Third Thursday • Visiting Artists Presentation
Johnson County Community College
|
Laura DeAngelis |
Matt Dehaemers |
Third Thursday • Visiting Artists Presentation
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art at Johnson County Community College continues the popular program, Third Thursday • Visiting Artists Presentations, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. Sept.17 in the museum’s Hudson Auditorium with special guest artists Laura DeAngelis and Matt Dehaemers and moderators Laura Harris-Gascogne and Mark Cowardin, both JCCC associate professors, Fine Arts. The program is free and open to the public. No tickets or reservations are required.
Laura DeAngelis, Celestial Flyways, 2008, ceramic tiles, stainless steel disk, acrylic lenses, L.E.D. lights, mechanism, images courtesy E.G. Schempf |
DeAngelis creates life-sized figurative ceramic sculpture incorporating celestial and natural imagery.
“My work has evolved from a search of elements that are both specific and universal. As a starting point, mythology, natural history and science have been of particular interest because each contains a fixed model for perceiving different aspects of our relationship to the world within itself,” DeAngelis said.
DeAngelis was born in Chicago and holds her BFA (1995) from the Kansas City Art Institute. In addition to exhibiting her work nationwide, she actively teaches and presents workshops and in 2004 completed a residency at the International Ceramics Studio in Hungary. She is currently the gallery director at Red Star Studios. In 2006 she was the lead artist for the “Art in the Loop” public art project for Oppenstein Park at 12th and Walnut in downtown Kansas City. Her monumental ceramic sculpture of an eagle will soon be installed at the Johnson County Regional Police Academy on the JCCC campus.
Matt Dehaemers, The Nereid Beckon, 2009, plastic bottles, PVC and PEX tubing, wood, L.E.D. lights, polycarbonate corrugated sheeting |
Dehaemers creates sculptural installation works in public spaces and uses local histories to connect diverse communities.
At his interactive exhibition entitled (402) Disconnect/Reconnect at the Bemis Art Center, Omaha, Neb., Dehaemers said, “I find myself wanting to link people back to their own history and their community, sometimes using a medium that is obvious but at the same time unexpected.”
His media have included telephone books piled into architectural structures, synchronized parking control arms transformed into a kinetic sculpture and giant bottles comprised of smaller plastic bottles in which he invited the public to leave personal messages about Lake Michigan. Dehaemers earned an MFA in 2002 from the University of Wisconsin and a BFA in 1996 from Creighton University, Omaha. His recent works include major commissions for the Vehicle Impound Facility in Kansas City and the LA County and Missouri Departments of Transportation.
The next Third Thursday program is scheduled for 3:30-4:30 p.m. Oct. 22 (the fourth Thursday because JCCC classes are not in session Oct. 15). These free programs feature two artists working within the Kansas City region, with each artist giving a 20-minute presentation followed by discussion in the Hudson Auditorium. Museum staff facilitate conversation and audience participation by pairing each artist with a JCCC faculty moderator. Third Thursday programs promote student interface with area artists.
The Nerman Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday; and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays and all JCCC holidays.
For more information, call 913-469-3000 or visit www.jccc.edu/museum.
Admission and parking are free.
The Third Thursday programs are supported in part by an Ovation Grant from the Arts Council of Greater Kansas City.
###
