One of my large paper sculptures is in a group show at the Kemper Museum in Kansas City. Show runs January 30–April 26, 2015
"Meltdown" / 6ft x 8ft / 2012 / acid-free paper, glue, wood
Piece by Piece: Building a Collection premieres a selection of more than 30 objects in a range of media by 26 national and international artists from the Kansas City–based collection of Christy and Bill Gautreaux. The exhibition results from an enriching collaboration with the collectors and reflects extensive curatorial research into their energizing and ever-evolving contemporary art collection for which we are profoundly grateful. It highlights a global perspective, including established and emerging artists from Africa, Afro-Caribbean regions, Europe, India, Latin America, and the United States.
Meditations on process, pattern, and material emerge as a major thread connecting the works, anchoring the artists’ themes of abstraction, the body and gesture, race and politics, as well as landscape and geography. The exhibition presents a distinguished vision in the building and shaping of a unique collection. The Gautreauxes note that “Most of this work was collected one or two pieces at a time, often spontaneously,” acknowledging, “It is exciting to see it curated by the Kemper Museum into a cohesive exhibition.” It is our hope that this focus on artists’ engagement with material and process, elevating themes significant to their practice, will prompt continued dialogue with contemporary art at the Kemper Museum.
Artists include: Sanford Biggers, McArthur Binion, Sarah Braman, Nick Cave, Nathaniel Donnett, Leonardo Drew, Andrew Erdos, Teresita Fernandez, Vibha Galhotra, Theaster Gates, Jeffrey Gibson, Michelle Grabner with Brad Killam, Hayv Kahraman, Glenn Kaino, Bharti Kher, Katrin Korfmann, Aimé Mpane, Vik Muniz, Toyin Odutola, Angel Otero, Mariana Palma, Ebony G. Patterson, Jen Stark, Mickalene Thomas, and Kara Walker.
