by Kelly Rogge, KCKCC
A contemporary art exhibit, showcasing diversity, is now open at the Kansas City Kansas Community College Art Gallery.
“Diversity in Contemporary America” can be seen from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday, in The Gallery. The Gallery is in Lower Jewell on the KCKCC Main Campus, 7250 State Ave. The exhibit closes Nov. 2 and is free to visit.
A lecture and reception will be held in The Gallery from 4 to 6 p.m. Oct. 12. The exhibit’s artists, Andrew Stephen Norris and KCKCC alumnus J.T. Daniels, will discuss their art from 4 to 5 p.m., followed by a reception featuring Pablo Sanhueza and the KC Latin Jazz All Stars and food demonstrations by Naturally Designed. The event is sponsored by the Student Art Society, the OQS Diversity Club, FBOE, Naturally Designed, and Planet Sub.
Andrew Stephen Norris is a Tennessee-based artist who uses a mixture of realism and the bold colors of comic characters to capture the attention of viewers. A graduate of East Tennessee State University, he has been featured in exhibitions along the East Coast including the Cobb Museum of Art in Marietta, Ga. and the Rochester Contemporary Arts Center in Rochester, N.Y. He was awarded the Artist in Residence at the Arts Letters & Numbers in Averill Park, N.Y. in 2016 and received the Best in Painting Award at the ETSU Student Honor Show in 2016.
“His work never ceases to amaze,” said Shai Perry, gallery assistant at KCKCC. “The KCKCC Art Gallery is honored to be presenting Norris’ work to the Midwest for the first time.
J.T. Daniels is a Kansas City-based artist and a graduate of KCKCC. His work has been exhibited in a variety of galleries, including the VML Wise Gallery, the Thornhill Gallery at Avila University and the Confidential Lofts Gallery in Dallas, Texas. His work is also on permanent display at 3rd and Grand Ave. and on the shelter at 14th and Main Streets in downtown Kansas City, Mo.
“Daniels’ work is powerful,” Perry said. “The portraits demand the viewer’s attention the moment one steps into the presence of these beautiful and strong women. His tendency to portray figures in a very graphic style is telling of his interest in street art where the texture of a wall becomes a part of the work.”