Here in Wichita it’s First Friday once again, and there are many good art openings happening tonight. And here are three I feel you should absolutely attend:
Tim Stone’s show at the Reuben Saunders Gallery features large and smaller works on canvas, as well as some on paper. Stone uses acrylics, oils, and spray paints to achieve works that feature forest greens, cool blue and grays, against fiery, fluorescent reds. There are landscapes which appear seemingly through wet glass, or smokey grass fires toward evening. You feel yourself racing into odd perspectives and searching for hidden meanings. The work is formidable. This show is well put together and a fascinating study.
Charles Baughman and Troy Becker are showing together at Mark Arts. Baughman’s extremely playful canvases feature landscapes and water pools in a collision of drips, spatters, and rivers of paint. I view Baughman’s color palate and wonder HOW he thought he might get away with it all and yet he manages it SO well that he must grin himself to sleep at night. Troy Becker’s stoneware works in this show are immaculate in glaze and form. Soulful shapes add a lovely, warm feel. His teapots and cups are sublime. Becker’s work is the perfect counter to Baughman’s playful riot.
And Chuck Dooms and Jessica Vega are showing together at Art House 310. Vega’s work in chalk pastel is a mix of human/tree-like forms that tangle and seem to tumble within a dreamscape. The colors are thoughtful and her work—thought-provoking. Chuck Dooms is an artist who combines photo manipulation with digital painting. With Dooms there are no rules. View his work while listening to Captain Beefheart, Sun Ra, or Jon Spencer and it will begin to fit perfectly. His work IS Lysergic acid diethylamide—and I love him for it.
