E s p o s t o: Tex Jernigan, Katie Watson, Brian Zimmerman Project Space | 21 East 12th Street 816.221.5115 Opening: Friday, Mach 21, 6-9 pm March 21-April 12 Hours: Thursdays & Saturdays, 12-5 pm
E s p o s t o -- Italian for “open” or “exposed” -- features the work of three emerging artists: Tex Jernigan, Katie Watson and Brian Zimmerman. In divergent manners, the work of all three artists exemplifies a type of exposure, whether exposure of self (Zimmerman), object/space (Watson) or perspective and mechanics of construction (Jernigan). The works of all three also hinge on a sort of “both, and” or push-pull scenario, as they play with tensions between two and three-dimensional; revealing and concealing; collapsing and expanding; “real” and illusion. Finally, all three artists seek to actively engage the viewer, whether inviting hands-on participation (Jernigan and Zimmerman), or by diagramming how such participation might occur (Watson).
Tex Jernigan was born in Sherman, Texas; raised in Dallas, Texas; and lives in Kansas City, Missouri. After completing his BFA Degree in Sculpture from Kansas City Art Institute in 2007, he embarked on a four month tour of the western United States, creating and exhibiting several installations at sites including Harveyville Kansas; the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, Nebraska; Art Farm, Grand Island, Nebraska; Colorado Art Ranch, Durango, Colorado; and Scottsdale Center for Public Art, Scottsdale, Arizona. These sculptural installations combine Jernigan's ongoing interest in perspective with a participatory, performative component, as people are invited to stand, and be photographed within, his illusionistic constructions. (These portraits are made available for free online at www.texjernigan.com.) Jenigan’s work has also been featured in group exhibitions at venues including Stonefox, NYC; Roots and Culture Project, Chicago; Robert Frazier Gallery, Kansas City; and Dallas Museum of Art.
Katie Watson currently lives and works in New York City as she completes her MFA in advanced photographic studies at the International Center of Photography–Bard. Originally from Indiana, Katie earned a BFA from the Photography and New Media department at the Kansas City Art Institute in 2007. Her photography and print media often employ generic objects and ideas of abstraction to explore the construction, deconstruction, and reconstruction of space. Katie’s work has been exhibited in many venues including the H&R Block Artspace, the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, and the Society of Contemporary Photography. Visit Katie-watson.com for more information.
Brian Zimmerman earned his BFA from Kansas City Art Institute in 2006, with a double major in Painting and Art History. A fabricator at 3 Axis Inc. Design Shop, he is currently completing a temporary public art installation for Avenue of the Arts, summer 2008. Zimmerman has exhibited at venues including The Gallery @ 404B, Hot Springs, Arkansas; Urban Culture Project’s The Bank gallery; and the KCAI Crossroads Gallery, as well as creating and choreographing custom lighting for the Metakinetic Dance Company in Kansas City.
