Upcoming Figurative Art Show at the Rusty Lotus Dojo

Happy to be included in a new group show coming up in May (my first since moving to Asheville, NC in September!). The exhibit will feature artwork focused on the human form from artists who have attended the live modeling sessions at the Rusty Lotus Dojo in downtown Asheville. Many of the pieces on display were created directly from live models at these sessions. I will be contributing three pieces to the show (two of which were created on site) which you can see below. Details about the specific dates and times will be coming soon!

“Sunrise” Tripoli, 2019, oil on canvas

“Ren Sakuraba - Rusty Lotus Dojo” Tripoli, 2021, charcoal on paper

“Shauna - Rusty Lotus Dojo” Tripoli, 2021, charcoal on paper

Juanta R Wolfe - "What's a Crown to a Clown?"

Stopped by Newman University’s Steckline Gallery for Juanta R Wolfe's new exhibit, "What’s a Crown to a Clown?"

Informed by identity, race, and growing up mixed, Juanta's portraits are a unique synthesis of street art, cartooning, and cubism - a vibrant and dynamic reflection of passion and life experience.

See "What's a Crown to a Clown?" through February 26th at Newman University's Steckline Gallery, free and open to the public 9-4pm, Monday-Friday

Creative Spotlight - Chuck Dooms, One of These Things is Not Like the Others

Background

Following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s about 5 years ago, I had time on my hands. I started playing around with photos I’d taken by digitally painting over them and altering them using different apps. 

Biggest Influences

My mood always influences my work. And weather. Crazy, huh?

Favorite Artists

Past would include Gustav Klimt, Andy Warhol, and Norman Rockwell. Present would include David Hockney (no one captures water quite like he does), Banksy (I love how he thumbs his nose at the art establishment) and Donald Roller Wilson (I’m a sucker for monkeys wearing clothes).

What Can People Expect at “One of These Things is Not Like the Others?”

A lot of collage work. I’m also throwing in some “Demotivation Posters. I worked in the corporate world for almost 30 years and always found the standard motivational posters hilarious.

Briefly Describe Your Process 

Using photos, I’ve taken or found on the Internet, I start with pictures in a black and white format and digitally paint over them using a stylus as my brush. I then add my subject to a background that purposely doesn’t fit.

What Do You Hope to Communicate?

I want you to smile or smirk when you view my work. There’s no message or hidden message to it. I’m just telling a private joke. I’m providing the punch line. The setup is whatever YOU decide it is. 

Advice for Aspiring Artist

I’m pretty new to the art community. My advice would be to immerse yourself. Jump in head first. Go to art shows and meet established artists. Over the past few years, I’ve met the kindest, most supportive people in the Wichita art scene. Put your work out there. Go ahead and take your work seriously, but not yourself. Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Most important, make sure you support other artists. Be brave and have fun.

See Chuck Dooms’ new exhibition One of These Things is Not Like the Other at L’Image (615 W. Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67213), Oct. 4th through the 25th and find more of Chuck’s work online at https://darla-dooms-vjvh.squarespace.com/digital-art.

Chuck Dooms, “Continuum Glitch”, digital.

Arthur Dove: Reality and Abstraction

“It is the form the idea takes in the imagination rather than the form as it exists outside.”

-Arthur Dove

With The Wichita Art Museum’s Georgia O’Keeffe: Art, Image, Style show taking center stage, it can be easy to overlook some of the smaller but no less excellent exhibitions that the Museum currently has to offer. Alongside Dignity vs. Despair: Dorothy Lange and Depression-Era Photography, 1933-1942 and Hung Lui: Migrant Stories, an insightful display of paintings from pioneering abstractionist Arthur Dove should not be missed.

Arthur Dove: Reality and Abstraction (through June 9th) is concise yet thorough in its curation and provides a fascinating look into Dove’s thought processes from idea to sketch to finished painting. Using oil, watercolor, wax emulsion, & ink, the exhibit presents a pivotal moment in art history – the bridge between reality and abstraction – through Dove’s simplification of form, his luminous use of color, kinetic line & brushwork.

While Wassily Kandinsky was developing a new visual language overseas (of which he is widely credited with sparking modern abstraction), Dove was similarly inspired, regarded as one of the first and most important American abstractionists, deeply moved by our relation to natural phenomena like sunlight, weather, vegetation, and the seasons. Like Kandinsky, he sought the mystical rather than the analytical – the “élan vital” or creative force in all things.

In the larger oils on display, one can see how these magnificent paintings came to be through dozens of vibrant, lyrical studies, distilling the complex, manifold wonder of nature – cycles, growth, renewal – to its simple essence. Although the majority of work on display is small, the scope is universal, profound, and well worth the time. See Arthur Dove: Reality and Abstraction through June 9th in the Wichita Art Museum’s DeVore Gallery.

Creative Spotlight - Luke Bott

You might not know it yet but you may already be familiar with the bold, playful artwork of local designer and illustrator Luke Bott. Working for Mattson Creative and from his space at the Wichita Studio School, Bott creates colorful illustrative designs for a range of clients including some very well-established brands. His work has adorned limited-edition cans of Fanta for Coca-Cola, Simply Balanced products and gift cards for Target, anniversary celebrations for Sesame Street, themed decks of Bicycle Playing Cards, containers of Haagen-Dazs ice cream, style guides for Ghostbusters and more. Highly visible, widely accessible, and often mass-produced, Bott’s work is impeccably crafted and incredibly fun.

