The Daum Museum of Contemporary Art on the State Fair Community College Sedalia campus has a new exhibit titled “absence • presence” that explores the museum’s collection built upon the framework of contrast. This context provides a method of amalgamation for dialogue about identity and existence across modes of representation and generations of makers.
Each of the works selected for this show pushes and pulls on the notion of presence and absence. Though the work is largely black and white, some restricted elements of color are present to emphasize the idea that it is not at the extremes of dualities that understanding is achieved but in all the variations and moments in between. The “absence • presence” exhibit will close on Sept. 3.
Two more shows will open May 25, “Synthesis” and “Long Way Home: C. Finley.” “Synthesis” will bring together artists from across the region who are actively participating in local artist communities. It is the first of many exhibitions that seek to identify and support the artists who help to define the local cultural landscape.
“Synthesis” is open to members of the Sedalia Visual Art Association, Mid-Missouri Artists, Inc., Columbia Art League, and participants in NoBro art events. Featured artists include Matthew Ballou, Ward Behle, Faith Bemiss, Elizabet Bergstrom, Shannon Blakey, Janet Bryan, Tootie Burns, Joe Bussell, Brett Butler, Gary Cadwallader, Kelly Chapin-Hagen, Jewell Cundiff, Ashley Edes, John Fennell, Kay Foley, Derek Fox,
Ben Franklin, Janice Hargrave, Antje Heese-Peck, Joshua Heimsoth, Curtis Hendricks, Linda Hoover, Peggy Hurley, Bethanie Irons, Douglas Kiburz, Felicia Leach, J. Kent Martin, Amy Meyer, Ruth Moccia, Jo Narron, Cristina Nunez, Eric Ordway, Jeanne Pascale, Cynthia Richards, J. Ricker, Dustin Schmidt, Jennifer Slouha, Leandra Spangler, Kate Verna, and Matthew Zupnick. Aug. 20 will be the last day to view “Synthesis.”
In the colorful, experiential art of C. Finley, incandescent paintings designate sites for community; exhibitions are laboratories, and representational power is decentralized in “Long Way Home: C. Finley.” Her art and public works produce the conditions needed to change the world, encouraging other artists to create alongside her in spaces defined by vibratory beauty where all are welcome to glimpse the utopia that is already present; that the viewer needs only lean into. The “Long Way Home: C. Finley” exhibit will close on Sept. 3.
Finley, the Every Woman Biennial founder and curator and the La MaMa Galleria director, is known for her elaborate paintings and intense use of color, monumental murals, multi-disciplinary collaborations, and her activism through urban art interventions, including her acclaimed Wallpapered Dumpsters. In the 2014-2021 Every Woman Biennial, she exhibited 1,200 female and non-binary artists in New York, Los Angeles and London.
Finley has shown internationally, and her work has been featured in “The New York Times,” “La Repubblica,” “Dazed,” “Fast Company,” “Women’s Wear Daily,” “LALA,” and more.
Admission to the Daum Museum is free; hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. For more information, call (660) 530-5888 or visit www.daummuseum.org.
