Soooo my brother John is a mural artist who lives in KC but travels around the world showcasing his art, and this article came out recently and I wanted to post it, being that I'm his biggest fan. Here it is:
"Art in Columbus Park Gallery draws a crowd"
By Edie R. Lambert
Spring put on its best evening show May 20, and Kansas Citians responded enthusiastically. In the citys historic North End, accompanied by the tantalizing aromas wafting from Garozzos Ristorante and the perfumed potpourri of decades-old flower beds, they flocked to John's first local solo show this year.
Presented by the Art in Columbus Park Gallery, the successful one-night exhibit featured 30 of John Moreno's brightly colored and monochromatic canvasses in acrylic and oil, pastels on paper and mixed media, all selected by design.
I picked them psychically. It took me two days. I always ask myself what feels right and what I want visitors to feel, Moreno explained.
Drawing from indigenous culture, folklore, religion and spiritualism, the native Kansas City artist combines realism and whimsy with an audacity that makes his compositions bold and restrained, both delicately provocative and energetically appealing.
Morenos A Sign of Hope asserts a magic that is immediately discernible. His repetitive use of the value of seven and coolly jewel-like colors cleverly mines symbolism.
In many cultures, seven is the symbolic number for perfection. The red bird represents the gift of hope; hope for a miracle or unanswered wish. The clock, fixed at seven, demonstrates that all time is interconnected: without the past, theres no today; without today, theres no tomorrow. All my paintings have hidden symbols like this, Moreno said.
A muralist, artist, musician, actor and filmmaker, Moreno has exhibited his paintings around the world. An inveterate muralist, he taught art and mural painting in West Africa and founded and runs the Moreno School of Art, an alternative art school in Kansas City for urban minority youths sponsored by the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation.
I teach pastel and acrylic basics and encourage students to use their psychic mind to create beauty. So many of them come from such bad surroundings. I want to give them hope, Moreno said of his 28 students, aged 11 to 19.
Shortly after the current six-month classes end in early June, Moreno will leave for Atica, Peru, where he will play the lead role in a romantic drama for the independent film company Luna Llena.
His previous roles in front of the camera include a graffiti artist in the 1999 film Bad Luck, and an Italian manager in Days, a just-released romantic comedy produced by his brother, Mateo Moreno and filmed in New York City.
While in Peru, Moreno plans to begin production on a documentary on the Inca shamans in Peru and the Quechua culture for his own production company, 2nd Sight.
The focus of the film is figuring out where dreams take you.
I want to awaken people to another world and better understanding of the psychic realm faith, unexplainable events, the soul, spirituality, life after death, and the existence of alternate realities and dimensions. I believe we create our own reality, he said.
He plans a sequel to the documentary that he will film in Chiapas and Guatemala in October.
I want to create great films and set up shots that share with the world how I see things, he said.
His first documentary, A Better Tomorrow, which Moreno produced and directed, premiered at the 21st International Latino Film Festival in Chicago in April. Its slated to be shown at film festivals in cities around the world, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego in the United States; and internationally in Barcelona, Rome and Toronto.
One of six children, Moreno was born and raised in a family where artists outnumber athletes. Morenos younger brother, Bo, composes folk music and has written a book. Another younger brother, Mateo, is an independent filmmaker, actor and director. Their maternal grandmother, Imogene Wiederkher, is a published poet.
Moreno, who also sings and plays the piano, studied art and Spanish in Guadalajara. His paternal grandfather emigrated to the United States from Santa Rosa, Mexico, to work for the Santa Fe Railroad. His paternal grandmother came to the United States from Aquascalientes, Mexico.
I didnt know at first what drew me to Mexico, but smelling the air, hearing the people talk and listening to the music inspired me, Moreno said.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Isn't that so great?! Man, I'm so FCUKin' proud of him...He's great, so if you need a gallery show in your town, let me know and I'll pass along information. Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Also, if you have a chance (and if you don't, make one) go see Miranda July's filmmaking debut, "Me, You, and Everyone We Know," an incredible new film being released by IFC Films. Just...incredible....
"Art in Columbus Park Gallery draws a crowd"
By Edie R. Lambert
Spring put on its best evening show May 20, and Kansas Citians responded enthusiastically. In the citys historic North End, accompanied by the tantalizing aromas wafting from Garozzos Ristorante and the perfumed potpourri of decades-old flower beds, they flocked to John's first local solo show this year.
