2012 Baltimore Ave I Kansas City, MO 64108 I 816.474.1919 I Thurs-Sat, 11am-5pm

First Friday Opening
December 6, 2013
6pm-9pm
Corcoran Rainbow, oil on canvas, 48" x 72"
 
Richard Mattsson
 Now and Then

December 6 - December 28, 2013
Main Gallery

 

 

Opening Reception 

Thursday, December 5

5:30pm - 7:30pm

    

Artist Statement

 

I began painting and drawing from direct observation in the early eighties after twenty five years of working more or less abstractly and primarily from imagination. My early schooling at the Minneapolis School of Art in the late fifties, was largely influenced by the psychological and existential forces that surrounded abstract expressionist thinking. I attended the Minneapolis School of Art immediately following U.S Army service in Japan where I was first introduced to Buddhist thought and oriental culture in general. I have only recently come to realize how those early experiences have unconsciously informed my process. Painting has become a form of present and discovery oriented meditative practice. 
 
Initially, my choice of subject matter was intuitive. I began to paint what I saw before me with no predetermined attitude toward the outcome other than it had to feel right. While I don't subscribe to any "isms," I do consider myself to be a formalist with an interest in pattern, color and expressive composition. I try to appropriately respond to the circumstances of my experience in a manner balanced between external and internal observation. The place or situation of landscape appeals to me particularly because it is an ever changing unpredictable event. Painting, listening, dancing, and gardening are all exciting influences in that they all require that I surrender to the forces of life that play in the moment.
 
The fact is, I have enjoyed making both images and objects since childhood. The process has been magical, spiritually vital, and integral to my sense of being.
 

 

Video: Richard Mattsson in Studio

 

 

www.richardmattsson.com


 

 
Bloom, oil on canvas, 72" x 54" 
 
Joe Gregory
All the Same

December 6, 2013 - February 1, 2014
Back Gallery
 
Artist Statement

Joe Gregory Joe is a contemporary realist painter, born in Kansas City, MO, and has been painting since 1997, with his first solo show in 2000. He has shown work in Kansas City and New York. After suffering years of depression, he found his passion in painting - primarily still-life and landscape. His early years have been described as Rubenesque and figurative in nature. His early paintings were larger than life pears - purposefully arranged to mimic human form, voluptuous and sexy. 

His work has evolved from focusing on the flesh of pears and still-life objects, to the flesh of human bodies. Recent work portrays the human figure, more specifically flesh and what happens to our bodies throughout the course of life. This includes natural aging, wrinkles, scars, injury, illness, disease and surgery. This focus is in reaction to the unrealistic portrayal of the human body in media - movies, television and magazines.

Joe's work has always been narrative, whether multiple subjects, or single subjects with props - masks, toys, etc. The masks add an element of mystique and ambiguity which imitates his personal view of his work - being exposed to the world, while keeping the depths of his personality hidden beneath cover. Despite being narrative, he purposefully does not over elaborate, he likes to allow the viewer to interpret his work based on their own experiences. 

Joe's recent work is influenced by Gottfried Helnwein, Jenny Saville, Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Muriel Fogarty, Boy and Wolf, digital print, 10" x 7.5" (edition of 10)

 
KCAI: Undergrads Underground
 
Muriel Fogarty
Alternate Bodies: In Series
 
December 6 - December 28, 2013
Lower Level Gallery
 
Artist Statement

I grew up engaged in stories- playing pretend, reading novels, leafing through comics, and drawing. Currently, I work with stories through suggested character and imagery. Evolving in sets of drawings, I work in series exploring particular characters, themes, or palettes, which invite the viewer to experience the subjects differently.

The drawings are meant to be suggestions of identities or mythologies into which the viewer projects personality and context. Through repetition of minimally described characters and cultures, the viewer can develop personal relationships with the implied narrative of the images.

 

Artist Bio

Muriel Fogarty was born and raised in Saint Louis, Missouri. She is a junior at the Kansas City Art Institute, having received the President's Scholarship, National Merit Award, the Scholastic Arts Award, and Bright Flight Scholarship. She has interned for St. Louis-based artist Cbabi Bayoc and locally at the Nelson Atkins Museum. She is a visual artist inspired by pop surrealism, design, and storytelling. 


 


 

Holiday Show

Kansas City Textile Studio

 

November 1 - December 28, 2013

Opie Gallery

 

 Buy handmade this holiday season!

 

Sale Dates

Friday, December 6th, 6pm-9pm

Saturday, December 7th, 10am-2pm

 

Featured Artists

Kim E-Quilts

Billy Sue Textiles

Collective Individual

Owl & Mouse

Tabbetha McCale Evans

Weird Buttons

Travis Porter

Emily Blodgett-Panos

Julie Wallace

Starship Thunder

Robin's Nest Outfitters

  

 

www.kctextilestudio.com


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Left: It's A Secret, 2013, Monoprint, mixed media, 30" x 42"
Top: Water Under The Bridge, 2013, Monoprint, mixed media, 30" x 30"
Bottom: Big Hair Kind of Day, 2013, Monoprint, mixed media, 30" x 30"
 

 

Heinrich Toh

Momentary Longing

 

November 1 - December 28, 2013

Front Gallery   

 

Artist Statement

 

Inspired by layers of memory, ancestry and pattern, my work investigates the sense of longing and acculturation that comes from travel and relocation. Memories are fleeting with the ongoing integration to my immediate environment,  inspiring me to seek what was once familiar.

 

Contrasting Eastern and Western imagery, my work reflects the layered and overlapping cultural elements while synthesizing memories of past with present. The reinterpretation of Chinese brocade patterns alongside found and family photos informs my sense of connection to my cultural heritage and a lifetime of memories. By creating my own patterned language in the midst of my hybrid-amalgam present, this work embodies that familiar sense of assimilation and connection.

 

My work is hand printed, with multiple runs through an etching press. By combining several printmaking techniques - collagraphs, monotypes and paper-lithography, my work develops into layers of rich color, pattern and imagery.

 

Artist Bio

 

I am mixed media artist focusing on works on paper. Originally from Singapore, I am a graduate from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and the La Salle College of the Arts. I have exhibited at the Wing Luke Asian Museum in Seattle and several galleries throughout the US. My work is in private and public collections, which   include the University Hospital of Cleveland and the Dell Children's Hospital in Texas. I am most excited to be selected for a printmaking residency at the Penland School of Crafts in January 2014.  When I am not making art, I love spending time in the kitchen creating culinary bedlam and I do cook a mean dish of noodles.

 

by Tracy Abeln

 

www.heinrichtoh.com