"Motorcycle Man," Acrylic on Canvas.

Jay Hunt

10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Elements of Green
1919 Wyandotte
Kansas City, MO
816.842.0500

Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday
Runs through: Indefinitely

Artist’s site: http://www.riverarnostudio.com
Gallery site: http://www.elements-of-green.com

One of the great things about Kansas City’s art scene is the diversity of its venues. Yes, there are galleries. But if you’re a regular follower of this site, you’ll have been to four coffeehouses, two churches, one credit union, a hospital and thecorporate headquarters of the largest income tax preparer in the country.

Today, the spectrum gets one shade wider. Elements of Green is a store trading in environmentally friendly building, remodeling and refinishing materials.

So, of course, I’m sending you there to see works that gleefully celebrates the carbon footprint. Seriously. Take a look at the motorcyclist in the painting at the top of today’s post. Do you think he’s out on a necessary errand, observing the posted speed limit?

No way. That guy’s racing.

Elements of Green has been a regular First Friday stop of mine for more than a year. Other artists have come and gone, but Hunt’s work is a constant.That makes him the artistic equivalent ofa house band — andthere’s good reason.

Hunt has both watercolor and acrylic paintings in this show. It’s in the acrylics that his advertising experience shows. (Hunthas been in the ad game for years, earning numerous awards for TV and print campaigns. He nowruns his ownart direction and creative services company.)

The Pop Art pieces — ranging from the aforementioned motorcyclist to a portrait of Beethoven — are riots of crayon-bright color. The lines are bold, the images iconic. It’s easy to picture them as promotional posters. Wouldn’t you stop to see what they were hawking?

That’spretty much what happened the first time I saw Hunt’s work. I glanced into Elements of Green, and bang! I got snagged by the bright colors and went in to see more.

I found more — and more than art.

The space that houses Elements of Greenis sort of a truncated triangle, with art on two walls — the slanted wall to your right as you come in, and on the north wall opposite the door. In between, the store is full of tiles, carpet samples, countertop material — and it’s all green (in the environmental sense, that is.) With the exception of the tiles, the wares are largely in muted colors. That makes Hunt’s work stand out even more. In a way, the store frames the art.

I’m not in a position to do any redecorating right now. Butwhen that time comes, it’s good to know there’s an eco-friendlyoption close to home.

Gas-guzzling artwork, tree-hugging art space. Yeah … I’m kind of enjoying the irony in that.

From ARTKC365.com