Moonlight Arts Collective will release Volume I on March 10th featuring new collaborative work from Brandon Boyd, Sarah Hay and Brian Bowen Smith. Upcoming releases also include Filipina multi-hyphenate Heart Evangelista and Saturday Night Live cast member Melissa Villaseñor.
A continually evolving community of like minded artists Moonlight Arts Collective focuses on artists who “moonlight” to create artwork in all forms. This includes musicians who paint, actors who make sculptures, athletes that create photography and everything in between. Moonlight is an expedition in collaboration, showcasing specially curated original artwork exhibitions, unique fine art editions, events, artist talks, interviews, thoughtfully executed community-driven NFTs and digital editions, custom home goods, charity fundraisers and much more, all brought together by a diverse group of “moonlighters.”
Co-founder Brandon Boyd started the collective in a concerted effort to “find the others” as part of his lifelong search to meet other multidisciplinary artists and find solace in his own art practice, regardless of the form it takes.
“There are so many artists who are like me, in that they are known for one thing, but then when they get home into their quiet safe space, they actually branch off into another area of art that most of us don’t really know about. Initially it was a little intimidating to share my artwork on a wider scale, there were some infrastructural boundaries in front of me.” Boyd said, speaking about the concept behind Moonlight. “I deeply wanted to bring my visual art to a bigger audience, and I’ve spent the better part of the last 10 years with some creative partners and we very organically found a way to do it, that is not only fun and exciting for me as an artist, but it’s also exciting for collectors of all sorts. What we’re trying to do with Moonlight is to bring that infrastructure to other artists who have a similar approach to their creativity like I do.”
The collective’s first limited edition print release features the artwork of Brandon Boyd, photography of Brian Bowen Smith and ballet poses from Sarah Hay. The series, Tiny Dancer, includes a set of four different images capturing Hay in motion by Brian Bowen Smith, with gestural painting on top in Boyd’s signature style.
“I’ve known Brian Bowen Smith for almost 25 years and one of the things that he and I have always had in common is our love and appreciation for art and the creative process. Over the decades and amongst countless conversations he and I have mused about collaborating in some visual sense; combining Brian’s photography with my painting, to be sure. Sarah is the perfect subject for this initial foray into painting on photographs as she herself is art in motion.” Boyd said of the collaboration.
Alongside Boyd, Moonlight Co-Founders Jen DiSisto and Pietro Truba have worked on thousands of artist driven print releases, arts events and exhibitions, home goods, interviews, digital releases and more. Most recently Moonlight partnered with Aspen’s Snowlodge for their winter art collection, curated by DiSisto and Snowlodge’s Jayma Cardoso. In addition, Moonlight joined Saatchi’s internationally acclaimed The Other Art Fair where Brandon Boyd was the featured Los Angeles artist alongside Ronnie Wood in London, as well as the summer residency at Montauk’s exclusive Surf Lodge featuring work from Brandon Boyd, Norman Reedus, Melissa Villaseñor and Brian Bowen Smith.
Moonlight’s eclectic Instagram page has featured dozens of historic artists, tracing the lineage of “moonlighters” by calling attention to the lesser known visual work of icons like Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, David Bowie, Anthony Hopkins, Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, John Lennon, Yoko Ono and David Lynch, as well as the often unseen talents of contemporaries like Channing Tatum, Alia Shawkat, Josh & Kathryn Brolin, Evan Ross, John Gourley, Noel Fielding, Bria Murphy, Jade Yasmeen, Tyson Ritter and many others. Moonlight strives to continue to shine a light on the creative tastemakers that have a driving force to create regardless of the medium.
In addition to upcoming releases from Heart Evangelista and Melissa Villaseñor, other artists on the horizon include a diverse group of painters, actors, musicians, photographers, models, athletes and more to be announced in the coming months.
For more information on Moonlight please visit moonlightartscollective.com and follow @MoonlightArtsCollective for details about future drops, surprise artists and more in the coming weeks.
Jason Price founded the mighty Icon Vs. Icon more than a decade ago. Along the way, he’s assembled an amazing group of like-minded individuals to spread the word on some of the most unique people and projects on the pop culture landscape.
