Archive for June, 2010
MORE PAIN, PLEASE
The fourth episode of “Work of Art: The Next Great Artist” airs June 30 on the Bravo network, and audiences with local names in the race (such as Kansas City’s Peregrine Honig) have particular reasons to look on. But are the American masses ready to consume that which makes up the artistic personality? Is reality TV any place for making or critiquing contemporary art?
Keeping it Real: Sabrina Staires
One common thread running through all of Staires’ photographs is a complete lack of pretense and artifice; her people and places are who they are, where they are and what they are, and that’s more than enough.
THE ARTIST AS A RELIGIOUS MAN
Brendan O’Shaughnessy’s series of intaglio prints is an open-faced sharing of his spiritual journey and convictions; though most of the works in the solo exhibition are quite literal in their depiction, their direct communication is accessible and also executed with artistic prowess. Visual forms here have bold, communicative qualities reminiscent of works by Modernists like Paul Rand and Alvin Lustig, and the emotions conveyed represent struggles that are universally human.
Perfectly Imperfect: Doug Bowles
The more time spent with Bowles’ colorful creations, the more their seeming faults become the key to their good-natured accessibility and offbeat charm.
Space(s) Traveler: Colby Sempek
Sempek, a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute who is now pursuing his MFA at the University of New Mexico, isn’t interested so much in pure scientific truths as in his artistic and imaginative take on them.
Q&A WITH LIZ SEATON
The associate curator at the Beach Museum of Art in Manhattan, Kansas, discusses Yoonmi Nam’s exhibition and the Beach Museum of Art gift print program. “Yoonmi Nam: Transient Landscape” is on view from June 18 through December 19, 2010. Nam will give a lecture about her work on September 22.
Clip Quips: Bryan Voell
Voell knows a thing or several about strangely compelling combinations and juxtapositions. As a result, his creations manage somehow to be simultaneously beyond-left-field odd and possessed of an inarguable rightness.
The Right Tool for the Job: John Girt
Girt’s work is filled with detail: sometimes telling, sometimes intriguing and always filled with visual interest.
KC GAY & LESBIAN FILM & VIDEO FEST OPENS WITH A ‘HOWL’
The Kansas City Gay and Lesbian Film and Video Festival starts June 25; this 11th annual event brings a week’s-worth of thematically rich and evocative works — including documentaries, animation, world cinema, and original films, not just the big “commercial hits.” It starts with a look at free speech and civil rights at 6:45 p.m., with Robert Epstein’s “Howl,” about Allen Ginsberg’s 1940s obscenity trial.
Questioning Marks: J. Brendan O’Shaughnessy
Don’t expect placid pictures of a serene-looking Jesus and His shiny happy followers. This isn’t an easy, pat, seamless journey, and O’Shaughnessy is unflinchingly honest in sharing it.
DESIGNS ON DISPLAY
Local and national fashion designers show their diverse collections at the West 18th Street Fashion Show on June 12. Read about the 10th annual event, browse a slide-show of featured designs, and weigh in on the state of fashion in Kansas City.
FOURTH/FINAL FRIDAY CALENDAR DIGEST, JUNE 2010
Artists’ talks, public art unveiled, a close look at Monet’s “Water Lilies,” Art of the Car Concours, new work at Cara and Cabezas Contemporary, and an auction of Ugandan dolls adorned by local artists are on this weekend’s agenda, starting Thursday, June 24. First Friday in the Crossroads for July 2 coming soon — yes, some galleries are taking no holiday!
The Art of Inner Compromise: Katie Carruthers
Carruthers might paint from both hemispheres of her brain, but the two sides definitely agree on one thing: It’s got to be colorful.
GHOST-LIKE INTRIGUE IN DESIGN
Patterned-based images created through layering convey the idea of histories, layers of lives making their marks on building structures — marks that fade over time. These works form part of j.m.rees’s solo exhibition, which includes a large central sculpture and one digital media work, on view at the Epsten Gallery through June 27. Join the artist for a talk June 23 at 3 p.m. or on closing day for a visit.
j.m.rees: UNIVERSAL MAN
The journey that j.m.rees has made along his life has been fueled by an expansive passion to learn about architecture, philosophy, literature, linguistics, carpentry, writing, art — and the myriad ways in which these disciplines converge to tell universal narratives. Janell Meador outlines his steps and accomplishments and shares a video studio tour with the artist, too.
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