Charlotte Street Foundation

   
In celebration of Charlotte Street Foundation’s 15th Anniversary, Charlotte Street and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art present Charlotte Street Artists’ Walks, a series of tours and talks at the Museum led by Charlotte Street Awards Fellows. At these Friday evening events, visitors will see the Nelson’s collection through the eyes of some of Kansas City’s most exceptional artists as they are led on tours of works in the Nelson’s collection that particularly inspire and resonate with Charlotte Street Award Fellows.In conjunction with the tours, each artist will present a short slide talk about their own art.

Charlotte Street Artists’ Walks

Dates: Friday, January 13 + Sunday, January 15– Peregrine Honig + Mark Southerland
Friday, February 10 + Sunday, February 12- Anne Lindberg
Friday, March 9 – Tom Gregg – tours/talks combos begin at 6 + 7pm – REGISTER NOW (follow link then click  ”in gallery programs” on sidebar)
Friday, May 11 – David Ford – Registration coming soon
Cost: FREE; space is limited so registration is required
Location: Nelson-Atkins Museum

Find all the details in the press release.

Charlotte Street Foundation is pleased to present High Seas, Low Planes, a multi-media installation by Kansas City based artist and Charlotte Street Visual Artist Award Fellow Ari Fish.  High Seas Low Planes is intended to serve as a “temporary temple,” a sacred space for people of all kinds to congregate. Groups and individuals are invited and encouraged to use the space as they wish, including for such activities as a class, performance, sermon, meditation, spiritual practice, ritual, or conversation. Learn how to reserve time for your event!

Opening Reception: Friday, February 3, 6-9pm
Location: La Esquina / 1000 West 25th St. KCMO 64108
Exhibition Runs: February 3 – March 10
Gallery Hours: 12-6pm Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, or by appointment
Exhibition Website: highseaslowplanes.blogspot.com find reservation information, tenets, and events
Special Events: (see the installation’s complete calendar of events at highseaslowplanes.blogspot.com)
Paul Rudy + Heidi Svoboda: Sounds of Neptune’s Homecoming – February 21, 6pm, High Seas Low Planes @ La Esquina                                                                                                                                                                                                           Radical Art Technology (RAT) Ensemble – March 1 + March 6, 6-9pm                                                                                     SWALK Conversation with Julia Cole – March 3, 11am-1pm                                                                                                   Exhibit Sway - March 5, 7pm

The installation will be comprised of multiple projections of computer generated color light schemes, projected from the four cardinal directions onto large swaths of poly-filament “clouds” and sewn vinyl forms suspended from the ceiling. Drawing on theories of color therapy and color psychology, the color projections will work together to induce energy, vitality, calmness, and relaxation. These effects will be furthered through white noise, subtle bell tones and low hums presented in surround sound.  Visitors will be able to experience the installation from reclining positions on mobile scooters upholstered with comfort foam and fabric, or by resting on large, stationary boulder-shaped pillows.

The installation will be open to the public on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 12-6pm and by appointment. Individuals and groups may reserve use of this space for activities and events during these hours, or may request use of the space at other times, to be accommodated whenever possible. More information, a calendar of activities, information about requesting use, and the tenets for the use of the space may be found at highseaslowplanes.blogspot.com.

Read the press release or learn how to make a reservation for your event.

Black Thorns in the White Cube is an original exhibition presenting a selection of photography, prints, drawings, and artist books by eight contemporary artists who are influenced by the heavy, dark, and mystic obscurity of Black Metal music. Following its debut in Kansas City, January 20-March 3, 2012, the show will travel to Western Exhibition in Chicago, IL.

Opening Reception: Friday, January 20, 6-9pm
Curator Talk: Saturday, January 21, 4pm (additional programs and events to be announced)
Location: Paragraph Gallery / 23 East 12th St KCMO 64105
Exhibition Runs: January 20 – March 3
Gallery Hours: Wed, Fri, Sat 12-5pm; Thurs 11-6pm                                                                                                       Special Events: Black Thorns in the Black Box: Experimental Screening- March 1, 7pm, FOKL Center Performance by Boreas- March 2, Paragraph Gallery

Based in the United States and Europe participating artists include Alexander Binder (Stuttgart, Germany), Vincent Como (Brooklyn), Terence Hannum (Baltimore), Karlynn Holland (Brooklyn), Elodie Lesourd (Paris, France), Aaron Metté (Brooklyn), Grant Willing (Brooklyn), and Tereza Zelenkova (London, England). Engaging with the symbols, history, and myths of the Black Metal music subculture, their images explore haunted Germanic forests, descents into the void, visual translations of sonic experiences, ontologies of Black Metal band logos, and barren western landscapes. Together their artwork contributes to the discourse currently occurring in Black Metal theory, examines the innovations and significance of contemporary Black Metal visual art, and offers an account of its critical disruptions.

About the Curator:
Amelia Ishmael is an artist whose practice includes critiquing, historicising, teaching, and curating other artists’ practices. She has shared her gleanings on Black Metal and Contemporary Art at conferences internationally, including the Black Metal Theory Symposium in London and the Home of Metal Conference in Wolverhampton, U.K. Her writings have also appeared in ArtSlant, Art Papers, and Review. She received a BFA in Photography and New Media from the Kansas City Art Institute and a MA in Modern Art History, Theory, and Criticism from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and was an Urban Culture Project studio resident.

Find more details about the show and the artists in the press release!

See work from the show in the online video and check out write-ups from The Pitch + CVLT Nation!

Artist-curators Anne Thompson and Nathan Boyer present an exhibition drawn from the vast archive of the multifaceted painter, printmaker, collector, and comic artist Frank Stack. Stack, who retired in 2003 after forty years as an art professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia, is also the graphic artist Foolbert Sturgeon. He created this pseudonym as a young man, allowing him to satirize politics and religion without running afoul of Midwestern conservative sensibilities.

