Witness

Retrospective by Jason Pollen

Main Gallery

December 4 - March 6, 2021

Proceeds from the sale of artwork benefit the KCAI Fund and support student scholarships at KCAI

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Jason Pollen (KCAI Emeritus Professor)  is an internationally acclaimed artist, designer, and educator. He has been an iconic Kansas City visual artist since he joined our art community in 1983 as a professor in the Fiber Department at the Kansas City Art Institute. Since his retirement in 2010, he continues to be prolific by maintaining a dedicated and spirited studio practice. He draws from his personal love of nature, travels, and life experiences. He then takes those notes and experiments with surface treatments, materials, and sculptural techniques. This combination of ingenuity and self-reflection results in distinct iconography and visual keynotes that are unique to each of his featured series: Descendents, Witnesses, Stands, Outliers, Nomads, Portals, Ventanas, and Ancestors. He shifts his focus from one series to another, and back again. There are common visual and conceptual threads that unite this entire retrospective entitled "Witness." It is truly an honor to showcase such a vast and varied collection of Pollen's artwork. 

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To witness is to have knowledge of an event or change from personal observation or experience.

I have been drawing, painting, collaging, designing, and stitching since I was a child. Elaborate sandcastles were the first source of inspiration. This retrospective is an overview of works created in the past half-century. My art journey has been characterized by experimentation with process and materials, and the search for a compelling communicative visual language. I have often felt as if I were witnessing my hands create something from nothing, then compelled to breathe as much life as possible into whatever shows up. ~ Jason Pollen

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Recorded Zoom Artist Talk with Jason Pollen

from Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 2pm CST

Artist-Guided Exhibition Walk Through with Jason Pollen