Exhibition: Bilingual Patterns

An installation by Armin Mühsam and Caleb Taylor

Goethe Pop Up Kansas City presents Bilingual Patterns, a collaborative exhibition from German artist Armin Mühsam and American artist Caleb Taylor. Conceived of as an expression of Wunderbar Together – the motto of the Year of German-American Friendship which blends words from German and English to create a unifying message – the two painters transform the architecture of Kansas City’s Goethe Pop Up into a continuous folded canvas. The resulting installation is an organic extension of Mühsam’s and Taylor’s studio practices, both of which employ geometry and collage as central factors in their painting processes and decision-making. As a consequence, cutting and re-assembling, solids and voids, are the determining gestures that drive the dialogue between these two artists – a conversation visualized in the interplay of each painter’s signature languages, enacted directly on the walls of this German-American cultural center.

Armin Mühsam graduated with a BFA from the University of Applied Sciences in Munich, Germany (1994) and with an MFA from Montana State University in Bozeman (1997). Since 2000, he has been teaching at Northwest Missouri State University, in Maryville, MO, where he is currently Professor of Painting.  Mühsam is a recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant and has been the subject of over 50 solo exhibitions in the United States, Germany, Romania, and Hungary. His work has been reviewed and featured in Art Papers and New American Painting.  Mühsam lives and maintains a studio in Kansas City.

Caleb Taylor is a 2010 Charlotte Street Foundation Fellow whose practice freely navigates the disciplines of painting, collage, photography, and sculpture. He is the recipient of the prestigious Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant, and has completed residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Joan Mitchell Center, and Ucross Foundation.  His paintings and drawings have been published in New American Painting and his work has been exhibited at numerous venues including the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Grand Arts (KC), Weatherspoon Art Museum (NC), and Tiger Strikes Asteroid (NY). Taylor’s work is included in the public collections of the Nerman, MoCA, KU Medical Center, and Polsinelli Law Firm (KC). He received his MFA in painting from Montana State University-Bozeman (2008) and his BFA from Northwest Missouri State University (2004.)  Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Foundation Department at the Kansas City Art Institute.

In addition to his studio practice, Taylor is a founding member of PLUG Projects, a curatorial collaboration in the Stockyards District of Kansas City.  PLUG is a recipient of a 2011 Rocket Grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation, Spencer Museum of Art, and Charlotte Street Foundation.

Both artists are represented by Haw Contemporary, Kansas City.

Photo: © Mühsam and Taylor

Opening on First Friday, Oct. 4th, this exhibition will remain on display until Sat, Nov 2nd during our normal opening hours, Tue-Sat, 12pm-6pm.