Art Capsule Reviews
Jenn Deirdorf: Push The last resort for an artist before a caustic critic or a bored gallerygoer is “You just don’t get it.” For Jenn Dierdorf, this phrase actually comes first. According to her statement, her show is about exploring “what happens when we cannot apply our typical meaning system to structures that we recognize.” We do recognize the dozens of rice-filled bed sheets piled up all over the floor, but we cannot “apply” a “meaning” to them. Same goes for the installation Sojourn, a stacked wall of folded and pasted book pages tied together with thread on a wooden table. The meaning of the triptych “Stream of Consciousness” is given away by its title, but the pencil squiggles fail to impress. We just don’t get it. Absent anything else to latch onto, would it be too much to ask for a sign? A little beauty, perhaps? Through March 30 at the Mallin Gallery, 201 Wyandotte, 816-421-0656. (Santiago Ramos)
Lyrical Legacy: the Prints of Karen Kunc This career survey includes many of Karen Kunc’s small wood veneer folios, screen-printed with matrices of color. These bold forms and vivid colors didn’t just happen, but they reveal so organically that it’s almost possible to overlook the mastery of her technique. “History Book” intrigues with its proliferation of media: screenprint, watercolor, etching, collage and beeswax on thin substrate of Brazil wood, arranged as a small book. “Braided Waters,” a layered image of a stylized river and a double-helical motif, presents as three separate woodcut prints on a single piece of shaped paper, connected in theme like conversational digressions. “Original Fission,” with a similar color palette, suggests a scientist’s monitor screen, its data radiating out into the matrix of delicate cuts that define the surrounding composition. Through April 28 at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, 2012 Baltimore, 816-474-1919. (Chris Packham)
The Prints of Wales The cute name of this exhibit, featuring 10 Welsh printmakers, hints at the sense of fun they bring to the works while belying their craftsmanship and cumulative years of experience. Paul Croft’s Alphabet lithograph series renders what appear to be letters, but half-formed, primeval versions of their more evolved descendants. Steffan Jones-Hughes offers Hunting the Wren, an unconstructed series of minimal etchings based on a Welsh winter tradition. Brian Jones’ works might be the most playful; they juxtapose iconic imagery from art and the wider popular culture, conflating Elvis with Che Guevara and riffing on Scream by placing Edvard Munch’s horrified figure under America’s golden arches. In conjunction with the Southern Graphics Arts Council, through May 4 at the Belger Arts Center, 2100 Walnut, 816-474-3250. (Chris Packham)
