Joe Fig @ The Byron Cohen Gallery

I ate some crow on this one. I saw a birds eye shot of the Jackson Pollock minature in The Star and thought it was real, never having gotten around to actually reading the article I thought it was this artist I had heard about a long time ago who would create Jackson Pollock replicas in front of an audience as performance art. So I'm telling the guys we need to make it to this gallery first to make sure we see this artist in action. Needless to say we got there and the gallery had several little stands with these minatures of various famous artist's working in their studios. The top photo is of Jackson Pollock, the second is of Jasper Johns and the third is Clifford Still. So even though the show made me look dumb, it was still my favorite of this first friday shows. Check out more of Joe Fig's work at www.joefig.com .

Waltz With Bashir @ The Palace

Waltz with Bashir is playing at The Palace in the Plaza. It's a very unusual movie, for one thing its an animated documentary and for another it's only the second ever feature length animated movie to come out of Israel. The film is about a man trying to regain his memory of fighting in the war in Lebanon back in 1982. The movie was slower than I expected but definitely makes you think. It's got a stirring ending, that's all I'm going to say. 

A little piece of trivia for you... this movie has been banned in all Arab countries. I read on the Waltz with Bashir Wikipedia site that there was one underground viewing of this movie in Beruit in January. I would have liked to have heard that group's response to the movie.

Folk Art @ The Belger

My last post was about some folk art on my block. This one is about a Folk art show put together by the Belger Arts Center and those guys from The Rare Visions and Roadside Revelations guys on TV. The show is called Rare Visions - Detour Art and it will be up until May 1st. The Belger Arts Center is at 2100 Walnut Street, its a little knot of warehouses there so you'll feel like your in the wrong place, but keep looking you'll find it. Here are some pieces from the show The flag one is called Big Flag by "Ab the Flagman" Roger Lee Ivens. The headboard is an untitled piece by Jesse Howard from Fulton, Missouri. If you read the family history there, it ends on a rather ruthless/cynical note. From all the pieces of his that I've seen,  he is one bitter old geezer. He died back in 1983 at the age of 98. He did this in 1952 at the age of 67. KCAI has a collection of his work. The last piece was done by Ronald & Jessie Cooper. This show had a whole little room devoted to devil art.

Some creatures on my street

This guy's house is two or three blocks down the street from mine and I just like going by it. That giant metal wrench wall and the different creatures made out of big railroad bolts and spikes and who knows what else, you can just tell this guy is having a great time making this stuff. Still haven't met him so I don't know what his story is, but his creatures seem to be spreading to some of his neighbors yards. They are slowly making it up the street towards my house. We'll see what else evolves out of his garage as the migration continues.

A political piece of graffiti

This graffiti is on the side of the Blockbuster Video on Westport road. I don't know if you can read it from this photo, but the soldier's helmet says Israel on it and the barrel says Gaza. So the Israeli soldier is shooting the proverbial fish in a barrel, (The fish being the citizens of the Gaza strip) while U.S. government tells everyone to ignore what's happening. Sorry if I just explained the obvious. If you agree with this artist here are two websites you can check out www.vivirlatino.com or www.helpgaza.org .

The Other Artspace Show - Obama Posters

In one of the upstairs galleries at the Artspace there is a collection of Obama posters done by artists from all over. Here are the artists for the posters shown above in order from top to bottom: Armando Lerma & Carlos Ramirez (The Date Farmers), Alex Pardee, Ron English, and of course Shepard Fairey. The 15 to 20 posters up there are definitely worth checking out, especially if you are already there for the Chinese photography exhibit. I don't know how long it will be up. So go now!

Stairway to Heaven @ Artspace (Modern Chinese Photo Group Show)

Stairway to Heaven: From Chinese Streets to Monuments and Skyscrapers is the current show up at the Artspace Gallery at 16 East 43rd Street. It will be open until April 4th. This a great group show of various chinese artists doing mostly photography, plus for a change of pace model of The Bird's Nest done in Legos. First photo I have posted here is one of my favorites, its called Laidoff by Liu Bolin, definitely showing that the financial crisis is a global epidemic. The second photo is of two scroll work pieces that are done in the traditional style but the subject matter is all modern: instead of trees and mountains they are of cityscapes, instead of calligraphy its computer code and the red block prints in them are of things like manhole covers instead of signatures. The last photo is a digital print from the Dream in the Deserted Peking series. It is a detailed, manipulated digital photo that is about four or five feet wide. You definitely need to see these in person to really enjoy them.

New Scribe Graffiti

This apocalyptic vision of Scribe's is in the alley behind The Mercy Seat Tattoo Studio near Grand and 16th Street. This is the first mural of his that I've ever gotten to see while he was still working on it. Its interesting to get to see a little of how he works. Isn't it?

Graffiti Faces with guy on phone

I just wanted to put this photo up because I liked it so much. A friend and I were cutting through this alley on the way to Willie's over on Grand near the Sprint Center. I shot a photo of the graffiti with this guy there because he just seem to fit in so well with the faces.

Moving Day Installation @ The Leedy Voulkos

Marc Anthony Polizzi's Moving Day Installation is in the Back Room Gallery of the Leedy Voulkos Art Center. This outstretching structure of bold colored items really dominates the room and draws the attention, but I really enjoyed the whimsical line drawing of trees and simple landscape done in orange electrical cords. I also liked the toy inch worm hidden in the sculpture. This installation will be up until March 28th.Check out this new artist's website at www.mapolizzi.com.

The Leedy Voulkos Art Center is at 2012 Baltimore in the Crossroads district.

