Davin Watne, She Was Raised on Promises, 2026, oil on panel, 20” x 30”
An interesting conversation unfolds at Haw Contemporary this autumn between Michael Krueger, Davin Watne and Lisa Grossman. The three cherished regional artists have, with the music of their mutually reinforcing themes, unleashed a psychological tableau throughout the gallery.
Beginning with “Leaving Gustopher,” Michael Krueger takes visitors on a melancholic stroll into a realm of nostalgia and retrospection. Many of the pencil, ink, and acrylic pieces depict horses or dogs in states of stoicism and nobility, and these animals carry an aura about them. Whether longing for a childhood pet or even just a spark of feeling that is completely unique and electrical and associated with a very specific, bygone experience, the emotional depth of the exhibit is palpable.
And despite some surreal elements asserting their way into the pieces, the sensation of looking for a missing fragment of oneself in the past is eminently relatable. In Tomorrow, a horse stands calmly in the front room or parlor of a house. While the animal casts its eyes downward, a shadow in the otherwise brightly light room envelops its body, as though the creature knows it is out of place — a sweet memory lingering behind somewhere special. Even though we know we can’t possess it again, it doesn’t stop us from looking. And yearning.
But there comes a time when it no longer feels comforting to self-soothe with the wistful balm of reminiscence. It is at this juncture that Davin Watne’s “Baby We Were Born to Run” takes the helm, piloting viewers into a morass of ennui and self-disgust disguised as power. Superficially, Watne’s gallery resembles a two-dimensional homage to conservative masculinity, with panels featuring a plethora of monster trucks emblazoned in patriotic livery and all the trappings of modern American exceptionalism.
Instead of dominating their small plots of the universe, each vehicle struggles dramatically in a muddy field while passive crowds observe with apparent disinterest.
The metaphor may not be subtle, but it’s still effective. Most people can relate to feeling trapped by the way they live. And not knowing how to get out or even why we’re still doing the same things is a suffocating torment.
In the oil on panel Last Chance Power Drive, a quagmire ravenously consumes a giant pickup truck whose back end is already submerged as the front wheels churn in vain. Adding to the indignity, a pair of American flags attached to the truck bed are also swallowed in the muck — a final act of desecration against iconography that, before the unfolding calamity, may have been integral to the driver’s sense of identity.
“River Becoming/Becoming River” completes the experience on a hopeful note. A continuation of Lisa Grossman’s love affair with the Kansas River Valley, her entries offer a grounding return to the natural world.
The sunset-infused paintings showcase the curvature and influence of the river on its environment. Visually, the pieces radiate an ambiance that evokes a late 1980s Los Angeles cityscape, right as the pregnant sun surrenders to the horizon and day transforms to night. But Grossman’s world is bereft of human interference; instead of highways, inlets and tributaries cascade into infinity.
Midriver Sand, an oil on canvas work, exemplifies this motif, with tendrils of water winding through sandbars beneath an ocher sky.
The beauty of her vision feels cleansing, and it’s a welcome reminder that after looking to the past and inside ourselves, we should bear witness to the majesty of Mother Nature as she unfolds around us. The river can wash away our burdens and cleanse a multitude of sins.
“Leaving Gustopher,” “Baby We Were Born to Run” and “River Becoming/Becoming River” continue at Haw Contemporary, 1600 Liberty St., through Oct. 17. Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday – Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. For more information, 816.842.5877 or hawcontemporary.com.
