"The Donut Box" featuring KCAI's illustration seniors, opens March 6

A gallery event featuring selected works of new and emerging illustrators in Kansas City. The varied aesthetic, appeal and application of each illustrator's work satisfies a wide range of cultural institutions while showcasing the personal visions of each image maker.

An accessible morning tradition. A casual sunrise delight. Above all, a collection whose strength rests in its differences.

• Show runs March 6 thru March 21
• Opening Reception: Friday March 6, 6-9pm
• For more information visit http://www.thedonutboxshow.com/

"Transient Sequences" Opens February 6

Christian Hirschfeld wrote in his Theorie der Gartenkunst (Theory of Gardening), that mankind sees his own potential in the grandeur of nature and in natures’ boundless landscape. He also believed that this applied to both man’s freedom and lack thereof. Moving away from being restricted and towards becoming free results in the exalting of the inner self. By exalting one’s inner self, the sublime becomes an internal force which transforms physical grandeur into spiritual grandeur. This group exhibition is intending to create a lyrical dialogue of enthusiastic responses to this transformation from restricted to free, from lowly to revered, and from physical to trans-substantial. Objects become mystic, presentation becomes pedestal, and language becomes transcendent.

Artists: Miranda Clark, Fredy Gabuardy, Jonathan Khan, Thomas Luna

Show runs Feb. 6 thru Feb. 21

Opening Friday Feb 6, 6-9pm

"Straight Out the Ole Brain Hole" by Chico San opens Dec. 5

"Straight Out The Ole Brain Hole" is an exhibit of Chico San's newer paintings exploring the depths of his subconscious. The intent is to illustrate the shadow and its ability to unlock imaginary dimensions, varying in content and visual language.

Opening reception will be Friday, December 5th from 6-10pm.

Private viewings will be available through December 26 by appointment. For more information, please contact Gallery Director Caranne Camarena at vulpesbastille@gmail.com or Chico San at 816-842-2628 or chicobraindead@gmail.com.

"Turf Management for the Near-Sighted" opens Nov. 7

Vulpes Bastille will be opening "Turf Management for the Near-Sighted" paintings by Lydia Bryan, Friday, November 7. Opening reception 6-10pm. Show runs through November 28.

Excerpts from Imaginary Landscapes opening Oct 3

 left: Detail from Karin Davis, Untitled Series, framed photographic prints. 2014. 

right: Detail from Casey Whittier, Reflecting Pools, porcelain, mirrors, wire. 2014.

An exhibition by artists Casey Whitier and Karin Davis

Born from memory, desire, and imagination,  the pieces in this exhibition
speak about the physical and psychological relationships between
landscape, place, and humanity.  Working in a variety of media, both
artists use the vocabulary of nature to explore ideas about mortality,
vitality, and beauty.  With fragile ceramic plant forms, Whittier creates
installations that transport viewers to places somewhere between time and
memory.  Addressing viewers on a sensory level, Davis sculpts abstract
forms that gently remind us of our own natural state.  Together, their
artwork spans the familiar to the strange, the vivid to the ephemeral, and
the awkward to the elegant.

Runs from Oct 3 thru Oct 25

Opening Reception: Friday Oct 3, 6-9pm

Vulpes Bastille is now open on Saturdays 12-5pm.

"My Year With Them" opening August 1

Vulpes Bastille is pleased to present Mark Allen's second solo exhibition on view from August 1-30th.

"My Year With Them," is an exhibition of photograph-based images featuring Kat Von Rich and her vicarious characters that weaves a narrative of identity, transformation, and the loss of innocence.

The MYWT exhibition will open August 1st, as part of the West + East Crossroads First Friday's event.

Announcing "6 Inches of Progress"

Opening July 4th, is "6 Inches of Progress," an exhibition by Jillian Youngbird. It is a solo exhibition of drawings and paintings, which weaves together her personal experiences through tedious line-making and inspirations from Native American iconography. Runs July 4 thru July 18.

Opening reception Friday July 4, 6-9pm. Secondary reception Friday July 11, 6-9pm.

Vulpes Bastille Studio-wide Group Exhibition

Vulpes Bastille is pleased to announce their June exhibition, “ Pineapple Rentals,” which brings together all the participating artists who work in the Vulpes Bastille studios. The show will feature 7 different artists, all working in different styles and mediums, but with the common thread of ingenuity, interest in materials, and boldness. This exhibition features works from Mark Allen, Caranne Camarena, Brandon Forrest Frederick, Tim Amundson, Dustin Downey, Elisabeth Wallen Hardman, and Logan Acton.

The title, “Pineapple Rentals,” comes from a conversation about the 18 th century, when Pineapples were such a luxury good that you could rent one (but not eat it!) to display your financial prowess at high profile events. The symbol of the Pineapple has now become an icon for luxury, a transverse symbol for art. We at VB believe art is more than just a pretty picture on a wall. The studio artists here are dedicated to their craft, creating images that are not only tantalizing to the eyes, but also to the mind. It will be an art event to be experienced, not just looked at.

