KANSAS CITY, MO, December 9, 2019: In partnership with BOK Financial, the new Crossroads Artboards have been installed above BOK Financial’s Crossroads branch at 125 Southwest Boulevard in Kansas City, MO. Charlotte Street Foundation is excited for downtown pedestrians and arts patrons to see new work from two bright, upcoming local artists Desiree Morales and Rebeka Pech Moguel. The new Artboard designs will display above BOK Financial through February of 2020. The exterior, double-sided Artboards will be visible to the public all hours of the day above BOK Financial (formerly branded as Mobank), who has collaborated with Charlotte Street in the innovative Artboards program since 2008.
In regards to Blind Spot, Desiree Morales states, “Blind Spot poses a prominent question in an ongoing conversation. It addresses the many layers of the art world that are not always so visible at first glance. It asks the audience to question accountability and complacency. Blind Spot promotes transparency in the muddy conversation of how institutions permit obstructed views; much like a side view mirror.”
Desiree Morales is an artist based in Kansas City, MO and a native of St. Louis, MO. She received a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute in Photography in 2015. Desiree is a previous Charlotte Street Studio Resident and is currently an artist in The Kansas City Collection. Desiree uses photography as a vehicle to navigate space, representation, and the way institutions develop relationships with artists of color.
Rebeka Pech Moguel is a Latinx visual artist based in Kansas City, MO. She works predominantly in photography and installation with an emphasis on studying home and cultural history. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Kansas City Art Institute and was a resident at SÍM: The Association of Icelandic Visual Artists in Reykjavik, Iceland and a Studio Resident at Charlotte Street Foundation for two years. Her work has been shown in recent exhibitions at Open House, la Esquina Gallery, H&R Block Artspace, and PLUG Projects.
“A family’s or individual’s reason for immigrating to the U.S. varies in many ways, yet they all intersect in some aspect or another,” says Rebeka Pech Moguel. “With this diptych, Espejismos, I reference the complexity that is immigration with imagery that can be interpreted through different lenses. From one perspective, the desert seen on the left represents what many immigrants have to go through in order to make their way to the U.S. For some this is simply a figurative depiction, yet for others it is a literal one.”
“Another reading could be the way some people view their country of origin in comparison to the U.S. – a land often portrayed in a light that shows everyone as prosperous and well – an oasis teeming with life. And yet another meaning refers to the American Dream, a mere mirage in the heat of the desert, visible in the distance yet completely elusive, unattainable, and overall, a complete illusion.”
Rebeka continues by saying, “As a daughter of immigrants, this topic is one that has a strong underlying presence throughout my practice. With so many meanings behind it, I feel that passersby will also be making their own conclusion and narratives. This is a quality that I think is important in a work that will be seen by so many, especially when this subject matter has been prominent these last few years in our country.”
ABOUT CHARLOTTE STREET
Charlotte Street identifies the needs and fuels the evolution of an ever-changing multidisciplinary arts ecosystem, acting as its primary provocateur. Charlotte Street cultivates the contemporary, the exceptional, and the unexpected in the practice of artists working in and engaging with the Kansas City art community. Since 1997, Charlotte Street has distributed over $1.5 million in awards and grants to artists and their innovative projects, and connected individual artists to each other and to the greater Kansas City community. For more information about Charlotte Street, its awards, programs, and initiatives, visit www.charlottestreet.org.
ABOUT ARTBOARDS
The Crossroads Artboards were launched in the fall of 2008 when the Mobank purchased the building that currently houses its Crossroads Branch and renovated and converted the building’s existing double-sided billboards into a highly visible site for work by area artists. The project was completed by Helix Architecture + Design. In 2018, Mobank was rebranded to BOK Financial. For a complete listing of artists featured and more information, go to www.charlottestreet.org/opportunities/artboards
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Read the media release in PDF format here.