Art Event 
BATIKS OF FAME(5)
The batik collection of President Barack Obama’s mother, the late Ann Dunham, is on display at the Regnier Center at Johnson County Community College through the end of the week as part of a national tour. Learn more at a free lecture there on Tuesday, March 9, at 3:30 p.m.
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IMAGES FIRST FRIDAY PREVIEW
Selected submitted images for exhibitions opening or hosting events February 4 through 6, 2010.
TEACHERS’ ART
North Kansas City School District teachers show off their credentials in the form of their own art work (as opposed to their students’ achievements and grades), a main mogul behind the Obama image speaks at the Plaza Library, and events, including Kansas City Design Week, continue Thursday. Check back tomorrow for First Friday calendar listings for February 5th.
(ARTKC365) Tales Told in Paint: Jenna Tomlin
Tomlin’s art is worth the drive. It’s introspective and expressive, heartfelt and thoughtful, calming and challenging all at once. And Amanda Martin, Gas Light’s owner and director, has used one of Tomlin’s painting to pull off one of the best presentations I’ve seen in a while.
TEA, STARS, GRAVITY, STONES
Join Samantha Persons for a tea party discussion tonight at the Urban Culture Project Space, a gallery supported by the Charlotte Street Foundation. Besides galleries and studio space, CSF is well-known for its awards. Review is anxiously awaiting the 2010 Visual Artist Award Fellows to be announced tonight. Other current events …
(ARTKC365) Forging Nature: George Rousis
Given freedom and guidance, metal takes all sorts of fanciful shapes under Rousis’ ministrations: from jewelry to sculpture, wall hangings to home furnishings.
(ARTKC365) Reading Into the Lines: Richard Van Cleave
Where others might have seen nothing more than an assortment of cut marks, Van Cleave saw connections: concrete shapes, perhaps, or the frameworks upon which to hang abstract explorations. As a result, things that might have been discarded were reborn as art. Some, like the painting above, are purely visual in their impact. Others amuse (in the good way) … or, in the case of one particularly post-apocalyptic work, haunt (also in the good way).
(ARTKC365) Exposing a World We Often Miss: J.C. Cirese
Taking stock and looking ahead are both good things. But even if you’re not feeling particularly introspective, Cirese’s art is worth a look or several. The Surrealist element is only part of the attraction; Cirese’s skills in composition, and in working with light and dark, provide plenty of other reasons.
(ARTKC365) A Colorful Debut: Doug Whitney at OneVillage a Community Church
Doug Whitney spent the bulk of his working life looking at leaky faucets, clogged drains and rusty pipes. Small wonder that he sought out the beauty of nature when he got time away from the job.
(ARTKC365) A Good Day for Frieze-ing: mariaurora Open Studio at the Livestock Exchange Building
Creyts describes the effect as “sumptuous”, and she’s right. Thanks to the use of a special high-definition lens, a viewer could put out a hand to touch the frieze and almost expect to feel something soft.
(ARTKC365) Resistance is Anything but Futile: Valerie Doran Bashaw at Kaw Valley Arts & Humanities
East meets West. Fiber meets bamboo and dye. Fiber meets bleach and more dye. Light meets pigment, and the two fall in love and make colors. The end effect is somewhere between soft stained glass and diaphanous abstract painting … but without Bashaw’s resist-dyed silk art losing its own identity.
IMAGES THIRD FRIDAY PREVIEW
Images of new and highlighted work for Third Friday, November 20, in conjuction with Review’s weekly visual arts calendar digest.
THIRD FRIDAY ARTS CALENDAR DIGEST
Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, is the place to be for Third Friday — including Columbus Park neighborhood and the West Bottoms… but you’ll want to travel south to the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, too. There’s plenty to do and see this weekend and coming week in visual arts. Happy Thanksgiving! Click the image or title to see the full listing.
IMAGES SECOND FRIDAY PREVIEW NOVEMBER
Images of artists’ work from exhibitions opening November 13 — 19, 2009. Click the title or image at left to see more.
SECOND FRIDAY CALENDAR DIGEST
It’s Friday the 13th in Kansas City, and that means KCK Art Walk, a new KCAC exhibition, the 10th anniversary of the Artspace and much more. Click on the image to see our full Second Friday calendar digest and start planning your route.