Modern & Contemporary Art Collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.