"Breathe, You are Alive, or David Lynch Keeeps His Head -- R.I.P. David Foster Wallace, or A Daily Reminder Culled from the Teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh As Viewed Upon the Ceiling Above my Bed," Graphite on Paper.
Brendan Meara
Breathe, You are Alive!
10 a.m.-4 p.m.
Review Studios Exhibition Space
1708 Campbell
Kansas City, MO
816.994.7134
Hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. Saturday
Runs through: Feb. 13
Gallery site: http://www.ereview.org
I’ll be honest. When I went to the opening of Breathe, You are Alive! earlier this month, I was pressed for time and didn’t intend to stay long.
That short visit wound up lasting more than an hour, and not only because the exhibition space is at the end of a long, meandering hallway. (My sympathy for white mice in memory experiments has gone up.) I kept trying to leave, only to find myself going back for just one more look at Meara’s work … then one more … then Really, I mean it, only one more. I had to tear myself away, though, because I had more galleries to visit.
Part of it was the sheer scope of the show. Meara’s styles and media vary so widely that it’s hard to believe the work came from one artist. But it’s all his, from the serene watercolor and graphite meditations on the west wall to the video installation in the southeast corner. The media list for Breathe, You are Alive! also includes electronics, lamp parts, photography, computer paper — even yellow Hi-Liter.
With that much variety, I couldn’t count a cursory pass as really seeing the show. So I took second turn around the gallery and gave myself more time with each piece. The more I looked, the more they unfolded.
And so, of course, I went around once more and was late to my next stop. While I regret the tardiness, I don’t regret the cause.
I have one hard and fast rule for ARTKC365: If a show is here, it’s because I believe it’s worth seeing. What makes something worth seeing?
It’s the sense that if I don’t go back for one more look, I’m going to miss something important: a detail, an insight, an allusion that will unlock a new level of understanding. Work that’s truly alive rewards repeated viewings. That’s what Meara’s show does.
Sometimes, you just have to stop, breathe, and see.
