Michael Brantley, The First Lady of Song, 2012, oil on canvas, 50 x 52 x 2 in. (courtesy the artist)
On view December 13, 2025, through May 3, 2026
McCaffree Gallery, Second Floor
NERMAN MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART, JOHNSON COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Free and Open to the Public
Visionary: The Work of Michael Brantley, guest curated by artist Harold Smith, will feature the elegant and sophisticated work of painter Michael Brantley. Brantley is a master painter whose work and practice elegantly and engagingly encapsulates the love, fears, hopes, and dreams within the Black experience.
Whether he is painting a portrait of a vibrant jazz singer, an emotionally stirring protest scene, or a reflective portrait, the humanity in his painterly approach illuminates his dynamic work from within. This exhibition will feature the artist’s latest work as well as some older works, giving the viewer a sweeping synopsis of Brantley’s enlightening practice.
Michael Brantley (b. 1970) is a multi-disciplinary artist living and working in Kansas City, Missouri. His work reflects and celebrates the lifestyle, heritage, and culture of American Africans. He is a figurative artist working with oil paint as his preferred medium. He creates art that inspires, informs, and provokes dialogue. His large-scale monochromatic paintings in the jazz aesthetic have been spotlighted by the NFL and exhibited at the American Jazz Museum and at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
Learn more about this exhibition at nermanmuseum.org.
