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Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art acknowledges it resides on the ancestral territory of the Osage, Kaw, and Otoe-Missouria, among other tribal nations forcibly moved to the region such as the Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Potawatomi, Sac and Fox and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) nations. We recognize and support the continued vibrancy of Native communities and cultures today who continue to thrive, as well as the inherent sovereignty of tribal nations. We are compelled to serve and advocate for these communities in accordance with our public mission.

Kemper Museum acknowledges and respects the diversity of Native people connected to this land today. Many recognize the land and all beings who live within it as relatives. We acknowledge the earth we inhabit, the waters of the Blue River, the Kansas River, the Missouri River, and the plants, animals, and people supported by them. 

We acknowledge our responsibility to be good caretakers of the land we occupy. 

Click here to learn more about our land acknowledgment process.

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Lucía Vidales (b. 1986, Mexico City) engages drawing and painting media to explore and expand the lineage of traditional art historical subjects. In Hambre, her massive installation commissioned for Kemper Museum’s ninth annual Atrium Project, Vidales takes on the iconic Last Supper, a portrayal of the apostles’ reactions to Jesus announcing that one of them would betray him. Hambre both pays homage to and critiques historical imagery associated with the Last Supper, and addresses modern pictorial representations of a dinner scene, acknowledging the evolution of the genre, subject, and setting.

Vidales uses traditional painting and drawing as a window into the complex social, cultural, and historical layers of meaning within meal sharing, dinner parties, and gathering spaces, where eating and community are central elements. “The first time I lived in an international context, I noticed that Latinos and Latin Americans stayed long after meals to chat, have coffee, dessert, a drink, or a smoke at a leisurely pace,” Vidales observed. She added:

In Mexico, where I live, as in other parts of Latin America, mealtime and after-dinner conversations are culturally very important and privileged spaces for social life. The time spent cooking, preparing meals and all the activities that go into preparing a gathering are what is usually considered in the realm of female activities, and often part of unseen and unacknowledged labor. Those are also spaces for building close connections, solidarity, and enjoyment, gossip, confessions, and skill building. Lucía Vidales

In this new work for Kemper Museum’s atrium, the many layers of charcoal drawing that create the network of silhouetted figures beneath the painting honor those who make it possible for gatherings to take shape such as chefs, kitchen prep cooks, servers, and more. The painting of guests gathered around a table—while hung in front of the drawing—contains sweeping marks and washes that coalesce seamlessly with the background, emphasizing their connectedness.

For the first time in 2024, the Atrium Project is expanding to fill the entire central core of the museum. In addition to the commissioned installation, which has grown to span 22 x 25 feet, Hambre also includes preparatory drawings for the installation, providing insight into Vidales’s development of her surreal forms and adept use of color transitions. Her mural-scale painting Viendo Desde El Monte Calvario (2020) depicting a pilgrimage destination, the Christian site where Jesus was crucified, stretches her modernization of a historical subject across the space. Hambre means “hunger” in Spanish and here could refer to people’s hunger for some type of experience from a religious site. It also alludes to the artist’s hunger for contemporary depictions to broaden the scope and audiences of these religious sites, subjects, and scenes from visual culture. In this eight-panel painting, Vidales employs her unique mark making to evoke the blurred boundaries between human, animal, and spiritual place. The result is Vidales’s forming of a new mythology from past visual, folkloric, and spiritual histories.

Together, Vidales’s paintings and drawings encourage considerations of what we know of prescribed historical imagery and how that may have the potential to expand in contemporary art and life. 

Hambre is curated by Erin Dziedzic and organized by Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

Lucía Vidales is a painter who lives and works in Monterrey, Mexico. She is currently an Art Professor at University UDEM and has been awarded three times with the Jovenes Creadores grant by the Secretaría de Cultura, Mexico. Vidales’s layered paintings engage themes of materiality, the body, and the consequences of historical and colonial imaginaries. The beings that populate her paintings suggest the potential for confrontation, but seldom follow through. Instead they play with humor or anxiety, or seek consolation from ancient wounds.

2014 M.F.A., National Autonomous University of Mexico, Faculty of Art and Design, Mexico City

2009 La Esmeralda National School of Painting, Sculpture, and Printmaking of the National Institute of Fine Arts, Mexico City

2021 Sudor Frío, PROXYCO, New York, New York

2021 Manoteta, PEANA, Monterrey, Mexico (20; 

2020 To cool the blue, Taka Ishii Gallery Ph / F, Tokyo

2019 Noche durante el día, Sala Gam, Galería de Arte Mexicano, Mexico City

2019 Come as you are, House of Deslave, Tijuana

2018 Cuerpo de esta sombra, Galería Alterna, Mexico City

2020–21 Four Women Painters at the Crossroads, Sapar Contemporary (at Piero Atchugarry Gallery), Miami 

2020 Murales para un cubo blanco, Sala de Arte Público Siqueiros, Mexico City

2020 Daichi Takagi, Lucia Vidales, Hiroka Yamashita, Taka Ishii, Tokyo

2019 City Prince/sses, Palais de Tokyo, Paris

An Artist Grappling With Mexico’s Cultural Legacy

Slow Bodies, Racing Hearts: Lucía Vidales’s Paintings of Our Changing Selves

The Atrium Project is an annual series of commissioned projects that presents the work of emerging and mid-career Hispanic and Latinx artists. Featured artists included José Lerma (2016), Firelei Báez (2017), Paul Henry Ramirez (2018), Angel Otero (2019), Joiri Minaya (2020), Aliza Nisenbaum (2021), Pepe Mar (2022), and Sarah Zapata (2023). These site-responsive projects involve artists visits to Kansas City, inspiration from which is often incorporated into the projects. This exhibition is organized by Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.

