Event details

• Thursday, July 28, 2011, 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.
• Knuckleheads, 2700 Rochester, Kansas City, MO
• Cost: Free
• Age limit: All ages

“Still Searching” is an exhibition that combines paintings, installation, and a screening of John Sebelius’ debut film “Searching At Sturgis”. This event will begin at 7:30 on July 28 at Kansas City’s Knuckleheads Saloon, 2715 Rochester St. The film “Searching At Sturgis” encapsulates Sebelius’ experience as an outsider breaking in to one of America’s most interesting and unconventional cultures, the American Biker, during their most revered event – Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. Live music for the exhibition will be performed by DJDC. Bio: John Sebelius was educated at The Rhode Island School of Design in 2006 where he received a BFA in Illustration. In 2009, Sebelius returned to Lawrence and began his MFA thesis in Drawing & Painting at the University of Kansas and will graduate in 2012. John recently returned from an Artist Residency at the Vermont Studio Center and has been featured in: Express, The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Harper’s, DETAILS, CNN, and The Washington Post. Sebelius was appointed to be one of the panelists deciding Creativity and Organizational Capacity Fellowships at the National Endowment for the Arts in November 2010. From Artist: “The direction of my current work is an ever-evolving practice. There is great physicality to my paintings that are only created through a constant reworking process. Continually building up layers of ground and physically removing them allows me the ability to connect with my subjects and materials on a physical and personal level. By scraping oil paint and embedding it with drawing, I hope to create a descriptive surface that can hold disparate images within a unified field. My works use elegance and economy of line as a metaphor to show my respect for the people whose portraits I draw. My most recent work has introduced color that is used to create a dingy and worn patina over which I incise imagery pertinent to my subject's interests and lives. Memories and dreams surrounding certain individuals and images continue to serve as inspiration for the paintings. The filmmaking process has brought a heartbeat to my art making that has never before existed. This medium grants me the ability to effortlessly capture the rawness of human emotion and the captivating oral tradition of storytelling. My most recent work has begun to experiment with the manipulation of the moving image and the psychology of crowd dynamics. I’m intrigued by the idea of being part of a population and invisible all at once. I focus heavily on societal implications of behavior and on if being part of a crowd absolves one of the same restrictions they may experience as an individual. My aim is for this work to be the catalyst needed for further research, art creation, and discussions pertaining to marginalized American communities.” www.johnsebelius.com