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.