Vitus Shell

Vitus Shell is a mixed-media collage painter born in Monroe, LA, where he lives and works. His work is geared toward the black experience, giving agency to people from this community through powerful images, deconstructing, sampling, and remixing identity, civil rights, and contemporary black culture. He received a BFA from Memphis College of Art, 2000 and an MFA from the University of Mississippi, 2008. Vitus Shell has been in residence at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Anderson Ranch Art Center, Hermitage Artist Retreat, Mass MoCA, Joan Mitchell Center, Skowhegan School of Art, and Masur Museum of Art.

THIS LAND is funded in part by a grant from South Arts with support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Additional support provided by the Mississippi Arts Commission.

"Being from North Louisiana, you’re like the step cousin … of everybody from South Louisiana. And sometimes we don’t get the full credit…" – Vitus Shell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXoHI3of1jU

Hear more from Vitus from his residency at Crosstown Arts in Memphis, Tennessee.