Tell us a little about your background

I was born and raised in Hutchinson, Kansas. In 2018, I moved to Hays where I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at Fort Hays State University. After graduating in 2002, I moved to Kansas City and worked at Barkley Evergreen & Partners. A few months in, Bill Gardner from Gardner Design contacted me with an available position and I worked there for 10 years before going full-time freelance. After a few years I joined the team at Jajo, and now I’m currently full-time at Mattson Creative.

Luke Bott “Sesame Street” graphics

What were some of your biggest influences growing up?

Growing up in the 80s, I did a lot of toy collecting — He-Man, Star Wars, G.I. Joe and Transformers. I loved the toys, but the illustrations on the packaging really blew me away. They still do. I was also really fascinated by logos that lived in these worlds. The Cobra logo from G.I. Joe is still one of my all-time favorites.

Who are some of your favorite illustrators & designers, past and present?

Saul Bass, Alvin Lustig, Paul Rand, Abram Games, James Victore, Josh Agle, Peter Max, Mary Blair, David Carson, Mike Mignola, Sanna Annukka, Sanjay Patel, Kevin Dart and Charles Wilkin.

Briefly describe your process. What programs do you usually work with?

I always start with a rough sketch to get the basic idea down. If I’m working on an illustration, I generally get everything solved on paper before I start scanning it in and finessing it, in either Illustrator or Photoshop.

What do you hope to communicate through your work?

Playfulness.

Luke Bott “Simply Balanced” graphics for Target

What advice would you give young designers?

• Just have fun. My favorite pieces I’ve designed or illustrated have come from playing and enjoying the process.

• Make things you want to see and get it out there.

• There is no right or wrong answer.

• Don’t be afraid to try new things.

• Don’t be afraid to fail. Failure is definitely part of the process.

• Keep a sketchbook around. You never know when inspiration will strike.

Where can people go to see more of your work?

Web: www.lukebott.com

https://www.behance.net/lukebott

https://dribbble.com/LukeBott

Instagram: @lukebott

Creative Spotlight: Kamela Eaton

Background

I cannot remember a time when I didn't draw pictures; it's like eating to me - sooner or later it must be done. I am a native of Wichita and a product of Wichita Public Schools and the Northeast Community. I received a BFA in Graphic Design from Wichita State University. Over the years I have lived and worked in Atlanta and Sacramento as an illustrator and graphic designer before returning to Wichita 10 years ago. Over the course of several years I have created a series of fugitive paintings that explore all aspects of my identity. In November of last year I was chosen to create a mural for the Horizontes Project. It is located at the northwest corner of 13th Street and Santa Fe in Wichita.

Biggest Influences Growing Up

All of the great album cover artwork of the 1970’s and my older sisters, Kim and Kandace. Kim, who was a vegetarian/hippie, introduced me to books like “Be here now”, “The Prophet” and “Our bodies, ourselves.” And Kandace, who could draw really well, introduced me to Black literature, art and history. I’ll never forget when we were kids and she drew the Starship Enterprise, Dr. Spock and the cosmos in chalk on our driveway. All of our neighborhood friends, including myself, stood around looking in amazement. I knew then that I wanted to be an artist like her.

Favorite Artists, Past and Present

I have to start with those whose names we’ll never know. They craved, sculpted and painted images of themselves, their gods and animals using stone, wood, and earth. The pre-colonial artists of West Africa. Of course Frida Kahlo, then Rene Magritte, Georgia O’Keeffe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Bill Traylor, and The Gee’s Bend quilt masters. Currently, Alison Saar, Kerry James Marshall, Simone Leigh, Vanessa German, Daniel Minter, Robert Pruitt, Sarah Ball, and Kara Walker, all blow my mind. I could go on and on… I'm just a fool for art!

What do you hope to communicate through your art?

With this body of work in particular I would like to share the “states of mind” that I navigate and negotiate while living black, female, queer, working class and clinically depressed in America. I would like to help remove the stigma associated with mental health, not only in my community but nationally. With my art I would also like to confront and encourage open, honest dialogue concerning the “ills” of the United States. Those “ills” include racism, sexism; colonialism; white male supremacy and privilege; cultural appropriation; classism and heterosexism. I believe that these issues must be brought into the light, acknowledged, understood and accounted for before true healing and recovery can begin. Although I may begin a painting with a clear game plan, as the paint is applied and the image takes form, broader themes of social and universal significance emerge. A good portion of my process relies on intuition, trust and a willingness to maintain open to what the painting wants to reveal.

What can people expect to see at "United States of Mind"?

So, we're not talking a basket of puppies or a gorgeous sunset landscape here. Some may encounter images that they find disturbing or at least confusing, but that's all part of the beauty of experiencing art - to “feel” something. At the end of the day, I hope that the paintings lead to thought, discussion and ultimately change towards a more just and inclusive America. In most of the paintings, I have used gender ambiguous, black (if not in color, in spirit), bodiless heads mixed with iconic objects and subjects from American pop culture, childhood memories, and adult experiences to create a visual vocabulary. The heads play several important roles, on one hand, they represent feelings of detachment, isolation, and disconnection often associated with depression. And as equally important, they represent the African American psyche and others on the margins of society who have been considered and treated as less than whole human beings. Lastly, with the heads, I am referencing my ancestors of West Africa, like the Yoruba of Nigeria, who believed that the human head is the center of character and emotion. My goal is not to capture a likeness of any particular person, but with symbolism and metaphor, translate my personal perspective into a visual language that can be cross-culturally understood and considered. I am particularly interested in the interior spaces within oneself - places in the heart and soul where thoughts, dreams, memories, and beliefs are explored; barriers are dismantled; emotions are unearthed and hopefully, positive change happens.

