The paintings of Roger Shimomura pack a visual knockout punch. They are loaded with imagery ranging from pure Pop Americana to cringe-worthy racial stereotypes, visual puns, humor, and barbed wire. Shimomura’s complex pairing of influences is masterfully composed and depicted in bold flat color and confident line. The thought-provoking content is filtered through the lens of his personal experience as an American of Japanese heritage.

As a child, Shimomura was imprisoned, along with his family, in Minidoka (Idaho), one of ten concentration camps for Japanese Americans during WWII. The long-lasting impact of that experience and the subsequent reckoning with what it means to be an American have provoked and sustained Shimomura over his career, spanning more than fifty years.

Shimomura’s most recent exhibition American Muse at Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art consisted of more than 100 paintings from three series, The Great American Muse, Minidoka and Beyond, and Muslims and More. These three series of paintings offer visual stories of our time and serve as a metaphor for the anxiety and threat posed by current events. The paintings sound a warning and remind us not to repeat past mistakes. If paintings can effect social change, then these are the paintings that lead the way.

Roger Shimomura is in the permanent collections of over 125 museums nationwide including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of American Art, National Portrait Gallery, LA County Museum and American Art Museum, Smithsonian. His personal papers and letters are being collected by the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.

A pentimento is the reappearance of an original painting or drawing that has been painted over by the artist.

You may have heard of the pentimento that was found under the Mona Lisa, giving new information about the most famous painting in the world.

As I have been in the process of simplifying my work, I find that there is much more going on that is unseen. I believe painting is a series of adjustments no matter what the subject matter or lack thereof.

Continuous change occurs until the painting says we are done. My job as artist is to know when to stop.

Take time to look…there is more than first meets the eye.

Rainey received he first art award 52 years ago and since has attended Anderson Ranch Arts Center, Snowmass Village, CO and the Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts, Masters Program. Represented exclusively by Blue Gallery since 2000, William Rainey’s paintings can be found in private and corporate collections worldwide. Select corporate collectors include; Shook, Hardy & Bacon, Kansas City, MO, Data Systems International, Kansas City, MO, Restaurant Management Company, Wichita, KS, Missouri Bank, Kansas City, MO, Lanard Toys Ltd., Hong Kong, and The Conafay Group, Washington, DC.

Belger Crane Yard Gallery presents Holidays at the Belger Crane Yard Gallery opening Friday, November 4 at 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108. The exhibition will remain on view through December 31, 2022.

Holidays at the Belger Crane Yard Gallery is an annual tradition. Artists from across the country are invited to create artwork for the holiday season that make the perfect gifts for family and friends. Shoppers can choose from an array of unique ceramics, glass, metal, and more. Artworks will be available for purchase through December 31, 2022.

This year’s artists include Rachel Akin, Miguel Alaniz, Nicole Aquillano, Ian Bassett, Conner Burns, Mike Cerv, Kate Clements, Josh Dickens, Chris Dufala, Genevieve Flynn, Annette Gates, Josh Goering, Bianka Groves, Pierce Haley, Katie Hogan, Annie Honn, Brian Horsch, Nell Hull, Tyler Kimball, Caroline Meek, Jacob Meer, Joe Meinecke, Didem Mert, Kelsey Nagy, Dan Ohm, Brent Pafford, Ashley Pedone, Ronan Peterson, Will Preman (Yum Yum Ceramics), Justin Rothshank, Jamin Shepherd, Lilah Shepherd, Melanie Sherman, Lauryl Sidwell, Amy Smith, Madeline Steimle, Mike Stumbras, Wanda Tyner, and more. For the most current list of participating artists please visit BelgerArts.org.

In an age of unpredictable weather patterns, fluctuating temperatures and rising water one cannot escape uncertainty. I Am Daughter, Marie Bannerot McInerney’s first solo show in Kansas City since 2015, considers the unknowingness of today through abstracted recordings and translations of celestial and terrestrial phenomena in the form of sculpture and installation. The large-scale works are made from materials ranging from handmade paper to cement, ceramic, brass and hand-dyed silks and are inspired by fourth century Orphic totempässes. These totempässes (passports for the dead) attributed to cultic burial practices, are tiny gold foil tablets that provide the deceased instructions for how to negotiate the landscape of the dead.

As our planet faces challenging times, McInerney longs for instructions on how to negotiate the unknown. She states, “While certainty is not in our future, I can recognize the beauty that surrounds me, I can collaborate with the movement of the sun and seek moments of contemplation and wonder.” The works in I Am Daughter consider our position during this moment of anxiety and present meditations on time, reverence and contingency.

Exhibition hours: Wednesday through Friday from 10 – 4pm and Saturday from 12 – 4pm

You’ve seen her work in municipal displays such as the Art-in-the-Loop and Parade of Hearts programs, at Hotel Indigo, Deines Cultural Center, and numerous other galleries.

Shelly Pinto is bringing us a beautiful selection of sacred geometric abstractions to fill the ‘Balt Schaffer Gallery and the front lobby.

From the Artist:

My mixed media kaleidoscopes are a fusion my love of painting and digital art. 
In this body of work I am inspired by sacred geometry. I have applied this study of pattern and its overlapping circles and spirals to connect me to the world. 

I usually begin by finding the center of my circle, then mix colors, cut shapes and merge overlapping patterns. The process of layering and mixing reveals an inner calm. 

My studio has become my place of solitude and meditation. As the world spins with all her chaos, my studio space is where I find a sense of joy that translates to my art. For the finish, I cover the pieces with a clear hard coating of resin which intensifies the colors and protects the art.