Jules Olitski
Eos the Titan, 2006
arylic on steel
82 x 50 x 83 inches
Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, Museum Purchase made possible by a gift from the R.C. Kemper Charitable Trust, 2007.7

Tom Otterness
Crying Giant, 2002
bronze, edition 2 of 3
132 x 78 x 173 inches
Museum Purchase made possible by a gift from the Kearney Wornall Foundation and the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation 2002.24 a–b

Tom Otterness is internationally known for his public sculpture whimsical, cartoonlike figures that enact narratives related to culture and history. Like Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker, the figure in Crying Giant (2002) sits with his head in his hands. This monumental bronze on the southwest corner of the Kemper Museum’s lawn measures 11 feet high and more than 14 feet deep, and weighs more than 5,700 pounds.

Louise Bourgeois
Spider, 1996, cast 1997
bronze with dark polished patina, edition 3 of 6
133 x 263 x 249 inches
Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection
Gift of the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee
1997.7.2
 
Spider I, 1995
bronze with dark and polished patina, edition 2 of 6
50 x 46 x 12 1/4 inches
Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection
Gift of the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee
1997.7.1
 
Louise Bourgeois began her career as a Surrealist painter and engraver, but in the 1940s turned to sculpture, working first in wood, then later in rubber, stone, and bronze, as in the Spider sculptures on the front lawn and façade of the Kemper Museum. According to the artist the spider is a feminist hero figure—protective, deliberate, and patient. These bronze spiders honor the artist’s mother.

Claes Oldenburg/Coosje Van Bruggen
Architect's Handkerchief, 1999
polyester gelcoat and polyurethane clearcoat on fiber-reinforced polymers, 149 x 144 1/2 x 89 inches, edition 3 of 3
Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, Museum Purchase, Enid and Crosby Kemper and William T. Kemper Acquisition Fund and the R.C. Kemper Charitable Trust and Foundation, 2006.17a–b

Michael Rees

Putto 2x2x4, 2005

animation and LuminOre on fiberglass over expanded polystyrene foam and steel; animation: 1 minute, 48 seconds; sculpture: 192 x 122 x 175 inches

Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Museum Purchase made possible through a gift from DST Systems, Inc., 2005.1a–b

Part of Michael Rees's "monsters" series, Putto 2x2x4 features an 18-foot sculpture accompanied by a two-minute animation on a 6-foot by 9-foot outdoor video display. The work stands just west of the historic Folly Theater at 12th and Central Streets in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.  As the animated figure dances through a variety of contortions and wrestles with itself, passers-by are confronted with the grandeur of Rees's surreal assemblage—a monster with two legs, two large fingers, and four small toes. A native of Kansas City, Rees embraces new media technology for his work.