Elisabeth Kirsch, Author at KC STUDIO

Elisabeth Kirsch

Elisabeth Kirsch is an art historian, curator and writer who has curated over 100 exhibitions of contemporary art, American Indian art and photography, locally and across the country. She writes frequently for national and local arts publications.

Arts News: New Book Looks at the Spiritual in Contemporary Art

For decades the subject of spirituality and/or religion in contemporary art has either been denied or repressed. The academy, art museums and galleries have dealt openly with sexuality and sexism, politics, racism, identity, the environment and effects of globalism, but God has been taboo. As a prominent art critic once said, “If you bring up […]

November 22, 2018
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“Welcome to the Neighborhood,” La Esquina Gallery

Is it a sign of the times that so many of the artworks in “Welcome to the Neighborhood” involve protagonists who are, in one form or another, in deep hiding? Self-preservation is one of the main themes in this exhibit by 13 Kansas City artists, curated by the Charlotte Street Foundation. The stated purpose of […]

September 11, 2018
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“Faces After Suicide: Lindsey Doolittle,” Leedy-Voulkos Art Center

Seize the Awkward. That’s the message on one of the postcards included in Lindsey Doolittle’s “Faces of Suicide” exhibit at the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center. It means talking to a friend about mental health issues, even if it feels uncomfortable. Personal politics and great art don’t often mix, but Lindsey Doolittle’s small portraits of anonymous individuals […]

August 30, 2018
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“Eric Sall: Drawing Paintings, Painting Drawings,” Haw Contemporary Crossroads

Eric Sall’s “Drawing Paintings, Painting Drawings” show of nine, mostly large scale abstract artworks, is the inaugural exhibit for the Haw Contemporary Crossroads Gallery. Sall, who graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1999 with an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth, is known for his bravura techniques and deliberately dissonant pattern-making. This installation does not […]

April 26, 2018
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“SELF: New Work by Hattie Odell,” Mid-America Arts Alliance

In a world of endless selfies and identity politics, Hattie Odell’s exhibit “SELF” manages to chart new territory when it comes to self-portraiture. “Chart” is the operative word here. With the precision of a surgeon, Odell uses mathematics, in the form of conversion charts, to forge metal tools into what she calls portraits of “the […]

April 24, 2018
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“Cary Esser: Second Surface” & “Marcus Cain: Alignments,” Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art

In “Second Surface” Cary Esser lines up dozens of small to medium fragmented, box-shaped ceramics on the walls of the Sherry Leedy Gallery like so many battered sentinels. They are ever alert, in earthy colors ranging from the purest white to muted gold, similar in type, but yet each distinct. Esser calls them “parfleches,” named […]

March 14, 2018
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