Caranne Camerena, one of the featured artists, is an amateur taxidermist who produced a jackalope, a symbol of Midwestern folklore, which she titled, “Because I Can.” She also produces large scale drawings of the mammal figure. Brandon Forrest Frederick is a photographer and sculptor who not only produces beautiful images, but also creates exquisite wood frames for his pictures. Mark Allen is a notorious young artist who produces bold imagery that touches on controversial topics.

KCAI Access Alumni Exhibition Opens March 7

Exhibition of work by KCAI students to open March 7 at Vulpes Bastille in Kansas City

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Feb. 25, 2014) — “Progress and Prosperity,” a juried exhibition of work by Kansas City Art Institute students, opens with a reception from 6 to 9 p.m. March 7 at Vulpes Bastille, 1737 Locust St. The show continues through March 29, when a closing reception and artist talks will take place from 3 to 5 p.m.

The exhibition is one in a series sponsored by KCAI’s office of Academic Advising and Career Services. AACS hosts “Access Alumni Events,” whose purpose is to connect students with KCAI alumni. In preparation for the March exhibition, AACS convened a panel of alumni curators to select artwork. Jurors include Anthony Baab (’04 painting), Theresa Bembnister (’01 illustration and creative writing), Connie Griffith (’07 ceramics), Holly Hayden (’03 graphic design) and Dean Johnson (’08 graphic design). The alumni’s selections were based on artwork submitted by KCAI students, as well as decisions the jurors made about students they wished to meet personally in a series of studio visits.

Exhibiting students include Aneesa Shami (junior, fiber); Becca Clews (senior, photography); Ben Gould (junior, sculpture); Derek Dobbins (senior, printmaking); Emily Blaser (senior, fiber);  Hannah Carr (senior, fiber); Hennessey Luther (junior, sculpture); Julian Stropes (senior, painting); Kahlil Irving (junior, ceramics); Lauren Sobchak (senior, fiber); Mariah Gillespie (senior, fiber); Mariah Randall (junior, sculpture); Max Newman (senior, sculpture); Molly Garret (senior, animation); Patrick Wolf (senior, printmaking); Shenequa Brooks (senior, fiber); and Tuesday West (senior, ceramics).

Gallery Renovation Reaches Final Stages

A month ago we began an ambitious overhaul of our gallery space. The aged dropped ceiling has been utterly dismantled, a new dramatic wall built, and the beautiful original 16-foot-tall ceiling exposed. We are beyond excited to debut the new Vulpes Bastille gallery on March 7 for the KCAI Access Alumni Exhibition!

Demolition stage. January.

Construction of the new wall. January.

Start of demolition. January.

Not Universally Sacred

A show featuring Milkman Collective: Amanda Castro, Mason Sexton, and Lynn Thonet

Exhibition Opens: October 4th at 6pm

 Join Milkman Collective as they unveil their installation this Friday in Kansas City's Crossroads Art District.

This installation confronts transformations of both body and space; beginning as an exploration between the relationship of humans and the objects they possess. As a collective we are interested in how an object has the ability to change meaning over time and how objects identify self within culture. An object can be created with a simple, basic purpose and through the course of both human interaction and time that object has potential to be valued as sacred.

As Honest As We Are

A solo show featuring works by Brandon Frederick

Exhibition Opens: August 2nd from 6-10pm 

4am, 2013

The exhibition consists of photographs, sculpture, and video work relating to the artist's journeys and meditations throughout the United States.

As Honest As We Are is a culmination of the past two years; and encompasses my experiences and quiet meditational moments throughout my travels. The extraordinary aspect of photography is that of meditation and the characteristics of experience an image can present regardless of the viewers physical interaction with the subject at hand. Growing up as a child I was absolutely fascinated by history, obsessed with drawing, and cultivated a growing interest in the culture, politics, and ideas related to America. For me photography represents the greatest culmination of these interests, one in which utilizes the world that exists to create a familiar experience. One that is accessible because of the nature of the medium, and is inherent to a push/pull movement of reality and fiction. 

The world has become a photograph to me, with the process becoming inherent to the way in which I view the world.  I continue the aspects of human ancestry in the mind set of a hunter-gatherer, always looking for what the world is presenting forward.  It can be ultimately boiled down to a feeling, a surge of emotion over a space, a composition, a particular quality of light that lends itself to my train of thought.  All photographs for this show were created with film, as I feel photographing in this process lends itself to a more careful and examined approach to creating, and provides a special character of light from the chemical and tangible process of exposure and development.

This body of work deals with the image as a photograph, a meditational space, and an object that can be manipulated. Influenced from American iconography and mythology, As Honest As We Are weaves through my observations and questions regarding the way we live and the idea of the American Dream.