Home to this lovely bus overhaul by KC based Asheer Akram, Belger Crane Yard Studios and Gallery did not disappoint. The building is home to the Red Star Studios work space as well the Lawrence Lithography Workshop. The sprawling brick facade opens to a delightful bank of windows at the back that floods the interior with light and wonderful views of Kansas City.
The old factory space was breathtaking before the installation, but the pieces contained in the space were even more so. From Chris Gustin's 3D printed cups, to Kyungmin Parks, LOL, and Kate Roberts' Porte, I slowly made my way to first Zemer Peled's Flowered Lions, and finally on to the main attraction.... Beth Cavener's Kept and Unrequited.
Cavener's work leaves me speechless. I am quite good at keeping my hands to myself, even when everyone around me keeps saying, "It's a tactile art! I just want to touch it!" But I desperately wanted to reach out and stroke Kept's silky ears, run my finger along Unrequited's chin. Cavener's ability to give animal warmth to the form, expressing palpable feral tension while taking on very human psychological struggles, whispers to the unspeakable in all of us. It left me wild, craving more.
