Art Roundup: July 30, 2010 to August 6, 2010

Weekly roundup of the best art shows and art related events in and around the Lawrence/Kansas City area.

FRIDAY JULY 30

• Do You Need A Friend To Go With?
Wonder Fair: Art Gallery, Shoppe & Studio
(803 1/2 Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, KS)
Friday, July 30, 7-10pm (Ongoing until August 22nd)
From the organizers: Christopher Bostwick is a graduate of the printmaking department at the Kansas City Art Institute. It was here that he developed his skills as a printmaker but also reaffirmed his penchant for drawing directly on paper. Do You Need A Friend To Go With? features colored pencil and gouache drawings – some as large as 60” x 48”. These drawings take the form of a set or stage, the theatrics of which are always implied, the actors never shown. Bostwick sets the scenes, rife with absurd details culled from a culture of excess and Google image searches. He revels in humorous juxtapositions and complicitous pairings. His drawings become abandoned scenes full of misleading clues to the most banal of mysteries – the everyday.

• Dem Young Arts
Dot Dot Dot Artspace (1910 Haskell Avenue in Lawrence, KS)
Friday, July 30, 7-10pm
We don’t know much about this show but there will be Live Musick Hip Hop (not sure what that means?!) and will feature local artists Matt Avila, Sam Foster, Kyle Longabach, Jordan Moshiri, Josh Snoddy, Alexandra Sova, and Ryan Storck.

THURSDAY AUGUST 5

• Last Splash Bash
Lawrence Public Library (707 Vermont Street in Lawrence, KS)
Thursday, August 5, 6:30pm
This is not an art event, but we love the LPL and everything they do. This bash will include games like Dunk a Librarian, a live performance by the wonderfully fun and lovely duo Truckstop Honeymoon, plus food and more.

FRIDAY AUGUST 6

• Jeromy Morris: Masked Portraits
The Invisible Hand Gallery (801 1/2 Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, KS)
Friday, August 6, 7-10pm
From the organizers: A series of masked, mixed media portrait paintings, with a hint of nostalgia, inspired by an early photographic process. www.jeromymorris.com

• Jeanette Powers: Self-Portrait as the Mad Hatter
Plenum Space (504 E 18th Street in Kansas City, MO)
Friday, August 6, 6-10pm
From the organizers: Jeanette Powers is a graduate physics student at the University of Kansas and a self-taught painter. Her expressionist paintings are imaginative and intense and have been collected for the last ten years throughout North America. She enjoys representing chaotic motion and fluid dynamics in her paint application, without losing the focus of the mind. Portraiture is the mainstay of her work thanks to her belief in the importance of friends and family. www.arttract.com/jeanettepowers.htm

• re:vision quest
The Slap & Tickle Gallery (504 E 18th Street in Kansas City, MO)
Friday, August 6, 6-9pm (Also open Saturday, August 7, 1-4pm)
This show features new paintings by Gryphon van der Hole. This quote directly from the artist’s statement for this show, “gay culture. queer aesthetic. kinky indulgences.”, is all we need to hear to peak our interest. We are not sure if the name Gryphon van der Hole and his photo on Myspace does the same or scares us away. www.myspace.com/gryphons_hole

• Molly Murphy: Spatial Constructions
BNIM Architects (106 W 14th Street in Kansas City, MO)
Friday, August 6, 5-7pm
From the organizers: Spatial Constrictions is an installation of paintings, drawings, text and human hair to be housed in the display windows of BNIM Architects. The show of multiple paneled works will span around the the block of 14th and Baltimore in the urban core of Kansas City, Missouri. www.mollymurphyartwork.com

Art Roundup: July 9, 2010 to July 15, 2010

Weekly roundup of the best art shows and art related events in and around the Lawrence/Kansas City area.

FRIDAY JULY 9

Sonic Youth – Sleeping Nights Awake (Documentary) Michael Albright

• SONIC ORPHANS: Lost Music Films 1965-87
Wonder Fair: Art Gallery, Shoppe & Studio
(803 1/2 Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, KS)
Friday, July 9, 7-12pm
From the organizers: SONIC ORPHANS is a compilation reel of lost and found clips projected on 16mm, mostly silent, of some rare celluloid gems that have been seen by almost no one and have never seen the light of youtube. Most of this footage is truly orphaned film— abandoned, lost, found, and now presented raw without editing. The videos feature The Beatles, Avengers, Huns, Boy Problems, Sonic Youth, Butthole Surfers, and Johnny Cash. The presentation includes a discussion of “orphan films” as they are called by archivists, a one-night photo exhibit & live local music by Kansas City’s LAZY. $5 at the door.

SATURDAY JULY 10

Wild West Film Festival 2010 Promo Video

• Wild West Film Festival
Liberty Hall (644 Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, KS)
Saturday, July 10, 7pm
From the organizers: The Wild West Film Fest is a 48-hour marathon film fest that anyone with a video camera can enter. We hope to raise money and awareness for a good cause while getting people excited about local film making. We provide a secret theme and you have 48 hours to create a working short film – no longer than 5 minutes. You provide us with the short films and we provide you with a great venue, judges and prizes for the winners! Proceeds from our ticket sales benefit local organizations such as Habitat For Humanity, Halo Foundation, and Children’s Mercy Hospital. The judges were blown away by the quality of films this year. Along with the typical gang of local judges, we also enjoyed the company of local comic book writer Jai Nitz. He has written several comics for D.C. and Marvel. He is currently working on Hollywood movie comic tie-ins, such as the upcoming Green Hornet. There will be a costume contest during the festival, the most heroic hero or vile villain will receive a cash prize and a DVD of the films. Tickets are only $7 for general public and $5 for students.
www.wildwestfilmfest.com

posted by: Scott Stewart

Artist Shout Out: Dave Cooper

“Mangle, panel B” oil on canvas

“Fallen, panel C” oil on canvas

Artist statement for solo show Mangle at Jonathan Levine Gallery:

