INSIDE AND OUT!

Entrance to Kemper Museum...Louise Bourgeois' "Spider"

Lawn Sculpture Kemper Museum "The Thinker"

This was the first time I have been to the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.  If you are familiar with Kansas City, it is right off the Plaza tucked in behind a major hotel.  The Kansas City Art Institute is right across the street and the Nelson Gallery of Art is around the corner.  When I was a little girl we used to go to the Wishbone Restaurant....that's right, home of the famous salad dressing...and I think it was on the site where this Kemper Museum now sits.  Originally, this was a neighborhood of elegant mansions.  There are still some left in the area.  The administration building of the Art Institute was a mansion and the Wishbone Restaurant was in another.  The Nelson Gallery was the original home of William Rockhill Nelson, founder of The Kansas City Star.  

Enough history!  The Kemper Museum covered the walls of their cafe with canvases...quick copies of famous paintings.  I am posting a detail so you can see how they put it together with a metal framework between the paintings.  I think this is a fabulous idea for artists to create in their own homes.  I could use more wall space and this is a great solution!  It reminds me a little of a painting quilt!

                     

Detail of wall

The next image is a triptych by David Bates.  Each painting is quite large and the three together   make a powerful statement.  These are images of people from New Orleans after the devastation of hurricane Katrina.  There was a major exhibition of his paintings on this theme and the museum purchased these 3.  I purchased the book and will have an opportunity to read more about it.  I love his style and I am particularly interested in how he put so many images in the same painting so compactly to great effect.  I am definitely adding David Bates to my favorites list.

David Bates Triptych "The Storm" Katrina painting 60" x 250"