Mixed Media 
FROM MIAMI, WITH LOVE(0)
November 30, 2011 —
December 1st through 4th: It’s time for the nation’s hottest art fair, Art Basel Miami, Beach, which draws artists, gallerists, collectors, and others from around the world to a balmy, frenetic art-overdose. Darin White provides an entertaining and detailed look at last year’s fair. Along with a number of other KC/Lawrence artists, he’s there again for 2011.
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‘ARTE Y OAXACA’
In April, two Kansas City exhibitions of drawings by Francisco Toledo brought Mexico City gallerists Armando Colina and Victor Acuña to the Kansas City Public Library for a discussion about Mexican art and Toledo’s work, hosted by Julián Zugazagoitia of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The exchange was a privilege, bringing awareness of contemporary art from Mexcio to Kansas City. Toledo’s Oaxaca base is a city alive with new work and draws Kansas City artists there for inspiration.
FIRST FRIDAY FOLLOW-UP: AUGUST 2011
August’s installment of the First Friday Follow-Up takes a look at M.A. Alford’s work at Beggar’s Table; paintings by husband-and-wife team Chuck Hoffman and Peg Carlson-Hoffman at 19 Below; Waseem Touma’s “Internal Formations” installation at Plenum Space; the collaboration of Mara Baker and Rafael E. Vera at Cara and Cabezas Contemporary; and Jessica McGan’s “I …” series at the Base Gallery.
Loops and Swirls: Nate Fors
Where the diurnal aspect of Nate Fors’ “Lllooppi” is whimsical, almost like a Dr. Seuss creation brought to three-dimensional life, the sculpture by night is far more energetic … but no less playful.
Humanity Revealed: J.T. Daniels
J.T. Daniels mixes more conventional media with everything from spray paint to house paint to colored pencil in his portraits, giving them a fresh, contemporary street-art feeling — while also hearkening back to the Regionalist school of the 20th century in Daniels’ straightforward depictions of his subjects’ humanity.
Summer Sun, Something’s Begun: Susan Wilson
Susan Wilson’s work, part of the group show opening tonight at Images Art Gallery, is infused with warmth both visual and emotional.
Artistic Express(ion): Jan Gaumnitz
Jan Gaumnitz’s “Pony Express” has charm to burn, and a clear regional connection, but there’s more to the sculpture than that.
The Fine, Strong Ties that Bind: Jessica Simorte
Small though Jessica Simorte’s pieces might be, there’s a strength in them which resists any efforts to pat them on the head and dismiss them with an indulgent “Awwww …”
Shadows and Suggestions: Kale Van Leeuwen
Kale Van Leeuwen’s current show continues his practice of providing slick, colorful, light-intensive visuals. But it also offers a new element of bittersweet poignancy … and several ways to approach it.
Views and Visions: Tony Peterson
Tony Peterson covers a wide range of subjects, but the nature of structures and the structures of nature are common threads in his photographic work.
Words in Pictures: Mary McFarlane Espinosa
Mary McFarlane Espinosa’s music is an equal and bittersweet mix of triumph and sadness, exultation and struggle. Her visual art, especially the assemblage work, mirrors that.
The Sun’ll Come Out: Toni Brou
Brou’s work recalls not only folk art, but also the majestic serenity of ancient religious masks and sun symbols. There’s hope here, to be sure, but also the sort of solar power that has nothing to do with photoelectric panels.
A Living Journal: Blake Owings
Blake Owings’ body of work (which includes paintings on skateboards as well as on canvas) is raw and bold, sometimes to the point of confrontation. It’s also possessed of an underlying subtlety.
The Basketball Tapes: Sean Thomas Blott
Sean Thomas Blott’s basketball drawings reflect his struggle to refine his influences and combine them with his own vision. They don’t look unified; in this, he succeeds in conveying the difficulty of finding one’s own way.
One Order of Chaos, Please: Kellie Bloxsom-Rys
Viewing Kellie Bloxsom-Rys’ work is like making a new friend with an offbeat, even skewed sense of fun … and wondering just where the lines between “I’m serious” and “I’m just playing’” are drawn.