Best of Kansas City: Artist Garry Noland

This has been a banner year for Garry Noland. He simultaneously exhibited work in group shows at Studios Inc and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art while his solo show was up at City Arts Project. He won a juror's award at Omaha, Nebraska's Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts' 2012 Regional Juried Exhibition, which entitles him to an exhibition in the center's UNDERGROUND next year. Lisa Freiman, senior curator and chairwoman of the contemporary art department at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, selected him for the publication New American Paintings, and his work is set to be featured in the book PatternBase: A Survey of Surface Design and Textile Artists. All of which is impressive, but what we like about him is the pure visual enjoyment that radiates from his abstractions, large tapestry-like wall-hanging works made of strips and strips of colored duct tape. Mixing complicated patterns isn't easy, but Noland balances stripes, checks and camouflage-like shapes in riveting, organic combinations. Noland earned some impressive accolades over the past 12 months, but viewers of his art are the real winners.Previously in Best of Kansas City & former Studios Inc residents!2007 Best Artist - Archie Scott Gobber2006 Best Artist - James Woodfill2004 Best Artist - Lynus Young2003 Best Artist - Dylan Mortimer (current resident)