What advice would you give to aspiring artists?

First would be to draw, draw and draw some more! The more you do, the better you will become. Second, expose yourself to and explore all art that you can, not just what you have been told is “classical” art or the “best” or “highest” art forms. Make your own opinions based on what speaks to your heart and soul. Lastly, don't be afraid to try different mediums, techniques, and tools - just get out there and create!

Kamela Eaton’s “United States of Mind” opens this Final Friday, March 29th, 5-9pm at Cjoy Soulworks, 110 N. St. Francis. See more of her work on Instagram (@kamelaeaton) and at kamelaeaton.wixsite.com

Kamela Eaton, “Stronger Together”, mural

Artist Spotlight - Clayton Staples

Clayton Henri Staples, born in rural Osceola, WI, always knew he wanted to be an artist. To pursue his passion, Staples studied art in Minneapolis and at the Art Institute of Chicago, later teaching at Illinois State University. After exploring world-class museums in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Staples settled in Wichita to develop the Wichita Municipal University’s art program from 1930 to 1950.

During his twenty years of tenure as director of the art program, Staples built the foundation for what is now Wichita State University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. As a direct result of his work, the University was able to hire additional teachers & staff and newly offer its own Master of Fine Arts program, one of very first MFA degrees offered in the United States.

Throughout, Staples was heavily involved in the community, served as a Rotarian, and continued to refine his talents as a watercolorist and oil painter. He spent many summers teaching art in Gloucester, MA painting the surrounding vistas with fellow artists, earning acclaim from critics and enthusiasts alike.

Staples eventually retired to Cuchara, CO, painting the mountains, streams and forests outside his
peaceful cabin home. In 1972, WSU established an art scholarship in his honor and the McKnight Art Center christened the Clayton Staples Gallery just before his death in 1978.

Clayton Staples was a major force in the art community and an important part of WSU’s history. As a final gesture of commitment to art education and the continued excellence of its institutions, he donated funds and a sizable collection of paintings to the University. His legacy lives on in Wichita and beyond.

Artist Spotlight: Kirsten Shannon

Kirsten Shannon is on a roll. After two successful shows at Commerce Street’s famous Diver Studio (2015’s Marks are More Important than Words & 2017’s Rose-Colored Glasses), Shannon made a big splash at last year’s Mark Arts National Abstract Juried Show. Her selected mixed-media painting, a large show-stopping diptych, The 3rd and 4th Arrondissement (Le Marais), wowed visitors and can now be seen prominently featured in Cargill’s new building from Douglas Ave. Once again Shannon is taking center stage in Mark Arts main gallery, this time with an extraordinary body of brand-new work in the center’s very first solo exhibition, En Route, open January 25th – March 17th.

Tell us a little about your background.

I was born and raised outside Portland, Oregon and moved to California in 2000 to attend Pepperdine University.  After graduating in 2004 with a degree in Spanish and Fine Art with an emphasis in painting, my husband and I moved to Wichita, Kansas in 2008.  I had solo shows in both 2015 and 2017 at the Diver Studio in Wichita and have been a part of various group shows. My upcoming solo show En Route opens in the main gallery at Mark Arts in Wichita on January 25th.  It is the first solo show Mark Arts has had and will hang through March 17th.

Kirsten Shannon at Mark Arts - photo by Daniel Drouhard, Colab Digital

Have you always known you were an artist?

I feel like the elements of art have invariably been what calibrate my existence.  The way I view the world is in Technicolor and the color I see is what urges me to create.  That started when I was a little girl: my mom would drive me an hour to the big city to take painting or drawing classes on Saturdays, I would win this and that art contest.  I feel thankful to be able to pursue what has always been inside of me, each day.

Who are some of your favorite artists?

Of course, there are the consummate masters that will forever inspire: Joan Mitchell, Helen Frankenthaler, Clyford Still, Grace Hartigan, Gillian Ayres, and for sure William DeKooning.  Right now, I am digging Cecily Brown, Hyunmee Lee, and Mary Weatherford and the late local legend, Shirley Glickman.

What mediums do you usually work with?

When I am working in my studio, time stops.  Hours pass as color, form and texture build and take shape.  I am drawn to the high density and chroma of oils, especially oil paint mixed with a cold wax medium (its texture is like frosting!), but I also throw acrylic paint, gel medium, graphite, oil pastels, and oil sticks into the mix.  There are no rules!

What can people expect to see at “En Route”?

Those that come and experience my body of work, En Route, will travel with me on a journey.  It has been my journey of discovery in the last few years, but it is now theirs. Canvas laden with chroma reminds of that city or that feeling. The rhythm of the surface begs to be heard.  I am hoping the viewer will partake deliberately, observe, listen and slow down. It is sure to be a rewarding journey.

Kirsten Shannon at Mark Arts - photo by Daniel Drouhard, Colab Digital

What do you hope to communicate through your art? Why do you do what you do?

