Charlotte Street Foundation Presents,
Sincerely Yours,
An exhibition of the Charlotte Street Studio Residency—Visiting Curator Series
[Kansas City, MO] Charlotte Street Foundation presents, Sincerely Yours, at Paragraph Gallery (23 E 12th Street, Kansas City, MO) opening Thursday, June 30th, with a reception from 6-8PM. A curator and artists’ talk will take place on Saturday, August 6th at 1PM.
This is the third exhibition of the 2016 Charlotte Street Studio Residency Visiting Curator series—a program inviting local arts professionals to curate projects featuring the work of current Studio Residents—whether its visual, written, or performing. Sincerely Yours, is curated by University of Kansas Art Professor, Michael Krueger, and features visual artists Monica Dixon and Neil Goss, and writer, Lucas Wetzel.
Images left to right: artist, Monica Dixon, Neil Goss and writer, Lucas Wetzel
There are no overlaying themes or masks of irony, sarcasm, or over-intellectualization in the exhibition, Sincerely Yours,—instead, the focus of the exhibition is the sincerity, honesty, and authenticity of the artists’ processes and work.
Curator, Michael Krueger said of Sincerely Yours, “Finding in art something completely sincere is a gift. Through the practice of sincerity, certain immutable emotions and truths are shared. The interest in Sincerely Yours, examines what happens when artists step away from the contemporary trappings of sarcasm, double-downed irony, the smirks on smirks, the layers of tangled references, the love hate relationship with the art world, and share something sincere.”
Krueger goes on, “We find in the works of Monica Dixon, Neil Goss, and writer, Lucas Wetzel, all that is comfortable about being honest and sincere. We find real longing, joy and struggle, nothing is cloaked. Being sincere doesn’t make the work in the studio any easier for the artist, it doesn’t make the process any less arduous. In fact, one could argue being sincere is hard to take serious. Nor is the process of relating to a work of art imbued with sincerity any less formidable. But, there is something comforting in knowing that the artist isn’t interested in toying with you, no one is going to be testing your savvied understanding of the latest cultural insider joke, or what’s ‘uncool’ to be ‘cool’ about.”
Exhibition Details:
Sincerely Yours, — curated by Michael Krueger,
featuring Charlotte Street Studio Residents, Monica Dixon, Neil Goss, and Lucas Wetzel
Exhibition Runs: June 30 — August 6
Opening Reception: June 30th, 6-8PM
Curator and Artist Talk: August 6th, 1PM
Where: Paragraph Gallery, 23 E 12th Street, Kansas City, MO
Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12—5PM; By Appointment
ABOUT THE CURATOR
Grounded firmly in drawing, Michael Krueger works in a variety of media including painting, drawing, printmaking, animation, and ceramics. His ideas dictate the media and he floats freely between them. Krueger’s artwork reflects a deep interest in American history, contemporary American culture, art history, the human experience, and personal memoir. Krueger’s artwork has been included in over 300 exhibitions, and recent solo exhibitions include prominent venues such as: Steven Zevitas Gallery, Boston, MA, Sunday L.E.S., New York, NY, Blackburn 20/20, New York, NY, Dolphin Gallery, KC MO, Haw Contemporary, KC MO. Important group exhibitions include, The Drawing Center, New York, NY, KRETS Gallery, Malmo, Sweden, The Denver Museum of Art, Denver, CO, Ambacher Contemporary, Munich, Germany, Glasgow Print Studio, Scotland, UK, Adam Baumgold, New York, NY, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Philadelphia, PA and the Kala Art Institute, Berkeley, CA. Michael Krueger is an artist, a father, and a husband, a Love Librarian (Lawrence Kansas Chapter), and an Honorary Resident Dropper.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Monica Dixon characterizes her studio practice as a ritualized interaction between self and the material world. Navigating a fluctuating space between meticulousness and ease, formalism and conceptualism, she explores the potential of carefully selected materials including bio-based resin, mineral pigments, fabric, mycelium, and plants. Focus is placed on manipulating formal aspects to transform the implications of it’s previous function, or past life. This results in intuitive investigations emphasizing opulent qualities of color, texture, and form.
Since graduating from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2011, Monica has pursued a diversity of opportunities immersing herself in the study of anthropology, permaculture, and mindful movement practices. These pursuits led to extensive time both living and traveling in Europe, Asia, and across the United States. In the summer of 2015, Monica returned to Kansas City from Brooklyn, New York.
Neil Goss lives in Eudora, KS where he focuses his art on Earth processes while responding to human impacts upon those processes. In 2012 he received two BFA’s in Design (Textiles and Ceramics) from the University of Kansas SOTA. He has been dedicated to researching sustainable arts processes such as natural dyeing, weaving, utilizing hand dug clay, and foraging art materials. Goss has taught workshops, installed public art and done artist talks from coast to coast in the United States. He currently is a practicing professional artist, artist-in-residence at the Charlotte Street Foundation and teaches at the Lawrence Arts Center.
Lucas Wetzel is a writer and editor from Kansas City. His writing ranges from journalistic features and essays on travel and art to concrete poetry and nationally syndicated comic strips. He enjoys mixing autobiographical journal entries with elements of surrealistic fiction, and his writing often conveys a strong sense of place. In 2012, he founded the literary website, Kawsmouth.com, which includes contributions from over 50 writers in the Midwest. He has degrees in English, Journalism and German from the University of Kansas and The University of Bonn. Since 2013, his writing has appeared in various public art exhibits in Kansas City. Examples of his work can be found at lucaswetzel.com.