Opening Reception: Friday, January 20, 6-9pm
Discussion: Saturday, January 21, 2:30pm, with Frank Stack and curators
Location: Project Space / 21 East 12th St. KCMO
Exhibit Runs: January 20 – March 3, 2012
Gallery Hours: Wed, Fri, Sat 12-5pm; Thurs 11am-6pm

In 1962, Stack published The Adventures of Jesus, considered many to be the first underground comic book. He went on to become an internationally renowned graphic novelist, collaborating with writer Harvey Pekar on the American Splendor comics and illustrating the critically acclaimed graphic novel Our Cancer Year (winner of the 1995 Harvey award for Best Graphic Album of Original Work), all the while continuing to produce conventional landscapes, portraits, and nudes under his real name.

With this exhibition, MU professors Thompson and Boyer explore the politics of artistic identity — both Stack’s negotiation of his artistic personae and the artist’s role more generally. The show combines Stack’s traditional work with rarely seen original drawings from his graphic novels, and considers both bodies of work in the context of Stack’s large personal collection of Old Master prints. Works by artists including Daumier address the problems of the artist in society, including the desire for fame balanced against the struggle to maintain creative integrity.

See all the details in the press release.

See work from the show in the online video.

Charlotte Street Foundation presents a KcEMA concert featuring Cheryl Melfi: Digital Reeds. Cheryl brings with her a program of new music including two world premiers of electro-acoutsic music for clarinet.

Date: Saturday, January 14
Time: Doors open at 7:30pm; concert begins at 8pm
Venue: City Center Square / 1100 Main 5th Floor KCMO
Tickets: $10; $5 students

The Missouri Bank Crossroads Branch, 125 Southwest Boulevard, KCMO, will debut four new large-scale commissioned images by Kansas City based artists Jon Scott Anderson and Derrick Breidenthal on its “Artboards” in time for First Friday, January 2012. Installed on the exterior, double-sided billboards rising above the bank, the “Artboards” are the latest installment of Missouri Bank’s Art Through Architecture project. The “Artboards” are visible to the public all hours of the day, and will remain on view for approximately four months.

Location: Missouri Bank Crossroads Branch, 125 Southwest Blvd

Get all the details in the press release!

The evening will feature live music performances by Brad Cox, Paul Rudy, and Mark Southerland, followed by the premier of the video documentary of WE!. See what you missed, or relive what you loved. The evening will conclude with a forum to meet the artists and discuss your experience of the project.

Date: Wednesday, December 14, 7pm
Venue: La Esquina, 1000 W. 25th St. KCMO 64108
Cost: $5 – $10 suggested donation

More details are in the press release!

Charlotte Street Foundation’s Urban Culture Project is excited to announce its first ever Biannual Open Studios Weekend, showcasing the work of artists in its Studio Residency Program for visual and performing artists. The 2-day event will include live music, dance, comedy improv, and cross-disciplinary performances, special sales, temporary installations, workshops, participatory activities, artist talks, and more, highlighting the work of 30 visual artists and 6 performing artists/ensembles awarded free studios for year-long terms through Charlotte Street’s competitive Urban Culture Project Studio Residency Program. All events are free and open to the public.

Dates: Friday, December 9, 5:30pm – 9:00pm
Saturday, December 10, 11:00am – 3:00pm

Studio Residency Venues:
Partnership Place / 906 Grand, 13th Floor
City Center Square / 1100 Main, 5th Floor
Town Pavilion / 1100 Walnut, 6th Floor

Visit theOpen Studios page for more information and a downloadable Open Studios program, including a map, brief descriptions of each artist’s studio, and a complete schedule of events and activities!

City Center Square and Charlotte Street Foundation are pleased to announce the upcoming debut of “AirMail,” a window installation by Kansas City-based artist Margaret Shelby.  To remain on view for approximately one year, the mail-themed installation was commissioned by City Center Square for its south-facing window on 12th Street, just west of Main, through an open call to artists facilitated by Charlotte Street Foundation.  It will be unveiled at a brief public ceremony on Friday, December 9 at 5pm.

The installation relates to the United States Post Office located within City Center Square, specifically taking as inspirations the personal nature of handwritten correspondence, the intimate process of folding and sending a letter, and the person-to-person transport and delivery of this correspondence via postal service.

Read all the details in the press release!

Charlotte Street Foundation’s Paragraph Gallery & Project Space present Augustina Eck (Ann Arbor, MI), Erika Lynne Hanson (Kansas City, MO), and Hillary Wiedemann (Oakland, CA).

Opening Reception: Friday, November 18, 6-9pm
Artists Talk: Saturday, November 19, noon
Exhibition Runs: November 18, 2011 – January 7, 2012
Gallery: Paragraph + Project Space / 21-23 East 12th St. KCMO 64105
Gallery Hours: Wed, Fri, Sat 12-5pm; Thurs 11-6pm

research, n.1

The act of searching carefully for or pursuing a specified thing or person; an instance of this.

At the core of these three artists’ works is a performative process: the artist self-consciously enacting the role of researcher, on a quest for new discovery. In all three cases, the artists are mining for information buried in original source material, which they pursue through acts of close interrogation, re-interpretation, and reenactment.The outcome of this searching takes the form of artworks including photographs, video and sound, sculpture, and installation. Though Eck, Hanson and Weidemann have focused on events and mediums that are disparate, themes of memory, notions of the sublime, perceptual shifts, and landscape connect their projects and form the bases for a conversation among their works.

Learn about all 3 artists, and their projects, in the press release!

Read a review from the KC Star.