Oscar Nominated Shorts @ The Tivoli

Here are some stills from this year's Oscar animated shorts. Every year I try and get out to see the Oscar nominated shorts when they come through town. This year they are playing at the Tivoli in Westport until at least February 19. A friend and I made it out to see them this weekend and they were fun. 10 films one as short as 2 minutes and one as long as nearly half an hour coming from all over the world (Russia, France, England, U.S.A. and other countries). Definitely worth catching, although I liked last years better. I won't say anything about plots or anything that could ruin the experience. Go check them out. One thing I did notice was that there was one film that was repeated from last year's. I wonder if the winner from the year before gets played the following year? Please leave me a comment if you know.

The Tivoli is also playing the Oscar nominated live shorts. I haven't seen them yet, but I plan to before they are gone.

First Friday - Byron Cohen Gallery

February's first friday was a good turn out, especially for a february. Not all the galleries were open and about half of the gallery space at the Leedy Voulkous was closed for maintenance. The Dolphin Gallery has moved and the Kemper is taking over that space but they haven't finished redoing the space. My favorite show of what I saw was the Byron C. Cohen Gallery. The three artists showing there are Ricky Allman, Grant Miller, and Linnea Spransy. The photos above are of Grant Miller's work. 

Here is a statement on Miller's art I found on Imperfectarticles.com :

Grant Miller's current work is a commentary on the complexity of contemporary life - human conditioning, traditions, and how these traditions shape our culture. Often traditions and previous notions are taken out of context and rudimentarily applied to a wide range of situations without note of their original application; previously accepted ideas can become binding expectations , often creating boundaries that are imperceptible to participants. These threads of thought can also act as vessels, carrying tradition's remnants through the fabric of time to influence society.

Check out his work, the show is open at the Byron C. Cohen gallery until February 28.

Sculpture?!!

How often does this happen? Your walking down the sidewalk and there in front of you is a giant twenty foot metal sculpture sitting blocking your way, sitting right in the middle of the sidewalk. On Locust just near Grinder's stage is one of Stretch's sculptures. His studio is near by. I don't know how long it will be there. But it was fun seeing a major sculpture set out by a fence waiting like someone was going to pick it and play with it or something.

The Late Show Gallery

This is a gallery at the corner of 16th street and Cherry. I always liked this gallery because it is so informal... the main floor is more like other galleries, but the owner opens up his second floor which is his apartment. So you are looking at artwork hanging in his living room, bedroom, over the kitchen sink, etc. I can't remember the owners name but I remembered his photo being on the cover of The Pitch a few years ago wearing a tee-shirt saying "ART PIMP" across the front of it. He shows only local Kansas City artists and gives a lot of recent graduates shows at his gallery. When I stopped by this time he was kinda between shows. This upcoming 1st Friday he's got a group show called "Be My Valentine". Go check it out. It is just a couple blocks from Grinders.

More photos of Grinder's West

Checked out Grinder's West

My friend Chris and I went and checked out Grinder's West this weekend. I actually had already eaten when he had suggested it, so I can't say any anything about the food I just had a coke. He liked the food and it was fun checking out the tables. The owner had local artists create art pieces to put inside each of the tabletops. Here are some pics. Go check it out and support local business. The area around this restaurant is pretty interesting too. I'll be posting some more stuff about it later.

Oh by the way it is right next door to the original Grinders on 18th Street.

End of Day-Nightscape IV by Louise Nevelson

   This is Louise nevelson's End of Day-Nightscape IV in the Bloch building in the Nelson-Atkins.  I always liked this monumental piece, but honestly had never heard of the artist, so I looked her up this time around. I found out she was a monumental artist of her time having been photographed for the cover of LIFE magazine in 1958, she has also received a National Medal of Arts from President Reagan along with many other honors. There is so much art out there you can't take it all in, which is awesome. 

   Anyway here is a quote from the artist about her found object assemblages - "When you put together things that other people have thrown out, you're really bringing them to life - a spiritual life that surpasses the life for which they were originally created." - Louise Nevelson

I can't figure out how I ended up with everything underlined or how to take it off. HELP!!!

Restoration Exhibit by Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison @ The Nelson-Atkins

I enjoyed this show of Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison's work. It consists of about twenty prints from from there three bodies of work: The Architect's Brother, The Grey Dawn, and Counterpoint. Seeing a couple of the pieces from each of the series really made me want to see each of the series in their entirety, to see if there is even more of a story to pull from having all of them together and working together. The Architect's Brother pieces definitely feel like you are looking at a narrative, kind of a myth. There interesting to look at on the web and in books, but you should definitely take the time to see them in person, the scale and the texture of some of these pieces add a lot to there impression. I liked the sepia toned Architect's Brother pieces better when I first saw everything on the web, but at the show I ended up liking the newer color pieces better. Go check them out, the show is open until February 8th. Unfortunately, your not allowed to photograph in this exhibit, so these photos were pulled from the web. The top one is called Pollination and the second one is called Mourning Cloak.

"My photographs tell stories of loss, human struggle, and personal exploration within landscapes scarred by technology and over-use... [I] strive to metaphorically and poetically link laborius actions, idiosyncratic rituals and strangely crude machines into tales about our modern experience"   -Robert ParkeHarrison

More photos of "Industrial Sculpture" The Star's old presses

Just some more photos of the old presses.

I would consider this art in spirit of Marcel Duchamp

Here are some photos I shot of the old presses in the basement and sub-basement levels of The Kansas City Star building. These are the presses which started I believe in the 50s and ran until about 3 years ago. I think of them as sculpture now since they have disassembled them to the point that will never run again, but have been built pretty much into the foundation of the building so they will probably never be completely taken apart. I think of them as art what do you think?