With the skillful hand of a woodworker and the collaged imagery of a cartoonist, Eric Fertman creates sculptures that evoke works by artists Philip Guston and Martin Puryear as well as drawings that evoke the urban grit of cartoonist R. Crumb. The Brooklyn-based artist embraces humor and whimsy and juxtaposes exaggerated bulbous “feet” with delicate and slender elements in his abstracted sculptures. This is the first solo museum exhibition for the Boston native who earned his BFA from Cooper Union in 1997.

Above: Eric Fertman, Stems, 2010; stained oak, steel, horsehair, 50 in. x 18 in. x 12 1/2 in.; Image courtesy of the artist and Susan Inglett Gallery

Although primarily known for his plein air landscapes, Kansas City-based painter Wilbur Niewald also paints portraits in his studio. This exhibition includes a variety of portraits by Niewald including commissions.

Listen to a Kemper ARTcast relating to Wilbur Niewald: The Studio Portrait.

Above: Wilbur Niewald, Self Portrait, 2010; oil on canvas, 32 x 23 in.; Courtesy of the artist.

This exhibition examines the friendships, romances, and collectives that have influenced the works and lives of artists from the Kemper Museum’s permanent collection. Inspired by Alfred Stieglitz’s Gallery 291 group of artists that included Georgia O’Keeffe and Arthur Dove, Companion Pieces also looks at the works of friendship-based artist circles, including husband and wife Elaine and Willem de Kooning and their good friend Fairfield Porter; Maine-based painters Neil Welliver and Alex Katz; and Bennington College colleagues Jules Olitski, David Smith, and Kenneth Noland.

Above: Georgia O'Keeffe, The Chestnut Red, 1924; oil on canvas, 36 x 30 in.; Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, Partial and Promised Gift of the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2006.22; © The Georgia O'Keeffe Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York, Images are protected by copyright.

This exhibition highlights new acquisitions to the permanent collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. The focal point will be the major installation Untitled #1336 (Scalapino Nu Shu) (2009–10) by artist Petah Coyne. This massive work features an apple tree, taxidermied pheasants, as well as a variety of taxidermied peacocks, among the artist's other nontraditional materials.

Listen to Kemper ARTcasts relating to The Big Reveal.

Above: Petah Coyne, Untitled #1336 (Scalapino Nu Shu), 2009–10; apple tree, taxidermy Black Melinistic Pheasants, taxidermy Blue India Peacocks, taxidermy Black-Shouldered Peacocks, taxidermy Spaulding Peacocks, black sand from pig iron casting, Acrylex 234, black paint, cement, chicken wire fencing, wood, gravel, sisal, staging rope, cotton rope, insulated foam sealant, pipe, epoxy, threaded rod, wire, screws, jaw-to-jaw swivels, 158 x 262 x 288 inches; Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum purchase with funds provided by the W. T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee; Image © Petah Coyne, courtesy of Galerie Lelong, New York, photo: Elizabeth Bernstein

Re-creations of nature have played a pivotal educational role in museum displays for over a century, and offer a rich dichotomy: constructions of nature, painstakingly researched, but ultimately artificial. This tension between the natural and the simulated has been taken up by a number of contemporary artists, and the works assembled here range from Anthony Lepore’s explicit exploration of the ways we present animal life to a viewing public, to Suzanne Caporael’s abstractions based on the natural cycles of salt marshes, resulting in highly formal studies in color and form. (Un)Natural Histories explores the myriad ways that artists have shaped—or commented upon—our viewing of our natural world.

Listen to a Kemper ARTcast relating to (Un)Natural Histories.

Above: Anthony Lepore, Coney Island Aquarium, 2007; pigment print 1/8, 40 x 50 in.; Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Gift of the artist and Marvelli Gallery, New York, New York, 2009.2