Art Capsule Reviews

 Empty Thoughts, Lame Excuses, and Decorative Lies Ryan Humphrey's first solo museum exhibition consists of four pieces: "Vantasy," the driver's side of a tricked-out, 1971 C-10 Chevrolet van; "Honky Spaceship," a battery-powered installation panel that pumps out the beats of Public Enemy and Run DMC; "Rear Window," the tail section of a Ferrari mounted on plywood; and "Velocity of Transparent Aspiration," a BMW 7-Series hood painted in the distinctive slash pattern of Eddie Van Halen's guitar. The artist has taken the inherently gritty, masculine cultures of guitar rock, hip-hop and auto customization and melded them with the postmodern concept of ready-mades, a movement that playfully criticizes what was considered art by objectifying average items. But the products that result aren't average. And we suspect that Humphrey is trying to pay homage to that on some level, but by bringing it into a pristine white gallery, he looks self-indulgent at best, and pretentious at worst. We wonder if the show might succeed in a space that's as coarse as the work. That the exhibition is at the Kemper doesn't "shake up our connotations of class," as the accompanying essay promises; instead, it robs these worlds of their sex, one of their most fundamental dimensions. Through July 2 at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick, 816-753-5784. (A.F.)

Faith Culture Collection At Grand Arts, Welsh artist Neal Rock's gargantuan "Pingere Triptych" (pingere is Latin for paint, but also means depiction) straddles the line between sculpture, painting and installation. The three pieces — horizontally arranged and oddly fish-shaped — are constructed from Styrofoam and covered in pigmented silicon squeezed out of cake-icing bags. The results form interesting combinations of shapes that fall somewhere between the natural and synthetic worlds. (Rock claims the three pieces weigh in at 1 ton, and the wood frame holding the piece contributes to the immense quality of the work.) Bright and shiny, thick and decorative, the sculptures appear to float. Look for the much less daunting but equally intriguing "Discreet Lustre," a pine-cone, bud-shaped form delicately hanging vertically in the center of the smaller gallery. Through June 3 at Grand Arts, 1819 Grand, 816-421-6887. (R.T.B.)

Ready or Not Review Studios' new home is a 51,000-square-foot compound at 17th Street and Campbell, and its drafty, industrial-looking exhibition space is the perfect backdrop for Archie Scott Gobber's wry social commentary. The gallery's inaugural show is a collection of just four of the artist's signature signs. "Art Is Workmanship" shows a billboard in progress; the titular phrase is divided into three panels to allow multiple interpretations. In the second piece, a multilayered work of gouache on paper and enamel on glass, the viewer sees only the bottom half of the word "JESUS" — the result is "jc dud." Next comes a tall, Eiffel Tower-like structure that spells "Perfecto" sideways down its front. In the last, 25 feet of stretched plastic lighted from behind boldly states: "I AM THE SHIT." If only all local artists said this with Gobber's knowing wink. Through May 19 at Review Exhibition Space, 1708 Campbell, 816-471-2343. (A.F.)

Spaces Between Leigh Salgado and Susan White each may have a touch of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Both artists manipulate fire — in all of its dangerous glory — to create beautiful, detailed drawings. One misstep, and a piece that's been hours in the making is reduced to trash. In Salgado's mixed-media work, there's a provocative interplay between the destructive qualities of the medium and the delicate, feminine nature of the work it produces. In some instances, lacy flutters of paper create lively shadows on the gallery's walls; in others, the cavities that Salgado burns into her pieces are more substantial and symbolic. (If you feel like you're undergoing ink-blot tests when you look at her pieces, you aren't completely off. She used to be an art therapist.) White, on the other hand, uses a wood-burning tool to create her recurring patterns, listening to fast-paced electronic music as she does so. The tension in her work comes from an insistent repetition — not only in the product but also in the process. Through May 26 at Greenlease Gallery (Rockhurst University, 54th St. and Troost), 816-501-4407. (A.F.)

Mette Tommerup and Squeak Carnwath Inspired by the Victorian era, Danish-born artist Mette Tommerup's old-fashioned pieces bring to mind children's fairy tales as reflected and transformed through a fun-house mirror. Tommerup uses digital technology to create delicate, detailed renderings that require careful scrutiny. Characters reveal themselves after a time — a small, sad boy looking forlornly through a window, for example, or two mischievous skeletons. (We're most impressed by "Woman" and "Arc," both printed on uniquely textured Japanese Kinwashi paper.) In the back gallery, Bay Area artist Squeak Carnwath's colorful painted tapestries suggest memories, as represented by seemingly unrelated symbols. The standing bunnies and other random objects within the grid of "Everyday," the vinyl records in "Recorded History," and the "guilt free zones" of both, hint at visual explorations of the mind. Through May 27 at Byron C. Cohen Gallery for Contemporary Art, 2020 Baltimore, 816-421-5665. (R.T.B.)