Belger Crane Yard Gallery presents Ways to Train Songbirds opening Friday, September 1, 2023, at 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108. The public is invited to the exhibition’s opening reception to view the work from 6 to 8 pm. The exhibition includes work by five artists who are members of the Sticky Gold Collective: Ben Galaday, Padyn Humble, Matt Mitros, Danni O’Brien, and Matthew Wicks.

“There are numerous ways to train birds of prey, yet songbirds are incredibly challenging. Many ornithologists consider songbirds to be exceptionally intelligent but not always the most trainable . . . the same could be said about artists.” —  Sticky Gold Collective, August 2023”

The Collective, formed by Matt Mitros in 2018, includes artists from a range of backgrounds who share an irreverent appreciation for the intersection of craft and art. While the artists do not align to a common theme or subject, they share a quasi-humorous tone and campy bravado regarding material usage and illusion.

Padyn Humble is a sculptor from Montana whose work investigates social norms and the way they influence identity. He utilizes Western iconography and his inspiration stems from influences like cartoons, truck stop souvenirs, and queer pop culture. Matt Mitros uses a visual language of botanical pastiche to depict the emotional relationship between plants and machines. Themes of survival, growth, and metamorphosis are prevalent in his work through visual displays of conflict and celebration. Danni O’Brien’s work is rooted in play, collecting, and constructing and is informed by an education in assemblage sculpture, fiber arts, and ceramics. Her fantastical cast-offs from upcycled materials marry construction and wood working with traditionally feminized and domesticated systems such as stitching, beading, and rug making to compose dually hard and soft objects. Danni O’Brien and Ben Galaday wield nuanced abstraction to engage the viewer with blurred dreamlike compositions. Galaday’s work, however, is a dark counterpart to O’Brien’s flamboyancy. Oscillating between demoralizing and seducing, Galaday taps into the truths of the human condition creating kaleidoscopic approximations of life, death, decay, rejuvenation, and apathy. Matthew Wicks uses kitschy, everyday symbols such as suits of playing cards or domestic objects to subvert ideas of hypermasculinity in Western culture.

Altogether, Sticky Gold Collective questions various aspects of gender, orientation, and societal expectations through a mixed media approach to ceramics, while relieving the viewer of certain preconceived notions that come with “traditional” craftsmanship and material expectations embedded within the canon of ceramic art. This exhibition will remain on view through December 30, 2023.

In Nest: A Collection, we invite you to witness selections of artist Jenna Bauer’s work from 1999 — present. The exhibition includes several distinct styles that have emerged in her work over the years, such as meditative landscapes, abstract process paintings, color grid explorations, and conceptual works. The exhibit also includes reflections of the artist’s daily life, such as a poignant checkerboard installation of to-do lists from the period of time when she was a caregiver for her father. Nest offers an intimate glimpse of the evolution of an artist’s life and work as she has moved through time, and the results range from restrained and thoughtful to joyful and energetic, creating spaces of respite for all who engage them.

Influenzers explores the familiar and yet forgettable of social media. I don’t like social media, yet I’m addicted, just like everyone else. The paintings are inspired by the jumble of images that appear in the algorithm of mindless scrolling, each vying for your attention.

I’m not interested in fashion or flowers, but too often, the same type of styled poses and cookie-cutter images continue to fill my screen day after day. I wanted to address this and pull inspiration from the same subject matter that typically doesn’t interest me, and connect the two together to introduce a new aesthetic and bring interest to the ordinary.

Artist Bio

Jared is a self-taught artist and graphic designer living and working in Kansas City. He has exhibited both paintings and drawings in various group and solo shows throughout the Kansas City area. You can view more of Jared’s work on Instagram @jaredisgreen

Studios Inc’s, SUMMER FUNDRAISER / Selections from Current Residents & Alumni group exhibition is a walk through the history of the Studios Inc Artist Residency Program and features works from an esteemed roster of current resident artists and alumni, including:

Lilly McElroy, Emily Sall, Yoonmi Nam, Peregrine Honig, Harold Smith, Jill Downen, Misha Kligman, Ricky Allman, Barry Anderson, Patty Carroll, Miguel Rivera, Robert Bingaman, Gerry Trilling, Kathy
Liao, Benjamin Rosenthal, HyeYoung Shin, Lori Raye Erickson, Miles Neidinger, Jarett Mellenbruch, Lonnie Powell, Garry Noland, Caitlin Horsmon, Marie Bannerot McInerney, Debra Smith, Judith G. Levy,
Kevin Townsend, Miki Baird, May Tveit, Susan White, Marcie Miller Gross, Susan White, Peter Warren, Matthew Dahaemers, Andrea Flamini, Dylan Mortimer, Colby K Smith, Brett Reif, Jamie Warren,
Elijah Gowin, Archie Scott Goebber & Beniah Leuschke

This is the perfect time to celebrate the history of the vibrant Kansas City arts community and collect works from some of Kansas City’s premier artists. All proceeds from sales directly fund future artist residencies. Studios Inc is a 501 © 3 Non Profit Artist Residency Program serving mid-career artists in the Greater Kansas City Metro. Learn more at www.studiosinc.org.

SUMMER FUNDRAISER/SELECTIONS will be on view through August 23, 2023. Exhibition hours are Wednesday thru Friday 10am-4pm and Saturday 12 – 4pm. Private tours are available.