As an artist, you never arrive.  You never should arrive. En Route is that process.   Journeying into days of digging deeper, of pressing forward, of trying new things, of discovering.  Of knowing that the act of holding the brush and squeezing the paint puts you in direct contact with inspiration through the process itself.  It means falling hard for the physicality of the process. It speaks to aligning yourself with the creator of inspiration and growing in what you’re created to do.  Making headway but knowing the territory is unchartered and always will be. It asks only how you will arrive not when. After all, where will you arrive? Aren’t we all on that journey in some way?

See En Route by Kirsten Shannon through March 17th at Mark Arts, Mon-Sat 10-5pm, follow her on Instagram at @kirstenshannonart, and find more work on her website at https://kirstenshannon.com

Art Moments From 2018

With the New Year upon us, many find pause for reflection on the year that preceded. Looking back at the Wichita Art Scene, you’d see painting, dancing, sketching, singing, sculpting, performing, writing, creating at such a volume it would be impossible to have seen it all before it passed. As a brief litmus to an amazing year, I’d like to reflect on a few watershed art moments from 2018.

Monet to Matisse

The Wichita Art Museum’s Monet to Matisse: French Moderns from the Brooklyn Museum, 1850-1950

From February 24th – May 20th the Wichita Art Museum delighted guests with a tremendous offering of Impressionist masterworks. For Wichitans, this was an unprecedented display of paintings and sculptures from household names like Claude Monet & Henri Matisse, Cezanne, Renoir, Degas, Rodin, Courbet, Corot, Redon, Derain, Soutine; the list goes on and on. A major win for Wichita.

Horizontes Project

Horizontes Grain Elevator Mural by GLeo

The Horizontes Project & GLeo’s largest single-artist mural in the world – in North Wichita!

2018 witnessed a potentially Guinness World Record-breaking mural (the largest single-artist mural in the world!) painted on a grain elevator in North Wichita. Spearheaded by local artist & activist Armando Minjarez and the Horizontes Project, designed and executed by South American street artist GLeo, and funded by the Knight Foundation and local Wichitans, this Herculean collaborative effort is a breathtaking international achievement.

Tallgrass Film Festival

Tallgrass Film Festival at the Orpheum

A jewel of the Prairie, the annual Tallgrass Film Festival had an especially strong 2018 as it gets bigger and better with each passing year. On top of showing diverse and critically-acclaimed films (like the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Shoplifters) the festival brought famed actors like Jim O’Heir (Parks and Recreation), Pam Grier (Jackie Brown), and Martin Starr (Silicon Valley) to Wichita, a testament to its growing status and reach.

Even as a local artist on the pulse, there are just too many incredible shows, events, and projects to effectively sum in one article. Whether its knockout gallery exhibitions like Tim Stone’s – No Middle Ground at CityArts, magical art installations like Linnebur & Miller’s The Surreal Supper, or community collaborations with world-renowned artists like JooYoung Choi (via Harvester Arts & Wichita Festivals), a year in Wichita consistently offers innumerable, singular experiences like these.  

Expansive yet intimate, vibrant and humble – the Wichita Art Scene is thriving and will only continue to grow, strengthen, and shine in 2019 and the years to come.

The Trash Mask

With the recent uptick of spider webs, pumpkins, and general spookiness in Wichita, you know Halloween is nearly upon us. Halloween always serves as a fun and welcome outlet for creativity and in the spirit of the year’s most creative holiday, I’d like to showcase one of Wichita’s singular talents, Libby Wiseman.

Each year, Witchitans undergo familiar transformations: ghouls, vampires, dinosaurs, bumblebees, countless others. While most people limit this kind of self-transformation to the holiday, this is Wiseman’s art, year-round and endlessly novel.

Using make-up, face-paint, and wildly inventive costumes, she utterly transforms herself into artwork. “I've been using makeup as an art form since about 2013,” Libby says. “I remember seeing a magazine editorial and the model had skull face paint on and I thought, ‘this is really beautiful, I want to do this,’ so I did.” 

Around 2001, she discovered a book called "Face Forward" by Kevyn Aucoin which completely changed her perception of makeup. “He used makeup to transform celebrities into other celebrities and I was blown away! It was the first time I thought of makeup as art.” Since then, the support of her family enabled major growth as an artist.

Wiseman’s Instagram handle, “The Trash Mask,” deservedly hosts over 25,000 followers and features a mindboggling breadth of styles, moods, and characters. The name “Trash Mask” is rooted in the idea of impermanence; that this too shall pass: “Makeup, art, my face, me, you, everything. While this idea can lead some people into nihilism, I find that it holds the ultimate freedom, ultimate possibility; you can shape your world however you choose.”

“Makeup will remain my creative outlet, nothing more” she says. “I'm just conveying whatever strikes me at the moment, my emotional state, my excitement over something new I learned about. Sometimes I'm not trying to convey anything but whimsy through my makeup. The world desperately needs more whimsy!”

As one scans through her Instagram (the best place to see her art), this point is abundantly clear: whimsical, inspired, gorgeous, bizarre, disturbing, comforting, mystical; the sheer scope, variety, and success of ideas a grand achievement in itself.