Exhibitions are always free thanks to the generosity of members and other donors. Join or donate today to support free access to contemporary art.

Lucía Vidales: Hambre

Installation view, Lucía Vidales: Hambre, September 20, 2024 - September 7, 2025, Atrium, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2024.

As Kemper Museum celebrates its 30th anniversary, Executive Director Jessica May has spent her first year at its leader learning about the Permanent Collection. Director’s Cut offers a peek into her explorations. Every artwork tells a story; this exhibition bridges the stories of contemporary art and artists with the personal reflections of a dedicated art lover. Come reflect with us!

Generous contributions of all sizes help keep the Museum FREE for all visitors.

At Kemper Museum there is no charge for admission, parking, special exhibitions, or programs. Your donation underwrites these expenses and inspires many thousands with contemporary art each year.

Director's Cut

Petah Coyne, Untitled (#887P-97), 1997, gelatin silver print, edition 1 of 3, 60 x 40 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Anonymous gift in honor of Bebe and Crosby Kemper on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. 2013.15 © Petah Coyne, courtesy of Galerie Lelong. Photo: courtesy of Galerie Lelong.

Considering Kansas City’s storied legacy of jazz, Riffs on Real Time explores the expansive possibilities of riffing and more broadly, the power of rhythm and music. As the exhibition’s starting point, Leslie Hewitt’s eponymous work nods to this musical approach by creating juxtapositions and layers in her compositions demonstrating riffing’s conceptual richness. Riffs on Real Time builds on this idea with works from the Kemper Museum’s collection featuring artists riffing on different artistic styles or movements and aspects of popular culture. Additionally, it includes works highlighting the cultural and sociopolitical dimensions of rhythm and music as well as their ability to convene, even galvanize.  

Organized by Jessica S. Hong, chief curator, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Featured Works

Riffs on Real Time

Leslie Hewitt (American, born 1977), Riffs on Real Time (5 of 10), 2024, chromogenic print, 1/1 edition + 1 AP, 30 ⅝  x 44 ¼  x 2 inches framed, Courtesy of the Artist and Perrotin © Leslie Hewitt. Photo: Guillaume Ziccarelli, 2024. 

Stan Douglas (Canadian, born 1960), Luanda-Kinshasa, 2013, single-channel video projection, 6 hours 1 min (loop), color, sound, overall dimensions variable. Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. © Stan Douglas. Courtesy the artist, Victoria Miro, and David Zwirner. 

Stan Douglas (b. 1960) is a Canadian artist whose work investigates the intersection of technology, image-making, and collective memory through the mediums of film and photography. For Stan Douglas: Metronome at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, three major video works are showcased, each focused on the theme of music. As an audiophile and former DJ, Douglas uses music as a metaphor for social and political conditions and a means for global cultural exchange. By intertwining historical moments with the present, his work highlights themes of memory, social unity, conflict, and the complexities of cultural interaction.

The featured works in Stan Douglas: Metronome include ISDN (2022), which connects rappers from the UK and Egypt through the now-obsolete ISDN technology, exploring social struggles and aspirations. Luanda-Kinshasa (2013) imagines a historic jam session at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio, creating a utopian musical space where different nationalities come together. Douglas’s early work, Hors-champs (1992), features Black expatriate musicians improvising a "free jazz" session, while his photographic series Disco Angola (2012) and 2011 ≠ 1848 (2022) delve deeper into themes of collective memory and cultural transference. Through these pieces, Douglas blends narratives and geographies, challenging binary thinking and reimagining both history and the present.

Stan Douglas: Metronome is organized by the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and curated by Kevin Moore. It is supported by a major publication, Stan Douglas: Ghostlight, published by Dancing Foxes Press in collaboration with the Center for Curatorial Studies (CCS), Bard College, Hessel Museum of Art. The book includes essays by CCS graduate program director and chief curator Lauren Cornell, Kevin Moore, and other prominent scholars.

This playlist, inspired by Stan Douglas: Metronome, was created by Kara Smith, Education Programs Manager at the American Jazz Museum.

Stan Douglas: Metronome

Free contemporary art museum in Kansas City, Missouri

Kemper Museum is a leading presenter of contemporary art and ideas in Kansas City, Missouri. 

Welcome to Kemper Museum

Join the Kemper Teen Arts Council for a creative activity at the museum!

Careers in Art: Teen Info Night

An innovative storytelling performance for all to enjoy!

