Drawn from the Museum’s never-before-seen holdings of photographs by Arthur Tress, this exhibition features works from his 15-year project The Wurlitzer Trilogy. Inspired by Surrealism, Tress mixes fantasy with humor and makes ambitious, elaborately constructed sets using a variety of props—from teapots to fish tanks—to create dreamlike images. In addition to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, his works can be found in the collections around the globe, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1950, Tress now lives in Cambria, California.

Above, left: Arthur Tress, Their Cause in its Essence…New York, 1988; from the series Fishtank Sonata, 1987–90; Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, gift of Drs. Antionio and Luz Racela