Installation View, Twenty-Two Springs: Two Tone Press and KCAI Ceramics, KCAI Gallery, photography T. Maxwell Wagner.
Opening during alumni weekend at the Kansas City Art Institute Gallery, the exhibition “Twenty-Two Springs: Two Tone Press & KCAI Ceramics” displays 22 letterpress posters and more than 100 ceramic works from the ceramics department’s teaching collection.
“It’s completely overwhelming to see 22 years of work by Two Tone Press represented on these gallery walls, a reminder of how far we’ve come,” said Michelle Dreher, a 2001 KCAI graduate in illustration and art history, who founded the press in 2005. Six years later, her sister Angie joined as a business partner to manage operations and collaborate on design projects.
Annually, Two Tone Press has collaborated with graduating students and faculty of the ceramics department and created a custom designed poster for each spring semester juried exhibition. The sisters reflected on the relationship between the art forms.
“Ceramic and printmaking share a kinship,” said Angie. Both art practices are “process-oriented,” involving equipment, materials and multiple steps during preparation and creation.
“You’re building layers with each process,” added Michelle. “The posters project always anchored me back to the studio.”
Each year’s poster concept begins with the show title for each spring exhibition. “The title drives the decision of each piece and informs the visual essence of what the show is about,” said Michelle.
Two Tone’s posters balance color, type, geometric shape, pattern, layers and inspiration from art movements and pop culture within limited space. Over time, the Drehers developed a modern visual style that incorporates traditional hand-carved multi-block linocuts with hand-lettered typography, digital designs applied to photopolymer plates and vivid color palettes.
Ceramic works on view were selected from the department’s teaching collection by Stephanie Fox Knappe, curator, Global Modern and Contemporary Art and Head, American Art at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and artist/founding member of Kansas City Urban Potters, Meredith Host. They include slab-built white earthenware, Structural Integrity, by Cydney Ross (’13), Untitled geometric press-molded red earthenware by Nathan Neufield (’15), and Rift by Isaac Lee (’20), a striking bifurcated bust of solid- and hollow-built red earthenware.
Roberto Lugo (’12) created a large-scale head sculpture, She Said I Was the Brightest Firefly in the Jar, impressive for its sheer size and exterior illustration. Rae Koepsel (’19) created charming figurines titled Mom & Pop BBQ with specific sculpted details – tongs, beer bottle, meat on a grill, off the shoulder blouse, glorious bulging bellies – that radiate warmth and personality.
Large, printed panels serve as a yearbook, process guide and homage. Images and text highlight the work and studio practice of students and instructors, Two Tone’s letterprint process and its history. Other panels honor the legacy of deceased master ceramicist George Timock, professor emeritus, who taught and mentored generations of KCAI students for 42 years.
Cary Esser, recently retired senior professor and chair of the KCAI ceramics department, a post she held for 30 years, noted that its ceramics collection serves as a teaching tool and resource for research. “It provides a sense of history and legacy for students. The collection is a rich resource of the ceramics department at KCAI,” said Esser.
“Twenty-Two Springs: Two Tone Press & KCAI Ceramics” continues at the KCAI Gallery, 4415 Warwick Blvd., through Oct. 18. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesday–Sunday, or by appointment. For more information 816.802.3357 or kcai.edu/kcai-gallery/.