Presented by the Art in Columbus Park Gallery, the successful one-night exhibit featured 30 of John Moreno's brightly colored and monochromatic canvasses in acrylic and oil, pastels on paper and mixed media, all selected by design.
I picked them psychically. It took me two days. I always ask myself what feels right and what I want visitors to feel, Moreno explained.
Drawing from indigenous culture, folklore, religion and spiritualism, the native Kansas City artist combines realism and whimsy with an audacity that makes his compositions bold and restrained, both delicately provocative and energetically appealing.
Morenos A Sign of Hope asserts a magic that is immediately discernible. His repetitive use of the value of seven and coolly jewel-like colors cleverly mines symbolism.
In many cultures, seven is the symbolic number for perfection. The red bird represents the gift of hope; hope for a miracle or unanswered wish. The clock, fixed at seven, demonstrates that all time is interconnected: without the past, theres no today; without today, theres no tomorrow. All my paintings have hidden symbols like this, Moreno said.
A muralist, artist, musician, actor and filmmaker, Moreno has exhibited his paintings around the world. An inveterate muralist, he taught art and mural painting in West Africa and founded and runs the Moreno School of Art, an alternative art school in Kansas City for urban minority youths sponsored by the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation.
I teach pastel and acrylic basics and encourage students to use their psychic mind to create beauty. So many of them come from such bad surroundings. I want to give them hope, Moreno said of his 28 students, aged 11 to 19.
Shortly after the current six-month classes end in early June, Moreno will leave for Atica, Peru, where he will play the lead role in a romantic drama for the independent film company Luna Llena.
His previous roles in front of the camera include a graffiti artist in the 1999 film Bad Luck, and an Italian manager in Days, a just-released romantic comedy produced by his brother, Mateo Moreno and filmed in New York City.
While in Peru, Moreno plans to begin production on a documentary on the Inca shamans in Peru and the Quechua culture for his own production company, 2nd Sight.
The focus of the film is figuring out where dreams take you.
I want to awaken people to another world and better understanding of the psychic realm faith, unexplainable events, the soul, spirituality, life after death, and the existence of alternate realities and dimensions. I believe we create our own reality, he said.
He plans a sequel to the documentary that he will film in Chiapas and Guatemala in October.
I want to create great films and set up shots that share with the world how I see things, he said.
His first documentary, A Better Tomorrow, which Moreno produced and directed, premiered at the 21st International Latino Film Festival in Chicago in April. Its slated to be shown at film festivals in cities around the world, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego in the United States; and internationally in Barcelona, Rome and Toronto.
One of six children, Moreno was born and raised in a family where artists outnumber athletes. Morenos younger brother, Bo, composes folk music and has written a book. Another younger brother, Mateo, is an independent filmmaker, actor and director. Their maternal grandmother, Imogene Wiederkher, is a published poet.
Moreno, who also sings and plays the piano, studied art and Spanish in Guadalajara. His paternal grandfather emigrated to the United States from Santa Rosa, Mexico, to work for the Santa Fe Railroad. His paternal grandmother came to the United States from Aquascalientes, Mexico.
I didnt know at first what drew me to Mexico, but smelling the air, hearing the people talk and listening to the music inspired me, Moreno said.
>>>>>>>>>>>
Isn't that so great?! Man, I'm so FCUKin' proud of him...He's great, so if you need a gallery show in your town, let me know and I'll pass along information. Yeah, yeah, yeah...
Also, if you have a chance (and if you don't, make one) go see Miranda July's filmmaking debut, "Me, You, and Everyone We Know," an incredible new film being released by IFC Films. Just...incredible....
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
But seriously. In 'Before Sunset' she gives her reason for why she couldn't get back to Venice to meet Jesse again. But she already had her ticket, and it was just a train ride away. Couldn't she have sent a friend in her place to find him and explain what happened, and either bring him to Paris, or make alternate meet-up times? Couldn't she have called the train station?! There were so many options and she didn't take them!
Yes I know that if any of those things had happened, the sequel couldn't have been the movie it was and it was perfect. But I just think her reason was more of a cop-out.
Just felt like sharing this with you