May First Friday

2016

2012 Baltimore Ave.   I  Kansas City, MO 64108  I  816.474.1919   Thurs-Sat. 11 am-5 pm
 
May 6, 2016
6 pm 9 pm
Confluence

Kansas City & Foshan Exchange Program Series
 
Main Gallery
May 6 - May 28, 2016


 
The exhibition is a continuing dialogue to bring Kansas City and Foshan ceramic artists together to share ideas, techniques and also create new opportunities. It showcases ceramic artists from both US and China in a unique setting.
 
Featured artists:  Sarah Gross, John Hachmeister, Joyce Jablonski, Alice M. Kuo, Jim Leedy, Linda Lighton, Marshall Maude, Kwan Wu, Wei Huang, Xizhao Jian, Min Li, Haifeng Liao, Hongbiao Liao, Kanghua Ling, Kangqiang Ling, Meiyan Su and Zhengyao Zho.
 
Sponsored by: The International Sculpture Foundation, Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, Boling's Restaurant, Davenport Winery, Hyper Tech Computer, the International Relations Council and the Kansas City Chinese Association.
 
 
Kristopher Clark

Back Gallery
May 6 - June 25, 2016


Guided, mixed media on canvas, 44" x 72"

KCAI: Undergrads Underground

Luminous Construction

Kelly Gruber
Rebeka Pech Moguel

May 6 - May 28, 2016
Lower Level Gallery




Rebeka Pech Moguel,  Untitled 3 ,
Inkjet Print, 30" x 26"
Kelly Gruber,  Star Cycle (Detail) ,
Hand Dyed and Woven Mercerized Cotton, 120" x 20"


K elly Gruber and Rebeka Pech Moguel, BFA candidates at the Kansas City Art Institute, are presenting their thesis exhibitions at Leedy-Voulkos Art Center on May 6, 2016.

Kelly's and Rebeka's work utilize a multimedia approach in the reimagination of spaces through light. Their use of light and space ask the viewer for a reassessment of these common terms, allowing them to participate actively in the discussion.

Rebeka's photographs began as an exploration of the domestic environment, and expanded to include an investigation of light as the elucidation of interior spaces. Her work focuses on human perception of light versus the lens' perception. Rebeka's work has cumulated in a body of carefully constructed spaces where the light bulb acts as reference to light and architecture. 

Kelly creates textile landscapes that explore the creation of imagined worlds. Her current body of work blends research on celestial landscapes such as stars, nebulae, and galaxies with her knowledge of textile process. She considers this work to be a form of science fiction. Nebulas and stars are vast and exist in space outside of our own immediate experience. The final work  is a fiction, a world that exists solely in the structure of the fabric.


Artist Bios

Rebeka Pech Moguel is a lens based artist working in photography and mixed media.  She is currently a BFA candidate at the  Kansas City Art Institute majoring in photography and art history. Her work explores a variety of topics ranging from visual perception to more personal subjects concerning cultural and past experiences. Rebeka lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri.

Kelly Gruber is an interdisciplinary artist and aspiring art historian from St. Louis, Missouri. She is a 2016 BFA candidate at the Kansas City Art Institute. She spends her days thinking about art, science fiction, and fiber. Her many influences include Star Trek, the Arts and Crafts Movement, the Bauhaus, and Hubble telescope imagery. She then creates hand dyed textiles that blend her interests in the cosmos and creating fabrics by hand.



Echo
Sabrina Staires
 
Front Gallery
April 1 - May 28, 2016

 

Echo
Sabrina Staires: Echo                  Video by Lisa Marie Evans

 
 
Josey Lee
skin and bones

Opie Gallery
April 1 - May 28, 2016

 

Artist Statement

skin and bone represents wor k created during my first year in the Transform Arts residency program. Ongoing conflicts and discussions across the nation over racial differences led me to themes of vulnerability and longing. My choices in imagery and materials were influenced by the following: the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel's vision in the Valley of Dry Bones (found in the Old Testament text of Ezekiel), the garden-language of the prophet Isaiah, Native American art, and visual patterns in nature.
 
In my art-making I think about the human condition - the psychological, emotional, and spiritual state of man. As I observe people and nature, I seek common threads that bind us together across cultures and generations. I believe these threads consist of our biggest questions, deepest longings, and greatest fears. Through my process of hand-sewing, cutting out, and reattaching materials, I also contemplate God's hand in the cosmic drama of creation, death, and revitalization.
 
My desire is to indicate the existence of hope in the midst of decay.


Artist Bio

Josey Lee was born in Michigan and raised in western Pennsylvania. Her training in art began and developed during her childhood, her mother being her primary mentor. A fascination with children's stories and the natural world served as her earliest inspiration. More recently, personal narratives and her faith as a follower of Jesus have influenced her work and artistic process.

In 2013, she graduated from Penn State University with a BA in Art and Sociology. She came to Kansas City in 2014 for a two-year artist residency program under a faith-based organization called Transform Arts. skin and bone is her debut exhibition. Prior to this, she had her senior show, Introspection, and received a merit award for her work in the 2013 Undergraduate Juried exhibition at Penn State's School of Visual Arts.

Currently, she is finishing her time with the residency program and preparing to move to Philadelphia to develop her career in the arts.