When Nicholas Whipple was looking for a venue to showcase his light sculptures, he put out feelers to galleries in the Wynwood section of Miami.
Luckily for Whipple, 28, of Hobe Sound, a set designer and master carpenter at the Maltz Theatre in Jupiter, he found a space closer to home.
In an exhibit opening Friday, Next Wave: Emerging Young Artists, the Lighthouse ArtCenter reaches out to Whipple’s generation – the next wave of young artists – featuring a juried exhibit of edgy and provocative art by the under-40 crowd.
“We expect to display lots of exciting visual art forms, from wild installation art to experimental film, to form a collective of post-grads, young parents, grassroots activists and original thinkers,” said exhibition curator Robyn Deits Eckersley.
Whipple, who works with light, projection and illumination, is one of those emerging artists.
Fascinated by lights, shadows, patterns and pulsating light frequencies that can stimulate human emotions, Whipple’s influences come in part from his experience on stage working with “gobos” – physical templates placed in front of, or inside of, lights to control the shape of the projected light.
Whipple’s installation for the Next Wave show is what he calls Visions of a Past Persona. It’s part of a series titled Sculptor’s Painting, a self-portrait of “who I used to be,” he says.
He works with 35mm slides that he paints, sculpts and etches and stacks together to create a multi-layered dimensional look that is then projected onto the wall as a painting.
“I think this exhibit is a great opportunity for young artists,” Whipple says. “Sometimes I get distracted by my day job and my life, but I know creating art full-time is what I want to do. This is a chance for me to refocus my energies, pursue my art and hopefully exhibit at more galleries.”
A takeoff on the museum’s popular First Friday event, in which young emerging artists are invited to show their works, highlights of Next Wave include the opening night reception and awards ceremony, with live music, hors d’oeuvres and beer-tasting from the Tequesta Brewing Company, an artist talk and demonstration, and an open mic night and coffeehouse.
“We created this concept as a forum for young, emerging artists to show their work and get exposure,” said Megan Bell, the assistant director of education at the Lighthouse School of Art. “Unlike more established artists, who may have access to museums and gallery spaces, younger artists at the launch of their career need a supportive environment and opportunity to showcase their work, network and make connections.”
AJ Brockman, 23, of Palm Beach Gardens, is another of the Next Wave’s emerging artists. A recent graduate of the Digital Media Arts College in Boca Raton, Brockman, who was born with a form of muscular dystrophy and has limited use of his hands, is able to use his left hand and two fingers to create digital art with a computer mouse.
His painting, Nozridr, which depicts a 1946 Ford Super Deluxe “Woodie” station wagon on the sand at the beach, with a surfer and a pier in the distance, won third place in last year’s show.
This year Brockman will exhibit a series of posters he designed entitled, I’m… The first poster shows a woman smoking a cigarette, dressed in dark sunglasses and wrap-around head scarf like a 1920s movie star, emblazoned with the words, It’s a Fad.
The second is a portrait of Abraham Lincoln, titled Honestly, and the third shows an image of Stephen Hawking in his wheelchair, titled, No, Seriously.
“These posters are contemporary and design-oriented. I attempt to bring humor and stimulate thought,” Brockman said. “As all art, it means different things to every viewer and is therefore difficult to define.
“Thanks to computer art technology, I can make a living doing what I love. I’m hoping to share my work with more people, and seeing people’s reactions to my work is always rewarding,” he says.
Another artist whose work will be in the show is Jorge Marquez, 28, of West Palm Beach. Marquez has a bachelor’s degree in graphic arts and works as an art director for a lifestyle magazine. He primarily creates large abstract canvases with acrylics and a spatula, and says he is heavily influenced by his former teacher in Colombia, Adriana Gomez.
“I like to work with different mediums and be versatile,” Marquez said. “For many of us young artists who don’t live in Miami, this show is a way for us to connect with each other and create a community of like-minded artists.”
Next Wave: Emerging Young Artists opens Friday and runs through Sept. 1 at the Lighthouse ArtCenter, Gallery Square North, 373 Tequesta Drive, Tequesta. Museum hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 10 a.m.-2 p.m., with free admission. For more information, visit www.lighthousearts.org or call (561) 746-3101.