As such, her work is inspired by just about everything: movies, song lyrics, paintings, history, editorials, fellow makeup artists, nature, a line in a book; “I once did a look because I saw a face staring at me in the wood grain on my living room floor. There's beauty and inspiration everywhere, just waiting for us to find it!”

For Wiseman, this is art for the sake of art: “People are often telling me to go to Hollywood or try out for ‘Face Off’… but I have no interest in that. I find that money and stress and ‘having to do it’ completely ruins the creative process for me. Maybe I'll do an art show at some point in the future but I'm not concerned with money or fame or getting my name out there.”

Whether the work is scary, funny, surreal, or beautiful (most often fantastic combinations of these at once), it is always just plain incredible. Follow Libby’s artwork on Instagram at @thetrashmask and if you’d like to help support her work, go to her Amazon Wishlist at www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/AMIKPNQYO4P3. Be inspired, get creative, and have a Happy Halloween!

P A R A D I S A E A

Behold - PARADISAEA! A dance of structural color - records of active meditation. Each mark is self-perfected, forgiving, discursive, astonished, humbled, convalescent, exultant, patient; a bliss beyond words.

Conceived as a whole and worked simultaneously, these paintings were inspired by dreams of iridescence - Birds of Paradise - individual colors ablaze with infinities; the fullness of the glorious spectra of light.

Inside is Karmic Gravity and the Luxuriant Colors of Feeling - Mother Tantra and Her Mirrors - holding-patterns for self-reflection, absolution; keys to inner space. Leave the nest, leap into Mystery, Gnosis, & behold!

P A R A D I S A E A

Cameo Glass in Context: Charlotte Potter and April Surgent

The Wichita Art Museum could be forgiven for resting on its laurels after the stellar “Monet to Matisse” exhibition closed in May. Instead, the Museum gives us another fascinating round of exhibitions including their current summer show, Cameo Glass in Context: Charlotte Potter and April Surgent (on display through September 8th).

Cameo Glass in Context addresses social networks, urban landscapes, and environmental change through Charlotte Potter and April Surgent’s modern approaches to cameo glass. Since its inception in ancient Rome, cameo remains a notoriously fickle medium, making this show particularly impressive. These artists work with extreme care and attention to detail, fusing layers of colored glass, carving with wheels, and etching with acids to stunning effect.

The first major part of the exhibit concentrates on two large installation pieces from Potter. In Charlotte's Web, she weaves an elaborate web of 864 miniature portraits of her Facebook “friends,” arranged according to where they met in person. These portraits are richly varied and the quirky visual shorthand is a joy. Though somewhat fleeting due to its restrictive scale, its charm is winning and its message clear. Pending (Web’s companion installation) is even better, with Potter “challenging the audience to reconceptualize relationships in the digital age, and consider the different thresholds of friendships in our lives.”

Part two of the exhibition focuses on the art of April Surgent. Scenes of urban life and travel contrast newer works informed by months spent in remote environments like Hawaiian atolls, the Farallon Islands, and Antarctica. Surgent’s cities are dense and bustling yet alien and withdrawn; psychological isolation (for better or worse). Her Antarctic travels are especially moving, as beautiful as they are haunting. Throughout, Surgent’s technical mastery achieves such a tangible sense of reality that a work like Portrait of an Iceberg reads more like a window or a portal and might actually drop the temperature around you. While much of this work can feel somber, bereaved, and distant, the human eye receives in each an urgent, timeless plea: to connect, to preserve, not destroy.

To help contextualize the contemporary work from these two artists, fine historical examples of cameo glass from European Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and ancient Rome provide insight and variety including the highlight Aphrodite (1892), a gorgeous plate from British engraver George Woodall.

Along with Cameo Glass in Context, The Wichita Art Museum is host to the WWI era print exhibition Over There, Over Here: American Print Makers Go to War, 1914-1918 (through November 25th), the folksy No Idle Hands: Treasures from the Americana Collection (ongoing), and the Permanent Collection boasting incredible works from the likes of Mary Cassatt, Edward Hopper, Albert Pinkham Ryder, and Stuart Davis. Annual membership gets you unlimited free admission (“Household” is a great deal), discounts at over 300 museums across the country, and the pleasures of some of the finest art in Wichita.

Wichita Art Museum - Monet to Matisse

“Monet to Matisse: French Moderns from the Brooklyn Museum, 1850–1950” is on display at the Wichita Art Museum through May 20th and showcases 59 masterworks from 19th century Paris, a time of artistic revolution that fundamentally transformed the Western art world. In their time, these were works of scandalous genius. Major movements like impressionism, cubism, and fauvism were born here with pioneering artists like Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, and Henri Matisse. The spirit of fearless experimentation, of failure and breakthrough, shines in this eclectic and surprising collection.

Right off the bat, you’re greeted by works from Camille Pissarro and Alfred Sisley that perfectly describe the trials, errors, and innovations of early modernism. Sisley’s plein-air Flood at Moret feels both gainfully naïve and consciously experimental. On its surface you can see mistakes, successes, dips and peaks in consciousness; struggle and clarity played out in equal measure. In Pissarro’s The Climb, a budding cubist perspective can be observed in the work’s multiple vantage points and flattened sense of compositional space. Works like these are invaluable, a delight to behold, and in a title like The Climb, seemingly prescient.

