Reschdeuled Exhibition

"The Conversation"
Mary Ann Strandell
June 4 - August 22, 2020

Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art
2004 Baltimore Avenue
Kansas City, MO  64108

Sherry Leedy
Director  _sherryleedy@sherryleedy.com  

LINK to Catalogue:
Exhibition Catalogue: Mary Ann Strandell; The Conversation

 
My SLCA exhibition The Conversation, was to open April 2nd. It was postponed due to the global pandemic. During quarantine I addressed new works and revised others. The two 2019 Lenticular prints are based on the 'conversation pit' sofa's, the sunken couch styles from the late 60’s and early 70’s. The funky retro nature of this style, along with “PIT" drove me to consider the semiotics of such. I think, figuratively, of the pit we fall into as we converse in our society today; in lieu of rampant fake news and a social media driven by sensation and ego. The additional 3d Lenticular works are all based on architecture from NYC and KC. Each contain a veneer of layered ink drawings that represent a different version of their full final presence as architecture. They began as oil paintings, and ink drawings, then transversed into collage, then engineered into the quotidian space of lenticular.

The oil paintings are of structures, landscape and various references to nature. Since I work consistently between painting and printmaking, and between analogue and digital I am ultimately interested in the concept of the "mediated image". Influenced by The Picture Generation, Rauschenberg and Richter, I am concerned with topics of appropriation, authenticity, and the surge of cultural memes, I find there is a great territory of instability and power in images and their possible meanings. All the oil paintings in The Conversation exhibition are based on photos. Some came from the internet, or field guide studies, and most of them I took with the intention of translating them in to painting.
I hope you all get a chance to see the show, virtually or in real time. Sherry Leedy and Allison King are at the gallery in the Crossroads from Tuesday to Saturday 11:00 and to 5:00pm. Just swing by, knock on the door. Of course wear a mask and take your time…. There are two other
terrific solo shows at SLCA. @hungliuartist Hung Liu's handworked prints of oil paintings, and @anneautinpearce Anne Austin Pearce’s complex collage's of painted organic abstractions. Be safe out there...!

Artist Mary Ann Strandell is known for her lush paintings and innovative lenticulars. Her ability to synthesize the past with the future and create a new dialogue between art history, technology, science, nature and architecture, makes her artwork unique, original and unforgettable. Strandell’s exhibition, The Conversation, explores her evolving narratives, combining her interests in architecture, nature and chinoiserie. Often the mix of visual languages in Strandell’s work weaves the energy of nature together with that of the city, each playing off the other. In addition, there are singular works in painting, such as a close-up of a magnolia blossom or tulip, framed tightly, as an exuberant expression of spring. The paintings often re-appear in Strandell’s lenticular’s as disassembled and layered components that support, enrich and continue The Conversation.

LINK to Catalogue:
Exhibition Catalogue: Mary Ann Strandell; The Conversation 

Sherry Leedy
Director
sherryleedy@sherryleedy.com                            

 Allison King
Assistant Director
allisonking@sherryleedy.com  

 Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art
2004 Baltimore Avenue
Kansas City, Missouri 64108
phone: 816-221-2626

Hours: 11am – 5 pm Tuesday – Saturday by appointment.