Review

"Dwight, Edna and Eisenhower," Pen and Ink on Board.

John Sebelius
Outcast

7 a.m.-2 a.m.

The Bourgeois Pig
6 E. 9th St.
Lawrence, KS
785.843.1001

Hours: 7 a.m.-2 a.m. daily.
Runs through: June 5.

Artist's site: http://www.johnsebelius.com
Gallery site: http://www.myspace.com/bourgeoispig

John Sebelius is the son of one Democratic former governor, the grandson of another (who also served in Congress), and the grandson of a former Republican Congressman.

(For the record, they are, in order: Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas' former governor; her father, John J. Gilligan, who both governed Ohio and represented the state in the U.S. House; and the late Rep. Keith Sebelius, R-Kan.)

With a pedigree like that, you might expect the younger Sebelius' artwork to be intensely political.  And if by "political" you mean "populist," you'd be right.

Outcast, Sebelius' show at the Bourgeois Pig in Lawrence, is filled with images of people who often find themselves marginalized in American society — the elderly (as in the drawing atop this post), the working-class and the creative misfits.

Sebelius (who is also a fashion designer and the creator of the board game Don't Drop the Soap) doesn't preach with his artwork. He doesn't have to. Presenting his subjects in all of their humanity — their lines, their wrinkles, their choices and quirks in dress — he gently but firmly confronts viewers with the need to look at people, not through or past them.

And if that makes it a bit harder to bypass the man shivering under a bridge in the rain, glare at the woman who talks loudly to herself in the canned-food section or ignore the person eating lunch alone every day, so much the better.

Sebelius defines himself as an American artist ... but no matter where in the world you find yourself, there are opportunities to see people as people and learn the stories behind their lines.

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