When in the company of legends, works expectedly dazzle with aplomb and grace. Renoir, Corot, and Degas all make standout appearances. Renoir’s The Vineyards at Cagnes is thrillingly alive, lush, and sublime. In Ville-d’Avray, Corot’s light is dynamic and real, as objective as stone yet as soft as a cloud; poetic axiom to his mastery. An enormous Degas understudy, Nude Woman Drying Herself, makes a strong case for impressionist dogma and the (sometimes unintentional/serendipitous) merits of simplicity.

Monet’s Rising Tide at Pourville has been used in much of the exhibit’s advertising for a reason: it is stunning in person. A true gem, Monet’s seascape shimmers in breathtaking iridescent hues and all at once you see where abalone shells get their color. While beggars can’t be choosers, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that this is the only Monet in an exhibition with “Monet” in its title. Matisse, on the other hand, is well-represented in a handful of works (landscape, portrait, and still life) none brighter than Flowers, a gorgeous fauvist work that rounds out the last stretch of the exhibit nicely.

The variety and quality will surprise and delight you. There are wonderful works from Gustave Courbet, Édouard Vuillard, Auguste Rodin, Fernand Léger, Georges Rouault, André Derain, Chaïm Soutine, and much, much more. My personal favorite is a large symbolist work from Odilon Redon, the enchanting, bewildering Jacob Wrestling with the Angel.

The only real complaint I have about the show is the lighting. Comfortably dimmed for an overall atmosphere of quiet intimacy, individual works are illumined from above. A great idea, in theory, this creates severe shadows in practice and a puzzling blind spot in the viewing experience, especially on some of the more ornately framed work (sorry Renoir!). While it is forgivable, in the case of two very small Gabriele Münter studies, the shadows obscure the image in such a way that they might as well have not been included in the exhibit.

However, any criticism I have is met with endless gratitude and support for the hardworking people who make shows like this possible to enjoy. While the show does bear an understandable cost, signing up for WAM membership includes the full ticket price plus gives you unlimited year-round access to all the museum has to offer. In each step through its halls, I feel honored, humbled, and proud. The Wichita Art Museum has been on a roll lately with one knockout exhibit after another reaching a mainstream and critical milestone in “Monet to Matisse.” Don’t miss it!

Feminine Divine

Women’s History Month is an opportunity to celebrate and explore the diverse and historic achievements of women. To increase awareness, equity, and respect, I’d like to use this article to spotlight just a fraction of the creative women in our community. Wichita and its vibrant, singular beauty would not exist without their strength, intelligence, and passion.

Sonia Greteman (Greteman Group) has transformed our city with ingenious design solutions for the River Walk, Nomar Plaza, and Old Town. Patricia McDonnell invariably brings world-class exhibitions and sculpture to the Wichita Art Museum and Art Garden.

Douglas Design District President, Janelle King (The Workroom), breathes life into community-building initiatives like 2020 Vision, LevelUP (July 21st), and Avenue Art Days (Sept. 24-25) which enabled over 50 outdoor murals in a span of three years. Leaders like these are absolutely essential to the progress of the arts and our quality of life in Wichita.

Connie Ernatt’s “Keeper of the Drains”

Some of our city’s most iconic public art comes from women like Georgia Gerber (Douglas Ave. Bronzes), Connie Ernatt (Law Enforcement Memorial, “Keeper of the Drains”), Tina Murano (“Mosaic Waterfall”, Redbud Trail), and Jennie Becker (Botanica’s Chinese Friendship Garden’s “Dragon Wall”); a constant joy for all walks of life.  

Christina Long, CML Collective

Community advocates like Shelly Prichard (Wichita Community Foundation), Kylie Brown (Creative Rush / Horizontes), Christina Long (CML Collective), and so many others all strengthen local bonds with unlimited generosity, drive, and ambition.

Emily Brookover (CityArts), Marilyn Grisham (Fiber Studio), Lindy Wiese (HUE Gallery), Kate Van Steenhuyse and Kristin Beal (Harvester Arts) showcase established and up-and-coming talent, bring acclaimed artists to Wichita, and open minds.

Kathleen Shanahan Painting

Beloved Wichita artists like Rebecca Hoyer, Kathleen Shanahan, Charlotte Martin, and Janice Thacker (Burdine’s Art Box) remain a benevolent force in our galleries and classrooms. Unlike anything else on the planet, the magical Linnebur and Miller (stay tuned for Galactic Yawp!) are a true Wichita treasure.

Everywhere you look, you’ll find countless heroines designing, painting, sculpting, illustrating, crafting, educating, inspiring, connecting; creating. Let us take this time to honor the value and contributions of women in our city, culture, and society. In the quest for greater harmony, as we refine ourselves and our understanding of one another, wisdom remembers the source: the gracious love and power of the feminine divine.

Hannah Scott Mural

Dear Wichita Art Galleries

Dear Wichita Art Galleries,

In honor of St. Valentine, I’d like to take a moment to express how grateful I am for your leadership, generosity, and kindness.

All throughout the city, you are proof of an intimate, passionate, dare I say brilliant Art Community. I get excited to see you, talk with artists in person, and experience works of art. In your presence, enthusiasm and appreciation grows, friendships spark, ideas flourish, and perspectives are explored. The mind can rest. You make it clear what art is all about.

As a Gallery Assistant, I am introduced to local, national, and international enthusiasts utterly (and rightfully) delighted by the quality of art you display. Final Friday is evidence, month after month. Whether I’m cross-country or even out-of-country, your strengths are confirmed time and time again. I may be in danger of bias, but its light on opinion when it comes to Wichita’s talent.

