Artistic Ascendance

Painter Nicole Mauser has been generating warm feelings in the hearts of curators and gallery directors around Kansas City over the past two years, including Kate Hackman of the Charlotte Street Foundation and Jennifer Bohatyritz, gallery director of the Arts Incubator. Mauser’s June exhibit at the Arts Incubator (115 West 18th Street, 816-588-1850), opening tonight from 6 to 9, has the copy-editor-frustrating title (+) or (-) a word and includes an installation of seven site-specific paintings. “This is a very coveted location,” Bohatyritz says. “It’s prime real estate, as far as galleries go. I actually approached Nicole and asked if she would do a show because I believe so much in her work — it’s excellent. She’s a UCP award winner. She’s so talented; she’s going places. We recently renovated the space, and I’m trying to change the nature of the work we show — she’s a true emerging artist. This is the kind of art I want to bring forth at the Arts Incubator, at the same level as the Urban Culture Project.”

Fri., June 6, 2008