Art Capsule Reviews

Elissa Armstrong: Objects of Innocence and ExperienceLawrence artist Elissa Armstrong takes the lighthearted concept of "sit-arounds" (or "set-arounds," depending on how rural your accent is) —decorative objects, including porcelain unicorns, free-standing arrangements of dried flowers and Precious Moments figurines — and flips it on its innocent little head. For this show, the Alfred University-educated ceramist (and University of Kansas assistant professor) gathers childlike lambs, bunnies and deer at thrift stores and garage sales and creates others with lowbrow, craft-store molds. She then adds heaps of bumpy plaster, douses the sculptures in glaze and glitter and affixes long, tubular clay appendages. Some of these subversive figurines look virtually untouched; others are so distorted they're practically abstract. Arranged together on a flat plane, though, the 11 sculptures begin to make sense as an illustration of evolution or devolution— it's up to the viewer to decide which. Through Oct. 1 at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick, 816-753-5784. (A.F.)

Eric Bashor: Who's Your Daddy?He's not our daddy, but Eric Bashor is recently a daddy, and we get the impression he couldn't be happier. Objects that make up a simple baby's world — stroller, nursery, jumpers and bathtub — are here in oversized glory, presented from a child's perspective. This is a cute but sometimes lonely realm. In "Elsa," Bashor uses layers of colored paper to portray the sober look of a baby; for the intriguing "Nursery," he arranges individual sheets of paper over one another, adding nearly drab fragments and dripping lines to suggest that the formative years are often boring and untidy. But the bright yellow of "Duck Tub" and the playfulness of a children's toy in "Octopus" indicate there are some good times as well. Through Oct. 7 at the Green Door Gallery, 1229 Union Ave., 816-421-6889. (R.T.B.)

The Feminine Mystique: Portraits of and by Women In an effort to explore the late-19th- and early-20th-century period of first-wave feminism, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art has opened an installation in Gallery P27, where 16 permanent works are being exhibited for the first time in years. The subjects mostly represent the family, friends and lovers of some of the most celebrated artists of their time. These women might have been gunning for equality, but we suspect they made plenty of men feel damned inferior. Through Oct. 1 at the Nelson, 4525 Oak, 816-751-1278. (A.F.)

Gajin Fujita: Zephyr By mixing traditional Japanese images into his graffiti-inspired paintings, Gajin Fujita creates what he calls a "dialogue" between two cultures — his native Los Angeles and his Japanese lineage — that's repeated in exciting scenes throughout this show. In "Ride or Die," Fujita uses spray paint, acrylic, paint marker and paint stick for a vibrant portrait of a warrior atop a reeling horse. Flying arrows surround him as he proudly carries a Los Angeles flag; behind him, indecipherable letters and words fill the tagged wall. (For blushes and giggles, head to the back of the gallery for erotic paintings with titles such as "Bangin'" and "Knockin' Boots.") Through Nov. 5 at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 4420 Warwick, 816-753-5784. (R.T.B.)

Megan Mcginnis Family photos never felt so creepy. Megan Mcginnis captures seemingly innocuous events in snapshots and then paints them with subtle changes so they're somehow scary — we're not sure why we should be weirded out, but we are. Two girls seated in front of a dollhouse in "Shared Room" look at the viewer with a blank stare; a veil of whitewash separating the girl in the background from the older girl in the foreground creates a sense of foreboding, heightening our anxiety. Mcginnis uses her camera's depth field to create a similar feeling of unease in "Big Boy," in which an adolescent boy is seated in front of a TV in what appears to be a rec room; Mcginnis has smeared a bit of paint around his eyes as the light from the basement window trickles down. Even the few smiling faces in Mcginnis' images foretell awful things. Though Oct. 28 at Byron C. Cohen Gallery for Contemporary Art, 2020 Baltimore, 816-421-5665. (A.E.F.)

Martha Schneichert and Jim Walker Martha Schneichert's photocopied collages on panels are like Victorian-era botanical prints. Modern technology, however, lets her surpass the older style by illuminating the flora's slightest details. In "Poppy," the flower's red stands out against the black panel, and it looks as if we could run our hands across the veins of the petals and feel the ridges. With a strong grasp of photographic technique, Jim Walker also exposes the finest details in nature, such as folds of clouds and the quills of a decaying bird. There is an otherworldly quality to the work of both artists, which is a little unsettling but ultimately conveys a sense of tranquility. Through Sept. 30 at the Back Room Gallery in the Leedy-Voulkos Art Center, 2012 Baltimore, 816-474-1919. (A.E.F.)

Sexy: Greg Eltringham and Kenny Johnson Because Greg Eltringham's oil paintings are so damn funny, they draw attention away from Kenny Johnson's photographs. Presumably, the title of Eltringham's "These Two" refers to the oversized, breastlike pecs of the male subject; the model's bulbous stomach glows like a moon, and an Elvis curl rests on his forehead — with a come-hither look in his eyes and a cigarette dangling from his mouth, the man has truck-stop love written all over him. More pale male skin abounds in "Squeeze," in which a guy with unnecessarily large spectacles and a mustache is getting his nipple tweaked by another shirtless man. With his untraditional subjects striking curious poses (most are his ex-students), Eltringham may have created a new genre of art: Boy Scout erotica. At the Late Show, 1600 Cherry, 816-474-1300. (R.T.B.)