Oct. 2 marks the 25th anniversary of the 1994 opening of Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and a quarter century of exhibitions and acquisitions that have expanded and enriched the Kansas City cultural landscape. In recognition of this milestone, “KC Studio” asked 25 Kemper watchers — including artists, critics, patrons, collectors and area museum professionals — to pick a favorite work of art or exhibition, which we chronicle in the following pages. — Alice Thorson, editor
Photos courtesy Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art
EXHIBITION PICK: “Beverly Semmes: Yellow Pool” 1995
KEMPER WATCHER: James Martin, curator and writer
EXHIBITION PICK: “Hung Liu: A Ten-Year Survey (1988 – 1998)” 1998
KEMPER WATCHER: Susan Goldenberg, violinist, Kansas City Symphony
EXHIBITION PICK: “Visualize the Art Guys” 1996
KEMPER WATCHER: Tal Wilson, photographer and educator
EXHIBITION PICK: “Christian Boltanski: So Far” 1998
KEMPER WATCHER: Theresa Bembnister, curator of exhibitions, Akron Art Museum
“The haunting images of the faces in those black and white photos are seared into my memory.”
— Theresa Bembnister
COLLECTION PICK: Petah Coyne, “Untitled #1336 (Scalapino Nu Shu)” (2009)
KEMPER WATCHER: Laura Spencer, arts reporter, KCUR
“Novelist and short story writer Flannery O’Connor’s peafowl, which gathered on the roof and in the trees of her Georgia farm, served as the inspiration for the work.” — Laura Spencer
EXHIBITION PICK: “Liza Lou: Back Yard and Kitchen” 1998
KEMPER WATCHER: Marc Wilson, former director and CEO, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
EXHIBITION PICK: “Abstract Painting Once Removed” 1999
KEMPER WATCHER: Robin Trafton, fine art curator, Commerce Bank
EXHIBITION PICK: “Lezley Saar” 1999
KEMPER WATCHER: Sonié Joi Thompson-Ruffin, artist and curator
EXHIBITION PICK: “Frederick J. Brown: Portraits in Jazz, Blues, & Other Icons” 2002
KEMPER WATCHER: Harold Smith, artist and writer
“I went to see it at Kemper Museum and the accompanying exhibit at the American Jazz Museum multiple times. Even bought both of the books and read them until they fell apart!” — Harold Smith
EXHIBITION PICK: “Robin Bernat: American Pastoral” 2003
KEMPER WATCHER: Heather Lustfeldt, curator and writer
EXHIBITION PICK: “Zephyr: Paintings by Gajin Fujita” 2006
KEMPER WATCHER: Larry Meeker, art collector
“I loved the mix of cultures — Japanese and Mexican — in his work, brought about by his ethnic origin and the neighborhood he grew up in in Los Angeles.” — Larry Meeker
EXHIBITION PICK: “Jaimie Warren: You Are So Beautiful in the Face” 2009
KEMPER WATCHER: Hesse McGraw, curator and partner, el dorado inc
COLLECTION PICK: Helen Frankenthaler, “Coral Wedge” (1972)
KEMPER WATCHER: Elise Kelly, Kemper Museum protection staff
EXHIBITION PICK: “Keltie Ferris: Man Eaters” 2009
KEMPER WATCHER: Steve Abend, architect and collector
“Seeing Keltie’s work again at a New York art fair brought Barbara and I to commission a huge painting titled ‘[[[O]]][[[O]]].’ It is an explosion of forms and colors at the center of our home . . .” — Steve Abend
EXHIBITION PICK: “David Bates: The Katrina Paintings” 2010
KEMPER WATCHER: Steve Paul, author and columnist
EXHIBITION PICK: “Gao Brothers: Grandeur and Catharsis” 2010
KEMPER WATCHER: Evelyn Craft Belger, executive director, Belger Arts Center and Belger Crane Yard Studios
“The work is very political, of course, but it also has irony and makes you look at contemporary culture/society in a different way.” — Evelyn Craft Belger
EXHIBITION PICK: “Faces of Change: 22 Inmate Portraits by Photographer Nick Vedros” 2015
KEMPER WATCHER: Jan Schall, former curator of modern art, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
EXHIBITION PICK: “The Center is a Moving Target: If You Ever Lived (T)here” 2015
KEMPER WATCHER: E.G. Schempf, photographer
“I was especially moved by the Gina Adams tents; Caitlin Horsmon’s piece was a standout. Jim Woodfill’s installation was great too! All the artists and the curator utilized the Kemper Crossroads space perfectly.” — E.G. Schempf
EXHIBITION PICK: “Rashid Johnson: Hail We Now Sing Joy” 2017
KEMPER WATCHER: David Hughes, founder and director emeritus, Charlotte Street Foundation
COLLECTION PICK: Marsden Hartley, “Backwaters Up Millinocket Way” (1939)
KEMPER WATCHER: James Brinsfield, artist
“On the eve of World War II, Hartley turned the ordinary into the extraordinary in this synthesis of a clunky, darkly romantic, 19th-century provincial landscape with a 20th-century nihilistic vision of death, destruction and displacement.” — James Brinsfield
EXHIBITION PICK: “Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction 1960s to Today” 2017
KEMPER WATCHER: Bruce Hartman, executive director and curator, Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art
EXHIBITION PICK: “National Portrait Gallery Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition” 2017
KEMPER WATCHER: Merily Goetz, Kemper Museum docent
COLLECTION PICK: Virginia Jaramillo, “Principle of Equivalence” (1975)
KEMPER WATCHER: Doug Drake, independent art consultant, Drake Fine Art
EXHIBITION PICK: “Nkame: A Retrospective of the Cuban Printmaker Belkis Ayon” 2018
KEMPER WATCHER: Elisabeth Kirsch, curator and writer
“I visited the show six times and brought everyone I knew.” — Elisabeth Kirsch
COLLECTION PICK: Jacques Lipchitz, “Bellerophon Taming Pegasus: Large Version” (1964)
KEMPER WATCHER: David Cateforis, professor and chair of art history, University of Kansas
“I love the swelling, rippling, thrusting volumes of the giant kicking horse with his hand-like wings, his baroque energy calmly held in check by the diminutive Bellerophon, who is virtually an afterthought in the composition.” — David Cateforis
