Releasing Form opposes the prominent use of popular symbols and iconography from daily news and media in contemporary art. By recognizing the power of a viewer’s relationship to a known visual stimulus, the artists selected from both our student body and local artists focus on a shift away from the familiar. To paraphrase Mark Cousins’ “The Ugly,” familiarity and perfection are closely related to what is traditionally understood to be aesthetically ideal; art objects ought to be coherent throughout, with their boundaries neatly defined and their form undeniable. But this excludes so much of our experience that belongs to a different register than aesthetics, the messily defined and the incoherently plural.

Artists Alex Gorsuch, Kate Horvat, Sophie Lamar, Noah Pierson, Shelly Pinto, Joel Pisowicz,  June Prestien,  John Raux, Brette-Shiloh Smith, Kate Sutton, Lynn Svatek, Yulie Urano, Isaiah Vazquez explore a disruption of this clarity, showcasing how they can embody a space through the environment's essence or, if referencing a previously known form, their shift in focus to a new interpretation prioritizing the object’s potential essence. By allowing ambiguity and blurring the lines between objects and the world, the artists broaden the viewers' perspective of what can be known beyond what is visible.

The works by Kate Horvat and Noah Pierson play into one aspect of abstraction, where they are augmenting and redirecting the perception of a known form. Though, in using the term abstraction, it should not limit the show to one formal definition of the movement. Abstraction here also refers to the aqueous and informal representations of our known and shared experiences.

In the case of John Raux and Kate Sutton, they are working from the ethereal and the unknowable, responding to space itself and not the illusory redirections of the physical world. In connecting these two identities of abstraction it also makes space for works by June Prestein and Brette-Shiloh Smith that engage with the chemistry of life and how organic materials and sounds can be reconfigured and re-identified.

About Sophomore Gallery Club:

Sophomore Gallery Club is a small collective of 2nd-year students at KCAI aspiring to learn more about gallery work and the many facets of organizing and presenting exhibitions in various spaces. Within their Foundation year curriculum, they directed four exhibitions utilizing student work to bring attention to the variety of art occurring at KCAI. Releasing Form is their first exhibition inviting local artists. By extending this hand to the local art scene, associates hope to foster an environment for those who come next building relationships with established artists. Projects like this give students bridges to the professional world beyond their studio disciplines by intertwining the presentation of student and local artists' practices.

Address
4415 Warwick Blvd, Kansas City, Missouri 64111

Public Hours

• Thursday noon - 5pm
• Friday noon - 5pm
• Saturday noon - 5pm
• Sunday noon - 5pm
• Other days open by appointment, please email kcaigallery@kcai.edu, call 816.802.3357 or use this FORM.

Parking - Visitor parking for the KCAI Gallery is available in the main KCAI entrance parking lot at 4415 Warwick Blvd., and in the south parking lot at Warwick and Oak.

Gallery Accessibility - KCAI Gallery has wheelchair accessible parking in the KCAI South Lot, main entrance to KCAI Gallery and gender neutral & wheelchair accessible restrooms are located in the building lobby. For inquiries regarding accessibility please reach out to KCAI's Disability Services office: +1-816-802-3440 or email disabilityservices@kcai.edu.

About the KCAI Gallery

Launched in 2016 in the Crossroads District and relocated into the Tony Jones Studios on main campus in 2020, the KCAI Gallery: Center for Contemporary Practice serves the mission of KCAI through collaborative, curriculum based engagements with students, faculty, community and artists in residence. Our new campus gallery presents curatorial outcomes of these engagements that include exhibitions, screenings, lectures, readings, and conversations. This site and related programs hold space for critical thought, reflection, and dialog about current issues and social challenges in our world.

About the Kansas City Art Institute

Founded in 1885, the Kansas City Art Institute is one of the oldest and most respected art and design colleges in the United States. Located at 4415 Warwick in Kansas City, Mo., KCAI is a premier private, fully accredited four-year college of art and design awarding the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 13 majors. KCAI’s mission is to prepare students to transform the world creatively through art and design. Learn more at www.kcai.edu.