Review

The MOJO Collection
2009 Baltimore, Studio B
Kansas City, MO
816.283.3444

Hours: Noon-4:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday (Noon-9:30 p.m. First Fridays)
Runs through: April 26

Artist's site: http://www.art-simple.com
Gallery site: http://www.themojocollection.com

There's an easy way to find creative people in a group setting: Put restrictions on them. Push for conformity and see who pushes back.

A deeper challenge is to express individuality within a rigid artistic format, be it Irish dance, the cinquain -- or painting on a small canvas or board that's exactly the same size as everyone else's. Twelve inches by twelve inches, let's say.

That's the premise behind Square Foot art exhibitions, the biggest of which takes place each year in Toronto. There's no need to wait for summer in Canada, however. This spring in Kansas City, we have The MOJO Collection's The Square Foot Show, in which Melinda Esmond takes on a dual role as curator and participant.

Esmond has more than risen to both tasks.

The show, which takes up the left rear quadrant of the gallery, is uniform only in the size of its component works. Abstraction butts up against stark stenciling. Color is splashed here, spread in an unbroken expanse there. Rich, almost three-dimensional detail rubs elbows with near-Cubist deconstruction.

Esmond's contributions cover a lot of stylistic ground, from texture-laden abstracts and monochromes to simple numerical studies in subdued tones. Even with that variety, there's no mistaking her work for anyone else's in the show.

Several of the thickly textured pieces, particularly the all-white ones, are a study in hard and soft contrast. They're simultaneously reminiscent of ceramic tiles and of folded, creased or rippling fabric.  The latter resemblance is not coincidental. Esmond, who describes her style as "Urban Organic", has fifteen years of experience in the textile-intensive field of commercial interior design.

It's easy to picture her art in a business context -- which, in its own way, can be as constraining and challenging as any size restriction. Art as an element of commercial decor can't risk giving offense, for fear of alienating the clientele, but it has to be strong enough to set a mood and anchor a color scheme.

Esmond's work strikes that balance. It's accessible without being bland, engaging but not overwhelming.  At any size, that's no small accomplishment.

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