In Mangle,  Dave Cooper presents a new series of graphite drawings on polypropylene paper and oil paintings on canvas, featuring his subject matter of choice—fleshy females. Cooper’s unique aesthetic is informed by his obsession with creating billowy, gelatinous landscapes and stylized women with un-idealized physical appearances. The shapes of these nude or scantily clad figures are often exaggeratedly lumpy, with large heads, bulging eyes, shiny red cheeks and toothy grins. They interact with one another in ways that appear disturbingly violent, suggestively sensual, or both, implying bizarre narratives of perverse scenarios and intense human drama.

Through the challenging, disturbing quality of his imagery, Cooper continues to explore themes of libido, hedonism, body image, fantasy, and ambiguity with refined skill and technique. His process consists of building thin layers of sheer color and fine glaze to create smooth texture and translucent opulence to the round contours of his full-figured subjects and their surrounding environments. By applying details traditionally regarded as undesirable physical characteristics such as veiny skin, ruddy complexion and cellulite to every plump, dimpled fold of flab, Cooper’s paintings expose the artist’s admiration and fascination with the natural curves of the feminine form in zaftig proportions, beyond conventional health or beauty standards.

Mangle runs until July 24, 2010.

“Wrestling” oil on canvas

“Eye/Boob Suck” oil on canvas

Artist Bio:

Dave Cooper was born in 1967 in a small fishing village in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is currently based in Ottawa, with his wife and two children. Cooper is a self-taught artist, inspired by artistic mentors in his youth. He enjoyed a successful career in the American underground comic scene of the late 1990’s as the author/illustrator of award-winning graphic novels and as a designer, producer, and creator in the field of animation. In 2003, the artist decided to focus his energies on oil painting and refining his fine art. In the years since, his artwork has been exhibited at galleries in New York, Los Angeles and Paris. He has released two books featuring his oil paintings and a third is on the way, with introductions written by Hollywood celebrity collectors including comedic actor David Cross, as well as filmmakers David Cronenberg and Oscar-nominated writer/director of Pan’s Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro.

See more of Cooper’s work here

posted by: Harold Johns III

Art Roundup: July 2, 2010 to July 8, 2010

Weekly roundup of the best art shows and art related events in and around the Lawrence/Kansas City area. First Fridays in the KC Crossroads Arts District this week. Between the BBQ, beer and bottle-rockets check out some new art.

FRIDAY JULY 2

• Xx Chromosome
The Blue Gallery (118 Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, MO)
Friday, June 2, 6pm
A wide variety of styles focused on the subject of womanhood. Artwork created by this all female group featuring Shannon Gaines Bowman, Jennifer Walker, Jane Almirall, Jes Owings, Kelley Seda, Melinda Wallace and Sandi Devenny.

Speak Salon Studio

• Maria Calderon Andean Highlands: Before the thread hits the loom
Speak Salon Studio (327 1/2 Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, MO)
Friday, July 2, 6-10pm
Maria Calderon is a painter, fashion photographer, and yoga instructor. She is showing new burlap pieces painted with acrylic. Also Early Jewelry and two vintage clothing dealers.
www.mariacalderon.com

• Immovable Axioms
2631 Gallery (2631 Holmes in Kansas City, MO)
Friday, July 2, 5-10pm
Limited edition prints, zines, drinks and music at this group show. Featuring paintings from a small mix of illustrators and graphic designers up for the month of July. Luke Rocha, Adrian Halpern, Shane Ogren, Mark Galloway and Hector Casanova.

SATURDAY JULY 3
• Gentle Cycle; With Like Colors
Be Moved Studio (2 E 7th Street in Lawrence, KS)
Saturday, July 3, 7-9:30pm
Soft colors and pleasant compositions are abundant in art by Kelly Clark, Kristin Morland, and Mari Lacure. Spoken word performances by Aaron Storck, Anne Bruce & Jenny
Hoyt, Leralee Whittle & Paul Sprawl starting at 8:30.

Molly Murphy

• Molly Murphy Greater Kansas
The Invisible Hand Gallery (801 1/2 Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, KS)
Saturday, July 3, 7-10pm
Murphy explores Kansas landscapes, a subject matter that fits her style of blushing colors and chunky strokes.

• Lu Vaccaro Past & Present, Pots & Paintings
The Lawrence Percolator (940 New Hampshire in Lawrence, KS)
Saturday, July 3, 7-10pm
Look for the green awning in the alley behind the Lawrence Arts Center to find this gallery. Colorful paintings and pottery from long time local artist Lu Vaccaro. This show runs through July 18.

TUESDAY JULY 6

Alicia Kelly and Andrew Jilka

• Stupid Heavy
The Bourgeois Pig (6 East 9th Street in Lawrence, KS)
Tuesday, July 6, 7-9pm
New works on paper by artists Alicia Kelly and Andrew Jilka. Show runs through July.

posted by: Scott Stewart

Watch: The Making of Mike Stilkey’s “Reminiscent”

Thanks to the Pasadena Library, Mike Stilkey incorporated 5,000 books into his latest installation Reminiscent at the new Hurley Space Gallery.

posted by: Harold Johns III