Review

Lesley Dill, "Backhand," oil, wax on photo, 56 1/2" x 47", 1998, is part of "The Strange Experience of Beauty," on view at the Byron C. Cohen Gallery in the Crossroads through March 27 and the subject of a gallery talk February 6 at 1:15 p.m., with Barbara O'Brien, curator for the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. The Cohen gallery is open for First Friday. From Dill's artist statement: "The power of language to affect as private murmur is so varied and complex. I find I often use the same language over and over, and for me, it always seems to mean something different, and something is learned." Image and quoted text: courtesy of the gallery

Lisa Lala, "Sunday," oil on canvas, 60" x 80", is part of a solo exhibition of her work, "Lists," which opens February 4, with a preview and artist talk from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Blue Gallery in the Crossroads. An opening reception is First Friday. "Upon realizing the profound impact listmaking has had on Lala’s life, in the fall of 2009, the artist began to work on her solo exhibition Lists. Lala’s paintings will feature list items pulled from lists donated by the public. 'If painting is like participating in an awake dream that you create yourself, then the Lists paintings have taken me on a journey outside myself — and into the lists and dreams of others.' Lisa Lala also conceptualized and mediated 'The List Wall,' a public art project comprised of 1,000 lists collected from anyone who wanted to contribute." That project is also debuting at the Blue Gallery this week. Image and quoted text: courtesy of the gallery

Mariko Brown, vase, 2009, is featured in a new exhibition of work by Red Star Studio's artists and staff members, opening First Friday with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. "Rising Stars" is the annual exhibition featuring all active studio artists, residents and interns and, in part, designed to inspire others to join a class or start a studio at the West 17th Street location. Image: courtesy of the gallery.

Lauren Cardenas, from "The Things she carried: Homecoming," opening First Friday with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. at the INKubator Press in the Crossroads, along with live printing demonstrations by Benjamin Jones. Cardenas presents a collection of drawings that create a narrative of someone trying to find his or her way home. The artist moved to Kansas City from Albuquerque, New Mexico, where she completed the Tamarind Institute Lithography Printer Training Program, after receiving her BA in painting and printmaking from Southwestern University. "Her current work is inspired by the use of visual language and reception theory. She is interested in the different visual perceptions achieved through the use of recycled books, prints, sculpture and drawing." Image and quoted text: courtesy of the gallery

Donald Doll, S.J., "Kaltag, Alaska — A Saturday night bath turns the Pitka home into a madhouse as Joann Pitka juggles her three sons in and out of the water hand-carried from the river.," giclee print on 100% cotton Illuminata paper, 14" x 20", 1988, for "National Geographic," is featured in "Voice for the Voiceless," opening First Friday with a reception from 7 to 9 p.m. and beginning at 6:30 with a talk by the Rev. Doll. "Doll, a Jesuit priest, was first introduced to photography when he was assigned to the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota and began documenting the life of the Lakota people. His recent project, 'The Jesuits,' has taken him around the world. Doll’s work has been featured in 'National Geographic' and he has written two books about Native Americans. Since 1969, he has taught at Creighton University, where he is a professor of journalism holding the Charles and Mary Heider Jesuit Chair." Image and quoted text: courtesy of the gallery

Jason Sierra, "Corazon de el Muerte," acrylic on canvas, 30" x 30", is part of "Third World Aesthetics," opening First Friday at Plenum Space in the Crossroads from 6:30 to 9 p.m. "Growing up in El Paso, Texas, Jason Sierra began crossing borders early. Crossing back and forth between Mexico and the United States, and being Mexican-American himself, Jason learned that sometimes borders can be fixed and severe, but oftentimes they are blurry or even non-existent. Jason’s cultural hybridity has played out throughout his life as he has spent time living with people of different classes and cultures in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Germany and the Philippines. The cultures that Jason experienced in these countries, as well as the theme of blurring borders can be found in Jason’s art, poetry and music which is heavily influenced by graffiti, pop art, Mexican folk art and political comics. Jason uses different mediums of expression, working in commercial art, graphic design, illustration, poetry and music." Image and quoted text: courtesy of the gallery

Gail Bean, "Night Fire," colored pencil, 8" x 6", is part of a new exhibition of her work at studio b / b gallery in the Crossroads opening First Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. Bean is an art educator with more than 20 years' experience. Currently, she teaches at the Osage City Public Schools in northeast Kansas. From her artist statement: "I work in several styles and will do custom work with floorcloths. They are durable enough to be used in place of area rugs, however they can also be fixed to hang on the wall. My style reflects the diversity that comes with being a teacher, and I am comfortable with abstract, non-objective, and somewhat realistic work. My paintings and floorcloths exhibit similar styles. I enjoy working with colors and their relationships, from subtle change to strong contrast." Image and quoted text: courtesy of the gallery

