Permanent Collection

4420 Warwick Boulevard
Kansas City, MO 64111

Contact

Kemper Museum Policies

The Kemper Museum website uses cookies. By continuing to use the site, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use.

Hours

Employment

Docent Portal

Policies

News

Accessibility Statement

Accessibility

Atrium Project

Oil on Linen

Visit

Free Admission

Programs

Location & Directions

Plan Your Visit

Kemper Museum is a free art museum in Kansas City, Missouri that presents global contemporary art.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

The Arterie

Exhibitions

Exhibitions & Collection

Calendar

Groups & Tours

Volunteer

Public Programs

Mission

History

Architecture

Leadership

Community Partners

About

Give

Memberships

Legacy Society

Gala

Annual Report

Support

Cafe

Museum Shop

Special Event Rentals

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.

Land Acknowledgement

Join

Celebrate

Shop

Louise Nevelson (1899–1988) described her work as existing in “the in-between place”—somewhere between painting and sculpture, demonstrating stylistic influences from both Cubism (structure, form, and monochromatic palette) and Abstract Expressionism (movement, presence, and large-scale compositions). Using an array of found wood materials, arranged and painted in monochrome, Nevelson’s work appears to transform shadow into solid shape. This exhibition takes Nevelson as a point of inspiration and further explores the visual and historical connections between her wooden sculpture Untitled (ca. 1976–78) and other works from the Kemper Museum Permanent Collection. 

Early in her career, Nevelson was a student of Abstract Expressionist painter Hans Hofmann (1880–1966), who encouraged deep exploration of one’s desired medium. In 1959, Nevelson was part of a group exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York titled 16 Americans, which also featured Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, and Ellsworth Kelly. By including artists who were Nevelson’s influences and contemporaries throughout her decades-long career, this exhibition lifts up the visual, historical, and community correlations among them.

Deconstructing Louise Nevelson is the third in a series of exhibitions—following Deconstructing Francis Bacon (2013) and Deconstructing Robert Mangold (2015)—that focus on the style, themes, and history of individual artists within the Kemper Museum Permanent Collection. The Deconstructing series provides opportunities for meditations on the interconnectedness of artists and works of art in the Permanent Collection.

This exhibition was co-curated by Erin Dziedzic, director of curatorial affairs at Kemper Museum, and Taylor Carr-Howard, Kemper Museum 2017–18 curatorial intern.

Dan Budnik, (American, 1933–2020)
 Louise Nevelson, Grand Central Gallery, New York - 1958 with CATHEDRAL I, 1958, printed 2007
 from the series Picturing Artists, dye transfer print on paper, edition 2 of 10, 22 x 14⅜ inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
 Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, Gift of the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation, 2008.08.02.

Installation view
 Deconstructing Louise Nevelson, February 9–June 3, 2018
 Sally Kemper Wood Gallery, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

Exhibition Preview

Deconstructing Louise Nevelson

Louise Nevelson, (American, born Russia, 1899–1988)
 Untitled, (ca. 1976–78)
 painted wood, 80 x 48 inches
 Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri
  Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection, Gift of the Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation, 2009.30.01.