"In Community" Jazz Storytelling with the American Jazz Museum

We’ve all heard of life drawing, but what about ‘life writing?’

"In Community" Studio Night: Life Writing with the Kansas City Public Library

An art-filled day of fun for homeschool families!

Homeschool Open House

Join us for an evening of creativity and community at the museum featuring a live performance by Jass of Manor Records.

Open Drawing Featuring Jass

The museum hosts its annual Block Party to highlight one of the most creative blocks in KC!

Kemper Museum Block Party

Kemper Museum Block Party 2025

A Talk & Tasting with Marissa Gencarelli, Co-Owner of Yoli Tortilleria

"In Community" Sobremesa
A Talk & Tasting with Marissa Gencarelli, 
Co-Owner of Yoli Tortilleria

Sing songs, read books, explore art, and make your own art with a Kemper Museum educator and Kansas City librarian.

Totally Tots

"In Community" Summer Madness Silent Concert

Celebrating 30 Years

Dálida and Michael (Serennata del Tres Cubano)

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Carry III

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Carbon, silver and gold

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Helen Frankenthaler and Alexander Liberman in her East 83rd Street studio, New York - 1967, with GUIDING RED

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Deck

Textile Installations

In Praise of Prairie Dogs

Prints

The Wedding

Film & Video

Untitled Escape Collage

Mixed Media

Keep admission, parking, special exhibitions, and programming free for everyone.

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The Kemper Teen Arts Council invites KC area professionals to share a behind-the-scenes look into their art-related industries to help teens learn more about creative career paths.

Listen as each presenter briefly shares their background and current career. Following introductions, speakers will join attendees for more in-depth conversations.

Kimi Kitada, Gallery & Programs Manager at Charlotte Street Foundation 

Ariel Lacey, Sculpture & Fabrication Artist 

Joe Straws III, The Mad Scientist, DJ, Drummer, & Educator

Click here for information on how to get to the museum and where to find our free parking lots.

In Community Jazz Storytelling with the American Jazz Museum

As part of our In Community series, Kemper Museum invites the American Jazz Museum to host Jazz Storytelling. Aimed at toddlers to early childhood learners, Jazz Storytelling is led by vocalist Lisa Henry, storyteller Brother John, drummer Mike Warren, and bassist Tyrone Clark. 

With masterful skills, they bring an innovative performance for all to enjoy! Participants will be able to engage with Lucia Vidales’ artwork in the museum Atrium through music, storytelling, and sound.

Photo: Installation view, Lucía Vidales: Hambre, September 20, 2024 - July 13, 2025, Atrium, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2024.

The In Community programming series provides a variety of entry points and opportunities to gather at the museum and explore music, spoken word and storytelling, art-making and food tied to Kemper Museum’s latest Atrium project: Lucia Vidales: Hambre.

In Community Studio Night: Life Writing with the Kansas City Public Library

Studio Night looks a little different this month! We’ve all heard of life drawing, but what about ‘life writing?’ Join us at Kemper Museum for an evening of ‘life writing’ – responding to prompts in real time with written prose, short stories and/or stream of consciousness writing. As a part of the museum’s In Community series, Kansas City Public Library’s Kaite Stover will lead this workshop centered around themes in Lucia Vidales’ Hambre.

Featuring hands-on art-making activities, guided mini-tours of the galleries and more, Kemper Museum invites you for an art-filled day for homeschoolers!

Drop-in anytime for maker activities in the Engagement Space inspired by works on view.

Join a docent for a family-friendly mini-tour.

Take an adventure throughout the museum with two special scavenger hunts!

Share ideas with educators for future homeschool programs at Kemper Museum.

Make sure to grab a takeaway activity from the visitor services desk!

Kemper Museum programs are FREE for everyone only because they are supported by many. Join or make a gift today!

Public programs are always FREE for everyone only because they are supported by many.

Head to Kemper Museum each month for an evening of community and creativity!

This month featuring live music by Jass of Manor Records.

Pick up a stool, drawing board, and provided drawing materials, or bring your own sketchbook and find a spot for open drawing at the museum. New this year, select Open Drawing nights will feature live music organized by Manor Records.

All levels of experience are welcome. Cash bar. (Kemper Museum members receive two free drinks.)

Attendees are allowed to bring their own sketchbooks, paper, and pencil. Otherwise, please use the materials provided by the museum.

Please use only graphite pencils, colored pencils, and crayons in all areas of the museum.

Markers, ink pens, charcoal, paint, watercolor, etc. are NOT allowed (nothing that is liquid-based or highly friable) in any areas of the museum.

Larger drawing boards can be used in the Atrium, but please use standard or smaller size clipboards if you enter one of the galleries.

Folding stools can be taken into the galleries. No easels, tables or drawing horses in the galleries.

Set up a minimum of 6 feet from artwork in the entire museum, and please do not blow or swipe graphite dust or eraser debris toward artworks.

Please dispose of any pencil shavings or any other debris in trash cans provided.

Kemper Museum programs are FREE thanks to support from members and other donors. Join today!

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Public Programs are FREE for everyone only because they are supported by many.