Heinrich Toh, "Midnight Bloom No.1," monoprint, 22" x 15", is part of "Morning Spring," which opens at the Cocoon Gallery in the Crossroads First Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. Toh, who is a studio artist and instructor at INKubator Press printmaking studio, has exhibited his work at the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle, Washington. His work is also part of the University Hospital of Cleveland and Dell Children's Hospital (Texas) collections. In his newer two-dimensional work, the artist uses "commonly found Asian objects, architecture and iconography (to) form connections to a lifetime of memories. The use of personal photographs along side imagery of Asian artifacts, symbols and Chinese brocade patterns, provides a striking contrast between the modern and historical elements in Toh’s work – imparting a fresh perspective on traditional and contemporary culture." Image and quoted text: courtesy of the gallery

Alex Lovell-Smith, "Untitled 03," from the series "Dream State," framed archival inkjet print, 41" x 22.5", is in a retrospective exhibition of work by the artist opening First Friday from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Mercy Seat gallery in the Crossroads. From the artist's statement: "The project 'Two Twenty Four' and the series 'Dream State' both explore the relationship that the photograph holds to the notion and assumptions we have of reality. As (Thierry) de Duve states, the image is never the actual thing, or the actual event. The photographic image offers the viewer a slice, a frozen moment of the real, delivered to us as a tangible object, something that can be held in our hand, attached to a wall or stuck in a book. However, the event depicted by the image is something that does not exist in that same time or space as the photographic print itself. These two projects are an exploration of this relationship between a place or an event and the photographs produced in feedback to these. All of these images are designed to draw in the viewer; to make them question their ideas about reality within the photographic frame and the long held perceptions of the photograph as an indexical signifier of truth." Lovell-Smith holds a BFA from Otago Polytechnic School of Fine Art in Dunedin, New Zealand and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. Image and quoted text: courtesy of the artist

Marc Leuthold, "Untitled Cone" from "Offering," ceramic, 2010, is part of a 15-year retrospective of his work opening at the Daum Museum of Contemporary Art in Sedalia, Missouri, on February 6. From the museum: "For his exhibition at the Daum, Leuthold has created 'Offering,' a multidimensional environment that will transform the museum’s largest gallery space into “a site of contemplation and wonder,” said (Museum Director Thomas) Piché, (Jr., who curated the exhibition). Leuthold, one of the leading ceramists of his generation, is celebrated for his intricately carved ceramic forms. His practice has evolved from the discreet display of finely sculpted ceramic discs, wheels and cones to large-scale installations of diverse objects and ideas. He is well regarded for the formal and procedural complexity of his work and often praised for his ability to evoke spiritual, metaphysical, or cosmic associations through sculptures and settings that are largely non-representational." Image and quoted text: courtesy of the museum

Hannah Hurrle, "Creature," gouache, pen, archival glue, galkyd oil medium, collage, 8 1/4" x 5 1/2", 2010 — "The creature is a phosphorescent ghost made of deceased dreams and decaying magic. It waits for our return in the underground forest." New collages, illustrations, paintings, sculpture and a short digital film comprise Hurrle's "Escape," opening First Friday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Base Gallery in the Crossroads. The artist has attended the Minneapolis School of Design, where she studied art and music until 2005. She moved to Kansas City in 2008, and at 24, states her influences to include a 1979 Rapid Visualization drawing manual, zine publisher Max Ernst, personal heroine Louise Bourgeois, Edward Gorey, Richard Brautigan, and the Dada collage artist Hannah Hoch. She is currently illustrating a book and planning windows for BNIM's 10 program, to be installed this summer. Image and information: courtesy of the artist

Members of the Shaolin Lohan Pai Lion Dance Troupe, the acrobat Liang Patti, the Kansas City Chinese Music Ensemble, and volunteers from the Chinese School of Greater Kansas City are just some of the people who help make the annual Chinese New Year celebration at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art such a vibrant and interesting evening. Most activities for the Year of the Tiger are February 5 from 5 to 8:30 p.m. There are special talks and activities in the Asian art galleries and Ford Educational Center, along with special menu items in the museum cafe and restaurant and cultural entertainment in the main gathering spaces of the museum. Activities are free. Photo: courtesy of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art