Art in the streets of Kansas City.

I may be missing MOCA's Art in the Streets exhibit this month. But while I'm sad I won't see what Deitch throws together, I'm happy to report the Kansas City is presenting its own spectrum of art in the streets.

The big dog in town is Scribe. His art is fresh. It is unpretentious. It is unfettered by the inflated redonculousness that many LA street artists have fallen victim to.

 

A panel from Scribe's David and Goliath

Then there's KC's very own Alexander Austin. Curated and commissioned by David Ford, Austin has installed a mural size portrait of his signature Martin Luther King for America: Now and Here. The artist is quirky. He is kind. He is not much into 'schedules.' He dons a cowboy hat, it seems, all the time. And his work--well, it is incredible.

Are you out there, Rotko Petric?

In 1978, Rotko Petric created this sculptural piece of art. Rotko was in Kansas City from Yugoslavia. From what I gather, he was studying here. He knew KC artist Jim Leedy and Leedy, founder of the Leedy Voulkos Art Center, the hub of our America: Now and Here installation, kept this piece in his collection.

Walking through the Leedy Voulkos this week, I was informed that Petric's whereabouts are now unknown. Yugoslavia, the one-time kingdom, to later become 3 iterations of a Federal Republic, to finally become nothing of its former self, swallowed up any trace of Petric and the Leedys have heard nothing of the artist in years.

All that Kansas City's seen of Petric recently is this eyeball, atop a beautiful, armed, asymmetrical body of blue. Fantastic.

Introducing America: Now and Here, Mark Bradford & a trip through the Midwest.

On Friday, I'll be leaving LA. Til the end of October. Yeah, you heard me right. That's 6 months on the road. The only thing that could tear this fairly new Angeleno (6 years is still new, right?) away from town for that long would be the sickest of projects. And this one's a doozy. America: Now and Here is a touring art show. And its participating artists are beyond, beyond, beyond.

As I travel through the Midwest this Spring/Summer/Fall, I'll keep you posted on my travels. And I'll also introduce you to the work of the amazing artists who've got pieces on our traveling caravan of American art. Some names you'll recognize (think: Chuck Close, Yoko Ono, Jasper Johns, Edward Albee, Jeff Koons, Damien Rice, Catherine Opie, Marsha Norman, and on and on) Some you won't. They are all incredible.

First up, meet Mark Bradford.

Soon, you'll be meeting Kansas City. Which may or may not excite you. I think it excites me.

Keep creating.

This week has been insanely busy. The kind of busy that makes you nearly lose your mind and want to crawl into bed for an undisclosed amount of time. The kind of week that certainly inspires no moves to be creative, no thoughts to pick up a pen or take a photograph or paint a picture. Because it would surely come out like poo. And no one likes poo. But sometimes creating poo is the beginning of something greater. And taking a risk is the only thing to do. And picking up a pen (or a keyboard) even though you're exhausted and would much prefer to fall in a heap is the only appropriate thing to do.

Mr. Brainwash agrees.