Urban Culture Project Presents A GLIMPSE INWARD, 1/7

Charlotte Street Foundation's Urban Culture Project presents A Glimpse Inward La Esquina (an Urban Culture Project venue) / 1000 West 25th,  KCMO 64108. Opening reception: Friday, January 7, 6-9pm (curator remarks at 6pm). 
 
Featured artists: Rollin Beamish (Bozeman, MT), Lori Hiris (New York, NY), John Douglas Powers (Birmingham, AL), Caleb Taylor (Kansas City, MO), Chris Turbuck (Bozeman, MT).
 
Curated by artist Caleb Taylor, A Glimpse Inward presents a group of artists whose works offer commanding views into explorations of the body, science, media, and psychology. Through autobiographical comic books, kinetic sculptures, videos, and paintings, these artists investigate the use of "inner" structures as both literal and metaphorical platforms to generate meaning.  These structures are revealed to include internal conversations, microscopic imagery and social narratives.
 
This exhibition establishes the act of looking as a conceptual focus.  Voyeurism, or the "pleasure of looking," is a key component to how artists gather material and create an aesthetic. The conversation between the artists and audience relies on an interest in voyeurism and asks the viewer to peer through spaces to acquire and process visual information. In A Glimpse Inward, each artist presents works that demand the audience to look within to contemplate and reflect.
 
Related Programming:
Programming will be happening throughout the duration of the exhibition, including:
·      CURATOR'S REMARKS with Caleb Taylor - Friday, January 7, 6pm
·      ARTISTS TALK - Saturday, January 8, 2pm, at which:  
      Rollin Beamish will present an in-depth slide presentation of recent work.
      John Douglas Powers will present his short animation The Collector and slides of recent work.             
 
About the artists:
The paintings of Rollin Beamish depict a landscape of sorts; a location where conventionally rendered "actors" create and participate in a space that he believes is indicative of American culture today.  With his recent Present series, Beamish presents fragmented events in vast spaces where media and social deterioration are occurring.  He is the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant, has exhibited at the Yellowstone Art Museum and is represented by Greusslich Contemporary in Berlin, Germany.  Rollin resides in Bozeman, Montana and is an assistant professor of painting and drawing at Montana State University. http://rollinbeamish.com
 
The videos of Lori Hiris employ a draw/erase process to build narratives that dig deep into the connections of geneticists Charles Darwin and Francis Galton.  In Atlantis Unbound Act II: Proteus, she continues her study of hereditary genetic traits through petri dish-like lenses filled with new cultures and genetic choices.  Hiris has presented her work at numerous festivals including the Ann Arbor Film Festival and San Francisco International Film Festival.  She lives and works in New York, NY. www.lorihiris.com
 
The work of John Douglas Powers places the interior structures of metaphorical objects on the outside to analyze and grasp solidarity in his own past. His use of repetitive, kinetic elements leads to the deconstruction of meaning and therefore questions the essence of specific actions.  Powers is the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA grant, a SECAC Individual Artist Fellowship, and was awarded seventh place in the 2009 ArtPrize competition.  He is an assistant professor of sculpture at University of Alabama - Birmingham. http://john-powers.com
 
Caleb Taylor's Covered paintings and drawings have established the canvas as a body constructed and displayed. Built from a network of layered spaces, these works are covered by obfuscating forms that stretch from edge to edge and conceal his process history.  The viewer is asked to gaze into isolated passages to discover the underlying structures. Taylor is a Charlotte Street Foundation Fellow and has received grants through the Joan Mitchell Foundation, ArtsKC and the Vermont Studio Center.  He lives and works in Kansas City, MO. http://calebtaylorart.com
 
Chris Turbuck's autobiographical drawings expose his inner consciousness and build introverted narratives from seemingly banal moments.  In this exhibition, Turbuck will share dialogues from his illustrated graphic novel Fruitless about failed job interviews, relationships, and the struggles of building a career.  Turbuck was a resident artist at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley and has exhibited at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art in Great Falls, Montana.  He is an adjunct professor of drawing at Montana State University - Bozeman. http://christurbuck.com/
 
Charlotte Street Foundation is dedicated to making Kansas City a place where artists and art thrive. Through its Urban Culture Project initiative, Charlotte Street supports artists of all disciplines and contributes to city's vitality by transforming previously vacant spaces into dynamic venues for multi-disciplinary contemporary arts programming. For more information, visit www.charlottestreet.org.