In a discussion of his exhibit Dissident Formalisms, Kansas City artist Armin Mühsam examines the use of collage and found objects and how they inform his exploration of the dynamic between non-objectivity and representation – between the abstract and real life.

Central to his creative process, he explains, is the paradox that the actuality of a collage element is the reason its incorporation in a painting increases the level of abstraction.

Mühsam is a professor of painting at Northwest Missouri State University who maintains a studio in Kansas City’s West Bottoms. His artwork has been featured in exhibitions and venues across the U.S. and internationally from his native Romania to Munich, Paris, and Budapest.

He speaks from the Central Library’s first-floor Guldner Gallery. Dissident Formalisms, which illustrates the many roles that books play in his art, remains on display there through January 30, 2022.