Kris Schmolze has been working as a full-time visual artist and musician since 2016. Drawing inspiration from science, technology, and nature. Kris’s recent work is investigating abstract painting through the exploration of color relationships derived from imagery found in the natural world.

_____

It has been quite a year for however long. So many things happened and yet nothing did. Distancing, dying, isolating, masking, vaccinating, and all the while I was creating. Initially, I was paralyzed as COVID-19 kicked off. Elective surgeries were canceled as a fistula festered in between my mouth and sinuses from a botched dental extraction. I was granted two life-saving procedures by a pair of surgeons. My partner, our pet, and I decided to flee Kansas City as mask holes moseyed about.

We found safe harbor with her parents in her hometown for a few weeks until a derecho decimated Cedar Rapids. I had started the architectural portrait in pencil of the A T Averill house prior and painted it post in Grandview for three weeks at her grandmother’s home until power and internet returned. A room in the Averill house became my studio for this artwork and sheltered us from the storm.

Spent the remainder of the summer, autumn, winter, and into the spring working with color and composition wishing to open up into exploring abstraction. Once the new studio space was set up I began building dozens of large canvases just before another surgery to repair my foot from a car wreck. This put me on my duff for several months so I began drawing with alcohol-based markers filling whole sheets of archival paper.

It is usually good to have an idea to explore with your work while searching for multiple answers to questions you find interesting. Looking at images from electron microscopes and images from deep space telescopes I found these tiny and gigantic worlds enveloping our lives while reaching far from the world we live on. I found the coloring choices scientists make of these black and white images fascinating by helping to define these pictures of creatures and landscapes more clearly.

I explored how colors relate to each other through designs and patterns. Warm colors versus cool colors. Positive space versus negative space. The paints I use are fluorescent at times; some glow under black light and most have an ultraviolet light resistance, which allows them to remain vivid for decades. Initially, I was working very tight on smaller canvasses. Eventually, I became more comfortable opening up to the space provided by larger surfaces. Finally, things began to integrate and overlap.

No matter how bad I thought a drawing or painting was going I forced myself to complete it and then move on. Every one of these artworks went through a period of time where I felt it was ugly or not working out. It can be as frustrating as it is rewarding to make art. Not everything you make will be great. As an artist, you do not know how people will respond. Pieces I feel are strongest for me may not be the same for anyone else. You never know until you put it out there. Stopping when things are difficult assures your work will never get better. So why quit if you are behind when you can just keep making art and see where you end up instead?

Join the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center for two complimentary Solo Art Exhibitions by brother and sister Troy and Holly Swangstu, June 4‑July 31, 2021 in the main gallery space. Both artists will be showcasing new bodies of work produced over the last two years paying tribute to Jim Leedy’s legacy of fostering creative experimentation, as well as the artists, own personal histories, educational backgrounds, and artistic evolutions that forged them into the innovators they are today.

Holly’s showcase, entitled, Elemental Intentions, will focus on her signature use of fiber as a painting and drawing material to create evocative colorscapes, coupled with new and exciting divergences in mixed media.

Troy’s exhibit, titled Blankety Blank, Blank, will explore his viscerally expressive and symbolically potent images inspired by the day-to-day rigors of farm life. Troy’s installation will also include a special collaboration featuring multi-disciplinary artist, writer, teacher, and Kansas City institution, Jose Faus.

Both Holly and Troy are heavily inspired by the natural world, but neither allows the objectively referential to dominate their work, instead transfiguring the commonplace through the lens of memory, feeling, and the process of art-making itself. Though bound by shared experience as siblings and the heady influence of early days in the then fledgling Crossroads Art District, these artists have nonetheless undertaken wildly divergent paths. As these two solo shows will make clear, these paths, while sometimes meandering, always circled back to an unwavering core focus, Art with a capital A.

Organizers of Troostival, a Black-owned and ‑operated festival that celebrates the diversity of Black music in Kansas City, and the KC Streetcar are hosting a pop-up show at Union Station on Friday, June 4.

The free show is open to all ages and will take place outside the Union Station Streetcar stop at 7 p.m.

The Troostival Street Tour pop-up show will feature energetic music performances from Brass and Boujee and The Black Creatures from 7 – 9 p.m. Brass and Boujee is a chart-topping, 18-piece, hip-hop big band that also serves as the hip-hop unit of the Marcus Lewis Big Band. The Black Creatures are a dynamic duo representing Center Cut Records.

Local musician Kemet Coleman launched Troostival in 2020 with the mission to unmute Black musicians, celebrate Black creativity, and challenge racial injustice. “Growing up as a musician along the street that racially divided KC really had an impact on me,” said Coleman. “As a longtime community member I felt as though it was time to use music to bring our community together by showcasing the talent that shares a legacy with the rich musical heritage Kansas City is known for internationally.”

The inaugural Troostival was a socially distanced and virtual experience that took place in October 2020. Friday’s popup show is the first of many activations and events Troostival has planned for this year. Another pop-up show is planned for Juneteenth at Buck O’Neil Tribute Park and the second annual Troostival will take place on Saturday, October 2.

Attendees are encouraged to ride the streetcar to the pop-up show and to bring their own chair to watch the performance outside the streetcar stop this Friday. 

June Art Show

Open 6 days a week, 10 till 6pm.

June First Friday Artist Reception: June 4th. 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Show Dates: Wednesday, June 2nd to Thursday, June 24th

Jones Gallery, 1717 Walnut, KCMO. 64108
816 – 421-2111.
https://jonesgallerykc.com/

The Belger Crane Yard Studios Gallery presents After Hours: Belger Arts Employee Exhibition, which opens Friday, March 5, and remains on view through June 5, 2021.

After Hours showcases the artistic talents of the artists who are members of the Belger Arts staff. While Belger Arts (comprised of Belger Arts Center, Belger Crane Yard Studios and Crane Yard Clay) is known for its ceramics exhibitions and programs, the artists who work here represent a range of media, including glass, wood, mixed media and ceramics. The works on view also reflect a diversity of approaches, techniques and themes.

Executive Director Evelyn Craft Belger said, “The artists in After Hours not only creatively problem-solve on a daily basis as Belger Arts employees, they are dynamic artists, as well. The exhibition provides the public an opportunity to see work by a new generation of contemporary artists who also contribute to a thriving arts community.”

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION