Johnson County Community College
Press Release
College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122
9/20/07
Story by Bruce Hartman, director, NMOCA
Nerman Museum Opens First Exhibition
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – American Soil, the inaugural exhibition for the first-floor galleries of the new Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, will open Oct. 27 and be on view through Jan. 27, 2008. Admission to the Nerman Museum is free.
The exhibit unites six artists (Tomory Dodge, Angelina Gualdoni, Brad Kahlhamer, Nicola Lopez, Frank Magnotta and Lisa Sanditz) whose works are informed by the landscape of America – be it rural, suburban or urban. They address failed utopias, obsession with real estate development, rampant technology and architecture seemingly at odds with its environment or intended purpose.
Los Angeles artist Tomory Dodge’s lush paintings often portray an American landscape in violent disarray and upheaval. It is a landscape of abandonment and decay.
Likewise, Angelina Gualdoni’s works are often inspired by out-of-business shopping malls and the abandoned theme parks that increasingly populate the American landscape. Her deteriorating, neglected buildings suggest the transience of life and indignities of old age.
Nicola Lopez’s installations and works on paper depict images of cityscapes and structures which seem on the verge of breakdown. In them, Lopez questions our culture’s insistence upon growth and glorification of technology.
Frank Magnotta’s large scale, meticulous graphite drawings comment upon the relentless cycles of real estate development of the past 50 years. His scenes suggest an environment (both at work and home) which has become increasingly outlandish, strange and even threatening.
Lisa Sanditz’s recent paintings explore the concept of casino development and the role it plays in the social and geographical landscape of America. As Sanditz states, “I’m interested in something that’s teetering on being very seductive but very repellent at the same time. As a culture, we are obsessed with land and property rights and real estate.”
Brad Kahlhamer’s visionary landscapes reflect his experiences in the American West and New York City, his current home. His sprawling Community Board is a veritable travelogue of his journeys across America, replete with references to his Native American heritage. His works on paper are teeming with references to music, desert wildlife and rural and urban communities.
These artists offer insight and commentary on the current American terrain – a terrain fraught with tensions over environmental concerns, commercial architecture gone awry, aging developments and communities, and an increasingly surreal and homogenized landscape.
Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art hours are Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday 10 a.m.-5p.m.; Friday 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Sunday noon-5 p.m.; closed Mondays and college holidays. For more information, call 913-469-2344.
(For images, contact Whitney Gameson, collection/exhibition coordinator, 913-469-8500, ext. 3789.)
