Robert Dohrmann & Michael Webb

Robert Dohrmann received his MFA in Painting and Drawing in 1992 at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington. In 1999 he took a position in the department in the Foundations area. Over the years he has taught a variety of Studio courses, but currently the bulk of his teaching duties have been drawing, collage and comics.

In combination with traditional 2D materials and collage techniques, the objects used to construct his body of work are mostly large romantic cardboard print paintings, shadow box clocks, unlistenable LP records and a variety of found objects. The process of cultural anthropology (picking though thrift stores) is conducted anywhere he happens to find junk stores. He likens these stores to museums (also consumer graveyards) where affordable consumer goods go to die and hopefully be reborn. When he finds something that piques his curiosity, he “re-arts” the object and gives it a new life through remix and mash-up strategies. The antiquated appearance in the found pieces are crucial, as each vintage object comes with a ready-made veneer of age. It signifies American consumer history and points directly to our current relationship to many concerning topics of today, such as the impacts of: 1. Middle/upper class consumerism, 2. Low-cost mass production (and planned obsolescence), 3. Unpacking the subjective and social well-being of traditional home and domestic life, 4. Unmonitored capitalistic greed, 5. Climate concerns, 6. Patriarchal power systems, 7. The legacy and dilemmas we are leaving our youth and 8. White American hierarchies.

Michael Webb

I find my muse in the dance of order and chaos, where the unyielding grid meets the freehand stroke. From the riverbanks of St. Louis to the towering steel of Chicago, and now to the plains of Kansas City, I’ve wandered—my soul tethered to the soil, yet ever-reaching for the electric hum of the metropolis.

In my work, I seek the harmony between the past and the present, where the pulse of the digital world merges with the brushstroke of tradition. The landscapes beneath the vast and starry dome speak to me in tongues of light and shadow, their illuminated whispers recalling the early days of pixels and screens that first taught me to see. These nightscapes, with their grids of brilliance and darkness, do more than color my canvases; they etch the very lines of my narrative, allowing me to weave the threads of culture, the echoes of politics, the laughter of satire into a tapestry both vast and intimate.

For me, art is both mirror and voice, a testament to the human spirit’s play between the solemn and the joyful. I invite those who gaze upon my work to delve into the tales I tell, to find delight in the unforeseen, and perhaps, to discover a quiet smile in the midst of the colors and lines that weave my world.

Small Works Show!

Occuring in our Snap Space Gallery, this is a salon style show of small works- under 10"- and inexpensively priced- $200 or less. Great for stocking stuffers or last minute holiday gifts! each piece will be taken off the wall as its sold; Its a dynamic exhibition!