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A visit to Kansas City
ART IN KANSAS CITY
With no First Friday in sight and galleries in a summer lull, there were four places I went for my art fix while in Kansas City, all tried and true places undergoing amazing changes. In no specific order, here they are, with plenty of pictures below.THE KANSAS CITY ART INSTITUTE
What would any trip to KC be without a trip back to my old (and rapidly changing) stomping grounds? The
campus is entering its gentrification stage - all the old, outdated 70's sculpture has been replaced by newer pieces, my painting building has been reconstructed into a modern monolith with spaces deserving of the trust fund babies that probably line its inner walls. While I didn't run into any of my old teachers, I did see the maintenance crew in all their glory, and I visited the new art store where the old library used to be. I did take a break from the humidity to sit in the lobby of the liberal arts building and flashback to 1994 and
listen to fifteen minutes of Michelle Fricke discussing the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Michelangelo and Pope Adrian VI.
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KEMPER MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, FORMERLY OF THE KANSAS CITY ART INSTITUTE
The Kemper, always a hit or miss affair, was a little of both this time. The traveling show taking up 2/3 of the interior was a forgettable and unchallenging show of Wyeth paintings and drawings of dancers. I made it through four pieces before I needed to find the exit. The permanent collection, cooped up in one of the odd little angular rooms off the foyer, still is worth writing home about though. The whole place just feels
like such a lost opportunity its a shame.
NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART
The Nelson is growing up, and it's simultaneously a good and bad thing to see. With the exterior of the $200 million dollar addition now almost fully complete, the Nelson grounds are almost done shifting, and the collections inside are similarly finding new homes and interesting placements, allowing for more sculpture to be placed among the period rooms instead of being cast off into the crafty and
dark ceramics, pottery and miniatures wing. I smiled with joy when I saw the statue of Michael casting the rebel angels into hell given proper attention surrounded by period paintings. I also saw a slew of Thomas Hart Bentons for the first time in years, and was left, well, wondering why I clamored to see them so badly for all this time.
But the new addition is what really got me going. Modern architecture can and is a fine thing, when done right. But the two worse things it can do 1) is ignore its surroundings and 2)
use cheap modern building materials. The Nelson's expansion, despite its vital importance, combined two elements of modern architecture that make my skin crawl: the portable units outside overcrowded schools and the warm, friendly nature of Holocaust Museums. The modern architecture, built within feet of the classical
structure next to it, clashes horribly and rises unforgivingly from the ground in a series of plastic shafts connected by bridges and rooftop walkways. The Getty Museum it's not. My friend Corey was the lone holdout among everyone I talked to still wanting to keep an open mind and give the expansion a chance. On my next visit I hope to be proven wrong, but in the meantime, it's a horrible project gone wrong.
THE JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART
On the bright side of the art world in Kansas City is the happening things occurring at Overland Park's JCCC. Always the gallery for great art shows (seeing Kerry James Marshall and Basquiat shows 12 years ago still haunt my dreams) despite having what amounts to a conference room as a gallery space is actively collecting, showing and exposing art to the masses a community college has no right to do. They are also close to completing a new museum that will house
their entire collection. The running show of about 15 recent acquisitions was incredible. From a spot-on Lester Goldman to some painting that proves all the lies about its death and irrelevance (again) are just that, and the vigor and willful ways they've gone about procuring a major collection of contemporary art in the affluent, bland sprawling suburb of KC is beyond me. It was inspiring to see, and made me compare the sad 'teaching collection' of the
recently opened Blanton Museum of Art and the wealth and resources available to the University of Texas at Austin and wonder why they can't compete in the least with the impressive treasures on display in Overland Park.
KCAI Painting Building |  |
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KCAI Painting Building |  |
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KCAI Painting Building |
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KCAI Painting Building |
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