Closing Reception and Artist Talk: Laura Nugent / Rachelle Gardner-Roe

Join us for a final celebration of Laura Nugent and Rachelle Gardner-Roe’s new works at the Bunker Center for the Arts. A closing reception and artist talk will be held on a special night, Saturday, June 29 from 4 PM – 6 PM. The public is invited.

Rachelle Gardner-Roe continues her non-traditional explorations of lace in her exhibition, “A Certain Kind of Armor.” Using 3D printing pens to preserve the core acts of drawing and writing, Gardner-Roe references shield and body forms that, while alluding to systems of protection, deny a literal translation. The open lacelike network of this body of sculpture begs the question, “What is being protected?” Can we protect the childlike exuberance with which we first picked up a crayon? What do we each use to shield ourselves from the vagaries of the world? What psychological armor do you carry with you or perhaps even physically don when you engage the outside world?

Laura Nugent is premiering works created since relocating her studio to the Bunker Center in 2018. “Not Everything Will Be Replaced” includes eight non-representational paintings in the Center’s galleries. Nugent’s works embrace traditions of minimalism and soft-edge geometric abstraction and are part of an ongoing consideration of color as subject matter. Her current palette choices glow brighter and, combined with an expanded scale, signify an optimism and drive to continue her practice in spite of significant life changes. Additionally, an installation of small works on a variety of surfaces will be on display in Nugent’s Bunker studio during the course of the exhibition.

Located in the East Crossroads of Kansas City, Missouri at 1014 East 19th Street, the Bunker Center for the Arts houses both gallery and studio space in a unique 10,000 sq.ft. building. Its regular gallery hours are Thursday-Saturday, noon – 6 PM and by appointment.