LEEDY-VOULKOS ART CENTER FEBRUARY FIRST FRIDAY February 2, 2018 6pm - 9pm |
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New Work from a Strange Year John and Connie Ernatt with John McCluggage Exhibition Date E X T E N D E D through February 2, 2018 MAIN GALLERY John Ernatt has been a painter and sculptor that has been active in the Wichita and Kansas art community for the past 25 years.He is one of the four founding members of Fisch Haus, a place that has found itself at the epicenter of Wichita's visual arts renaissance over the last two decades and has become a cornerstone of the arts community.
The body of work represented in this show is all new, most of it created in the last 15 months. The process of discovery and the development of some new visual language has been both challenging and rewarding. Hand-made frames, unique to each painting, represent his fondness for being in the wood shop, and is a tip of the hat to the utilitarian sensibilities of many of the midwestern regionalist artists that took pride in taking part in every aspect of their work's presentation. Connie Ernatt creates bronze assemblages, that are often inspired from a single found object. Using chimpanzees as a sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant metaphor, she exposes the underbelly of the human condition - love, violence, humor, sexuality, and sadness. There is a hope that we might see ourselves in these works, prone to folly and bumbling in our escapades on the human stage. John McCluggage is known for creating large, unique vessels that push the medium to its limits, experimenting with textures and glazes always trying to make it bigger and better. "For me, so much is about the process and making a strong honest statement. I enjoy seeing how far this medium can go."
John studied ceramics at the Archie Bray Foundation in Montana, an internationally respected mecca for artists interested in the medium. After his time at Archie Bray, he spent two years working with monumental bronze sculptures at a Buddhist retreat in California before settling back in Wichita to teach ceramics and is currently working on building a kiln adjacent to his studio. The three pots included in this show have been co-created by McCluggage and his friend John Ernatt. They are a study in Balance, Harmony and Composition, and have proven to be a rewarding experience for both artists. View and Purchase Online "Grease Monkey Series" by Connie Ernatt |
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Private Narrative: Public Discourse Kansas City Art Institute’s Black Artists Culture and Community Club, BACC February 2 - 24, 2018 Izsys Archer Gerre Barnwell Shontaja Brown Michelle Chan Huey Choe Lizbeth Contreras Shannon Deatrick Faith Hunt Michelle Julmisse Mary Kuvet Isaac Lee Cesar E. Lopez Meredith Lucius Jada Patterson Jason Wang In honor of Black History Month, The Kansas City Art Institute’s Black Artist Culture and Community organization (BACC) is proud to present Private Narrative: Public Discourse. The artwork featured in the show evokes each individual artist’s private narrative about personal experiences and perceptions related to culture, race, and ethnicity, while acknowledging how private narrative is often subject to both positive and negative public opinion and discourse. |
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Robert Quackenbush FRAGMENTS January 5 - February 24, 2018 FRONT GALLERY Two key factors guide my work: My vision of what I want to create in my art and my idea of how I want to connect with the Kansas City art community. My Vision for What I Create
Experimentation drives my practice of making art. I’m fascinated about how things go together: color, texture, geometry, found objects, new materials. And so, I find myself in the arena of innovation, and this leads to invention. Invention takes me into the unknown and the unknown places me squarely in the unavoidable spotlight of risk. And that’s where I have the most fun and experience the greatest challenges.
I am also influenced by the artists who have come before me. I consider the history of art to be a record of progress. A record filled with insights and experiences delivered in a language we each have to decode as we deal with solving the challenges of being creative. All of my work embodies this decoding and that is how I resolve my dreams and ideas into the art that I make.
I continually work on a number of series, each new piece affecting and influencing the work that surrounds it. It’s impossible for me to avoid the migration of ideas and images that flow among my paintings, printmaking efforts and sculpted pieces. The power of the horizon line, the beauty of architectural dimensions, the surprise of a textured surface, the mesmerizing angles of geometry, the unavoidable attraction of a found object---each
an integral part of my ever growing arsenal.
My Connection with My Art Community
A great painter and mentor once taught me not to be afraid of my imagination, and I thank him for that. He also exemplified the trait of generosity, a trait I admire and support to this day. I continually focus on being generous to my students and mentees as they develop their careers. I am responsive to charitable requests, whether that is the donation of a piece of art to worthy organizations or serving on a grant-making panel. I am a tireless advocate for regional artists, be it playing a key role in implementing a Nerman Museum retrospective show for the UMKC/ Handprint Press or helping in development efforts for the new International Residency at the Kansas City Artists Coalition.
I remain optimistic and energetically charged about the opportunity for artists in Kansas City.
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Tempus Fugit Ann Resnick December 1, 2017 - February 24, 2018 OPIE GALLERY Over the last several years, I developed a body of work that was an examination of grief, love and loss. In recent months, that work has evolved into a contemplation of time. In many ways, the two themes are linked. As time goes by, grief is a constant companion and a constant reminder of the limits of time. Now I recognize how little time there is, or ever was, and how much of it I've wasted. Comprehension of this basic fact of life has turned my daily endeavors into an existential exercise. Marking time; keeping track of how long it takes to make or do something, reminds me that there will never be enough time. Each piece I make now will be a record of how my hours passed on earth. Process, media and content have mostly been agreeable companions in recent work. I use a combination of hand-made stencils, spray paint and burned paper to make my work; media that has appealed to me on a metaphorical level for the amount of ash it produced and its ritualistic properties. My current work privileges process over content, using the same methods as previously, but charting a different route. Ann Resnick (b. Syracuse, NY), received a BFA, magna cum laude from the University of North Carolina after studying in less traditional programs in Alaska and upstate NY. Currently living and working in Wichita, KS, Resnick has exhibited throughout KS and MO, as well as NY, NC and Japan. Recent solo exhibitions include Local & State at Steckline Gallery, Newman University, Wichita and Inconsolable at Bethel College, Newton, Kansas. She has been included in numerous group shows including Arts Pure Voice at the Wichita Art Museum, Art on Paper, Obihiro City, Japan, New Growth, KC Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art, and ReGrowth, GreenHill Center for the Arts, Greensboro, NC. She has been awarded both the Kansas Arrts Commission Mid-Career Artist Fellowship and the KAC Individual Artist’s Mini Fellowship, as well as several Arts Council of Wichita Individual Artists Grants. Her work is represented in the collections of the Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita, KS and the Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, NC and numerous private collections. In addition to her studio practice, Resnick operated Project, a contemporary/alternative art space in her studio in downtown Wichita for more than 10 years. |
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