The latest in the Kansas City Public Library’s yearlong series of exhibits commemorating the 20th anniversary of the Charlotte Street Foundation features the luminous beaded works of 2007 award winner Jessica Kincaid.
The exhibit will offer an overview, dating to the visionary “Heaven and Earth” (2006) in the collection of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. It will also feature works from the artist’s “Dream” and “Nature” series, and a new body of works, including “RosyBrown” (pictured), inspired by Kincaid’s mastery of computer coding. She recently graduated from the Web Development program at Johnson County Community College.
Kincaid’s turn to coding arose from a need to develop new skills after her position as an educational aide was eliminated. But the story has a happy ending for her artistic development:
“Learning to code (gave me) a new way of playing with color and form,” Kincaid said in a recent email. “Translating percentages of each shape from words to paint and then paint to beads, I became a human emulator for the code. In gouache drawings, I paired written code with the colorful, abstract forms they produced. Beaded works followed, based upon the drawings.”
The new code works add to Kincaid’s existing body of abstractions; also featured are the annotated gouache drawings that preceded the beaded versions.
“Every Street Is Charlotte Street: Jessica Kincaid” opens July 22 and runs through Oct. 1 at the Guldner Gallery, Kansas City Public Library Central Branch, 14 W. 10th St. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday – Wednesday; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, 816.701.3400 or kclibrary.org.
