Are You Seeing What I'm Seeing?

Exhibition Schedule: January 16 through March 29, 2026
Opening Reception: Friday, January 16 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM, doors open at 6:00PM
(MBAC will be CLOSED from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM the day of the Opening Reception, regular gallery hours will resume January 17, 2026)

The Manhattan Beach Art Center (MBAC) is proud to present “Are You Seeing What I’m Seeing?”—an exhibition that investigates the generative relationship between written language and visual expression. Co-curated with Bondo Wyszpolski and Bernard Fallon, the project brings together 35 artists, each creating new work in response to a brief textual prompt drawn from themes including nature, mythology, animals, seascapes, urban environments, and more. 

For more than three decades, Wyszpolski has chronicled the creative life of the South Bay—most notably through his extensive coverage for the Easy Reader and Peninsula Magazine—cultivating deep relationships with regional artists. Building on this legacy, he crafted and distributed the written prompts, inviting artists to translate his language into visual form. These concise descriptions act as catalysts—akin to stage directions or conceptual cues—sparking interpretation rather than prescribing outcome.

At its core, the exhibition explores how artists navigate the movement from text to image: how words can evoke atmosphere, narrative, or emotional resonance, and how individual perception shapes distinct interpretive trajectories. Although all artists begin with similarly structured prompts, the resulting works diverge widely, revealing the multiplicity of visual reasoning that a single phrase can inspire.

The process of transformation is intentionally open-ended. The prompts serve not as instructions but as points of departure, allowing room for intuition, experimentation, and conceptual play. Artists respond through a range of media, reflecting both the artist’s practice and the internal image or sensation elicited by the text. Taken together, these works form a study in creative heterogeneity, demonstrating how minimal language can generate expansive and unexpected visual possibilities.

“Are You Seeing What I’m Seeing?” is on view at the Manhattan Beach Art Center (1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Manhattan Beach, CA) from January 16 through March 29, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Friday, January 16, 2026 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. 

About Manhattan Beach Art Center:  The Manhattan Beach Art Center stands as a vibrant platform for artistic exploration and community engagement. Through exhibitions, workshops, and events, the center enriches the cultural fabric of Manhattan Beach and its surrounding areas

MBAC Gallery Hours:

1560 Manhattan Beach Boulevard
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
(310) 802-5440
Email
Monday through Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday through Thursday: 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM
Friday through Sunday: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Closed for holidays, installation and deinstallation.