Review

Painting from "Colors of Jazz" series, Mixed Media on Canvas.

Harold Smith
Colors of Jazz

6-9 p.m.
(Opening Reception)

American Jazz Museum, Changing Gallery
1616 E. 18th St.
Kansas City, MO
816.474.8463

Hours after opening reception: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday.
Runs through: May 26.

Artist's site: http://www.haroldsmithart.com
Gallery site: http://www.americanjazzmuseum.com

Talk about timing.

The weather is warming up, transitioning from winter into spring just in time for the opening of an exhibit celebrating a genre of music that runs from icy cool to smoking hot.

Harold Smith's Colors of Jazz opens tonight in the historic 18th and Vine District, with a reception from 6-9 p.m. in the American Jazz Museum's Changing Gallery. And yes, there will be music, with performances by the Paseo High School of the Fine and Performing Arts Jazz Band.

Longtime fans of Smith's work will notice a shift in style, albeit still firmly rooted in his high-energy, color-intensive approach.

There's still plenty of vibrancy in each of his paintings, but several of the newer pieces feature collaged elements (vintage photographs and newspaper clippings) and softer color schemes. The effect is one of acknowledging the passage of time and the long history of jazz, as well as its continued vitality.

Intertwined with the music's history is that of the country that spawned it. The piece above, for example, includes a headline from The Kansas City Call at the time of John F. Kennedy's assassination, making the painting a dirge of sorts for Camelot and the hopes that died in Dallas on that November day in 1963.

There's joy here, too, and pain, and triumph and adversity and passion ... the hallmarks not only of music, but of the lives of those who make it and are touched by it.

Most of my artwork is inspired by jazz, Smith writes. Not just the sounds and personalities of jazz but by the spirit of energy, diversity, and personal expression within the context of group expression that jazz embodies. To me, this is the spirit of life and love. I see each brushstroke and color as a separate note on the canvas converging to create a visual symphony of color and energy.

Can't get much cooler ... or warmer ... than that.

-re-

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