{not} Quiet on the Western Front includes work by west coast artists from the Belger Collection who helped define the Funk Art movement. Funk came onto the art scene like a car wreck with its anti-formalist aesthetic, tongue-in-cheek commentary, irreverent character, and humor. Invoking a sense of cathartic release to the violent times of the 1960s, it was an alternative to mainstream art that made political commentary on war, gender, racial tension, and other social threats palatable. While its point of origin can be traced to 1950s northern California, the attitudes and approaches of Funk artists spread to other parts of the country and lives on in work by contemporary artists today.

Artists in the exhibition include Robert Arneson, Clayton Bailey, Viola Frey, David Gilhooly, Robert Hudson, Ed Kienholz, Ed Massey, Ron Nagle, H.C. Westermann, and William T. Wiley.

This exhibition is dedicated to William T. Wiley, a founder of the Funk Art movement, and a core artist of the Belger Collection. After a long and successful career, which included teaching at the University of California — Davis, he died on April 25, 2021, at the age of 83. He will be missed.

Visual Manna artist Sharon Jeffus will deliver a lecture on African-American artists and conduct two workshops in the New Life CityChurch auditorium for those interested in creating their own artworks. The lecture will be free; each workshop, limited to 15 participants apiece, will be $10 (cash only) to cover materials.

The first workshop (7 PM) will re-create a canvas painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner, and the second one (8 PM) a folk-art painting by Horace Pippin.

There will also be a showing of various artworks by Sharon’s students in the main hallway and youth room of the church.

‘Geheimnis’ is a body of work painted by Kansas City artist Kelly Kruse. It is an extended meditation on mystery, mortality, and glory and is inspired by the book of Ecclesiastes.

From the artist:

Art-making, by nature, presses into the bittersweet sensation of having one foot in a tangible world that passes while having another in the world of the unseen. In early 2018, as I finished work on an exhibition dealing with human suffering and the stations of the cross, it became clear to me that I wanted to do an extended meditation on mortality and transience through the book of Ecclesiastes, which is utterly unlike much of the rest of the Hebrew bible in its tone.

I could never have imagined then that I would open an exhibit of this work on March 8, 2020, just days before the COVID-19 pandemic would dramatically alter daily life in the United States. In the midst of this crisis, there has been a collective wail of loss and grief rising up around the world. We are not living in a time of conceptual instability and loss. No matter what our worldview, we do not need to be convinced that we stand on shaking ground, or that what we thought was secure was in fact just passing.

The voice of the teacher in Ecclesiastes echoes our fears. We will not find hope by burying our heads in the sand, or by clinging to the things that pass away. If the earth is shaking, we need to find something steady to cling to. Through this work, I offer an extended meditation on these ideas, which have resonated in all seasons of history and in any kind of grief or loss. More information about this exhibit can be found here.

Wolfe Brack | We’ve Met Before

Join us for the Opening Reception and Artist Talk for our June exhibition, Wolfe Brack, “We’ve Met Before”

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Belger Crane Yard Gallery presents Reset, Belger Arts annual resident exhibition. Reset celebrates the work of the current Artists in Residence: Elaine Buss, Coleton Lunt, Lilly Powell, Kate Schroeder, Amy Young, and ChengOu Yu.

For the six artists, the past year has been one of reworking schedules, readjusting expectations, redefining “normal,” and reimagining the future, in a world that’s still reemerging. Reset is the culmination of a year in which existence was pulled inward – into the smaller spheres of our homes, our immediate surroundings, and often within our own minds.

Referencing architectural forms, the work of Elaine Buss is driven by intuition and a surrender to natural forces. Her instinctive making process becomes a playful flow between cause and effect. Coleton Lunt’s sculpture cluster explores the notion that ecosystems exist all around us, and how cycles of addition and loss create an ever-changing present state. The work of Lilly Powell directs attention to the often overlooked or discarded objects we routinely touch but take for granted. Kate Schroeder’s light installation draws the eye upward and into an enchanting array of tiny, illustrated worlds. Each ceramic light fixture offers a serene view of domestic life, surrounded by the familiar objects of home. ChengOu Yu’s distorted vessel forms demonstrate how perspective and location can alter an experience and influence understanding. The figurative work of Amy Young delves into the interior of a mind living with PTSD. Through detailed symbolism and intricately carved surfaces, Young gives shape to feelings of pain, struggle, and acceptance.

Belger Crane Yard Studios continues to host national and international artists through its Artists in Residence program. A residency provides ceramic artists the opportunity to expand their body of work or create a special project that may be outside of the scope of their routine studio practice.

For high-resolution images, click here. Artist bios and additional images are available on our website.