You exhibit real artistry, craftsmanship, and humility; consistent, resounding hallmarks of a sum as great as its parts. The legendary Commerce Street Arts District reflects your rebellious and innovative spirit as it compliments your softer side. Educational institutions (CityArts, MarkArts), artist-cooperatives (Gallery XII, Fisch Haus), and community-organizers (Harvester Arts) epitomize your sincerity and compassion. You spoil me with exhibits like The Wichita Art Museum’s “Monet to Matisse: French Moderns from the Brooklyn Museum, 1850–1950” (Feb 24th-May 18th).

There is simply too much to mention in one letter.

While you aren’t perfect, nobody is. You can be moody (“If you can’t love me at my worst…”), demanding (because you care), selfless to a fault (a marvelous imperfection); but you are more than worth it. From the avant-garde to art’s greatest traditions, in you there is promise: vast, luminous skies, fields of green; tender, loving portraits; the worldly and the infinite. For all of this, I am grateful: the fellowship of artists, community, and you.

Sincerely,

Joshua J. Tripoli

Artist Spotlight - Vernon Brejcha

As a Gallery Assistant, I will often see works of art utterly transformed through recontextualization. Sometimes I am shocked at how much the setting or history around a work of art can change the work itself. Glass art can take this reality a step further. By its very nature, the aesthetics of glass can change dramatically depending on the light and colors around it. With a fresh perspective, a work like Vernon Brejcha’s “Matrix Bowl” can lift you off your feet.

A master glassblower, Vernon Brejcha has honed his skills over decades and remains as studious as he’s ever been. Born in Ellsworth and raised in Holyrood, Brejcha graduated from Fort Hays State University. In 1969, he made a life-changing decision to attend graduate school at the University of Wisconsin where he studied under famed glass artist Harvey Littleton, widely considered to be the founder of the American studio glass movement. Later, Brejcha directed the glass program at KU and even worked alongside the legendary Dale Chihuly.

Brejcha’s art reflects the myriad wonders of nature and the eternal moment of its creation. His interest in glass is rooted in Art History, the philosophical “why” behind the medium’s proliferation. Through his work, he aims to capture the wonder of Phoenician sailors accidentally discovering glassmaking, the nuanced elegance of glassblowing in the Roman Empire; the modern precedent these histories have set. Brejcha’s mastery has placed his work in important collections across the world including the Smithsonian, the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, and the Wedgwood Museum in England.

With the right context, history, and space, “Matrix Bowl” was never the same.

Lester Raymer - Artist of Contradictions

Reuben Saunders Gallery has the honor of hosting a wonderful collection of original Lester Raymer paintings, prints, and sculptures. Raymer (1907-1991), one of Kansas’ most celebrated artists, is sometimes described as an “Outsider Artist,” a relatively uncommon label that inspires a healthy dose of curiosity. Raymer is one of many Kansans associated with the term including M.T. Liggett (Kanza Art Studio), “Grandma” Elizabeth Layton, and S.P. Dinsmoor (Garden of Eden) to name a few.

Terms like Outsider Art, art brut (a label coined by French artist Jean Dubuffet), “grassroots” art, and folk art are essentially synonymous. All are considered to be mostly self-taught or “naïve.” They describe an ignorance, indifference, or inability to participate in the influences of the current pop culture.

As a result, Outsider Art is aloof; often eyebrow-raising, strange, even confounding. Conformity and appropriation are nonfactors. Typically, these artists have limited, if any, connection to the art world at large. Their work can illustrate extremes: mental states; thought processes; detailed, articulate fantasies.

Dubuffet defined art brut as “those works created from solitude and from pure and authentic creative impulses – where the worries of competition, acclaim and social promotion do not interfere.” He believed that to create within the “mainstream” was to stifle expression.

Raymer’s work remained apart, bucking the trends of the art of his time, giving it what some consider to be an Outsider “look” and “feel.” However, Raymer studied at the Chicago Art Institute. He obsessively integrated Art History and its established traditions; the Spanish Masters, religious icons and artifacts, Southwestern and Mexican art. Raymer was neither self-taught nor “naïve.” One foot in, one foot out.

True art is timeless and always relevant. Raymer was operating within the greater arc of Art History. Confident in this knowledge, his paintings, prints, and sculptures are blissfully, willfully, out of touch. This begs the question: was Raymer outside looking in; inside looking out; or something else entirely? Stop by the Gallery and find out for yourself!

How Much is That Painting in the Window?

Consider the story about Picasso sketching at a park. A woman recognizes him and asks for a quick portrait. He obliges and produces a drawing in just a few minutes. She is astonished by the beauty and accuracy of the rendering. She thanks him and asks how much for the piece. He replies, “$5,000, madam.” Doubly astonished, she exclaims: “But it only took you a few minutes to make that!” He replies, “No, madam, it took me my whole life.” There is an inherent value in this kind of refinement: the elevation of art to fine art.

Picasso “Portrait of Olga”

Many factors are at play when pricing a work of art. Market trends combined with costs like materials, labor, and gallery representation play a big role in determining value. Many artists go through rigorous training programs, apprenticeships, master’s degrees, and residencies; their skills are honed every day over a lifetime.  A single work of art may be only one finished piece but can be the result of dozens of preliminary studies and reworkings.

“Salvator Mundi”

Often, the market dictates costs. Sometimes seemingly outrageous costs. Thousands, millions, hundreds of millions. “Leonardo Da Vinci’s” Salvator Mundi recently sold for more than $450 million, breaking a world record.

Brick and mortar galleries endorse and stand behind the work they sell. Some galleries you can walk into and immediately feel like you couldn’t afford anything, but many work to provide options for every budget. Luckily, we live in Wichita, Kansas where the latter is the rule of thumb. Prices can vary from new and emerging artists to the more established and well-recognized, but the simple pleasure of viewing the art in a gallery carries no price tag.

Birger Sandzen

Another element in pricing is the economic principle of supply and demand. The works of Birger Sandzén, one of Kansas’ best known artists, is a great example. In life, Sandzén’s work sold for a fraction of what it’s worth today. Once an artist passes, value and price can increase dramatically not only because of their talents, but simply because they’re not producing anymore. This creates a scarcity, a greater demand, and consequently, a higher price tag.

As such, it is a relief to know that there are always options to help make that special work of art your own. If there is a more expensive piece you really love, galleries will often have payment plans that can make sticker shock less shocking. A gallery can consult with an artist they represent to commission a piece at a lower price point.

Art galleries work to support the arts in a community and will always do the best they can to accommodate your needs, whatever your budget may be.

Holiday Vortex: A Look at the Upcoming Wade Hampton Art Show

The holiday vortex is upon us...Thanksgiving. Christmas. New Years. The annual Wade Hampton holiday show!

The Wade Hate Hampton Bunny Art Show & Sale Holiday Extravaganza opens at the brand new Vortex Souvenir at 1640 E. 2nd St, Friday, December 1st, 6-9pm.

The premise is simple, says Wade: “I draw a bunny or a rabbit every day. I don’t know why. I know they’re not very good. Get off my back.” As heartfelt as it is hilarious, this exhibit is a brilliant example of variations on a theme, 300 variations to be exact. Superheroes, vampires, politics, coworkers, friends, family, (coffee); the fantastic and the usual all have a home here.

Effortlessly reflecting the world around him, Wade is something of a chameleon (*bunnyleon?). His work switches from hate, to love, to pain, to joy in the blink of an eye, often in the span of a single piece. As an artist and designer, Wade understands the importance of communication, simplicity, and empathy. He knows that through humor, complex human emotions (some very difficult to express) can suddenly feel accessible, approachable, and manageable. These bunnies are human; sometimes at our worst, but ultimately at our best.

Although the show is also open December 2nd from 10am-3pm, sales are first come, first served. If you find a work that you like (and you may find a couple), take it off the wall, buy it, and take it home. ‘Tis the season for goodwill and cheer, and the Wade Hate Hampton Bunny Art Show & Sale Holiday Extravaganza at Vortex Souvenir represents the very best of the holiday spirit.

Vortex Souvenir

Vortex Souvenir, owned by Hannah Scott and Kevin Wildt, is new to Wichita and offers curated items by independent artists. Much like Wonder Fair in Lawrence, KS, Vortex works closely with local and regional artists to provide a unique space for gifts, fine art, prints, zines, and much more. From the moment you step through the door, you are over the rainbow. Bold, colorful products greet you at every turn. An intergalactic mural sprawls the entire ceiling. There is a magical (and operational!) pinball machine. An infinity mirror awaits you in the bathroom. Unlike anything else in town, Vortex is a fresh and exciting hub for creativity in our community.

Vortex Souvenir

Unbroken

The power of Emily Brookover’s new show, The Broken Winter (on display at Friends University’s Riney Gallery through Nov. 17th), rests in the restorative powers of silence.

There is a knowing ambiguity in these drawings. The imagery can be fleeting, mysterious, even to the artist. Each work is “Untitled” (but parenthetically descriptive) not for lack of creativity, but to subtly reinforce an intended intimacy between the observer, the observed, and the unknown.

Brookover’s remarkable technical ability is well worth the visit in itself. Masterful drafting describes spare, ethereal landscapes, flora, and fauna. Vacant seats offer rest. Houses beckon inward. Doors (not windows) reflect vast empty fields as pure and white as snow.

The overall impression is like a narrative without a fixed sequence; one of change, consequence, and revival. “Untitled (the water to come)” suggests transformation; eager, anxious, both. A sphere (one can imagine as a portrait) empties and fills, drowns and breathes, lives and dies, in no particular order; all through choice and perspective.

In “Untitled (landscape),” a tightly braided (constricted) ponytail is freed from concept when juxtaposed against the infinite potential of unmarked paper. Space here is a recurring aesthetic device employed with symbolic purpose, cohesion, and elegance.

The work “Untitled (well loved)” (a framed, very well used Derwent drawing pencil), perfectly summarizes larger themes of commitment, sacrifice, and union; literally reborn as the drawings that surround it. In this way, creative and destructive processes are seen as two sides of the same coin.

The Broken Winter is like a broken spell; the rousing warmth of sun on a cold winter day. Rendered with beauty and grace, the sublime minimalism and acute sensitivity feels like Rothko at his most spiritual and O’Keeffe at her most tender. A martyr’s tale; generous and humbling, this is Brookover at her most enchanting. Don’t miss it!