Blog @ the Nelson-Atkins

Pictured here is an “island” of casework installed in the center of one of the new American Indian galleries.

The new cases are made up of three basic components: the top section contains the object lighting; the major central portion comprises the display area; and the lowest section houses trays that are filled with silica gel to buffer unexpected humidity changes in the galleries. Interior case walls provide a neutral background palette in shades of light to dark gray.

These cases are being fabricated by the same company that worked on the cases for the African galleries in the Bloch Building.

On Saturday, I attended a program at the Museum called Conversation with Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. Works by the ParkeHarrisons are featured in the current photography exhibition Restoration: Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison.

The ParkeHarrisons met at the Kansas City Art Institute and spent plenty of time at the Nelson-Atkins which is right across the street.

The discussion was fascinating as they explained their process. They explained that they don't really consider themselves photographers. Her background is in painting and choreography while his comes out of drawing. They discovered that what they really enjoy is the manipulating of mutliple genres including dance, theatre and painting through photography.

Their process is very labor intensive. They do tons and tons of research as they approach each series such as The Architect's Brother which makes up a large part of the exhibition. Once they feel they have a direction, they build elaborate sets and props. They always work outside which creates its own set of issues including weather and sometimes permissions.

Their works are sometimes whimsical, sometimes despondent. They are intentionally ambiguous but always open to interpretation.

I thought it was interesting when someone in the audience asked how they decide who has the better idea or which direction they will take with a series. The answer was that they are in constant conversation with one another whether they are working or just living as husband and wife. When they have disagreements, they try it both ways and the better idea always becomes evident.

Restoration is on view through Feb. 8. Admission is free.

If you've been in the Bloch Building recently and heard squeals and giggles, you were probably in the general vicinity of Resting Places Living Things: Designs by Michael Cross in the Contemporary Project Space.

The gallery contains a floor that has hills and valleys which this group was enjoying on a recent afternoon. In addition to the floor, there is a table with glass jars full of colored wires and light bulbs. There are tree branches on the walls that act as shelves and a table that has a pulse.

Even if you don't have kids, it is such a refreshing change to walk into a museum gallery where you are invited to touch and interact with the art.

Today, I noticed that a new Family Gallery Guide is on the stands. This one features early transportation and will take you on a true journey through the European collection.

The guide includes several types of transportation including animals and boats. My favorite "mode" of transportation was a pair of shoes featured in the painting A Frankish Woman and Her Servant.

I guess you would call that "a la mode" transportation! (If you don't get it, check your high school French dictionary for a translation).

The new works on paper rotation, Caricature, Fashion and Fantasy features a group of prints from Goya's series Los Caprichos (The Caprices).

The series was a not-so-subtle critique of the foolishness of Spanish society during the late 18th century but the messages are universal dealing with issues such as the horrors of war, vanity, superstition and general stupidity.

The eight prints on view are amusing but also telling about what that society considered most important: money, fashion and status. Something that I'm sure us enlightened 21st centurians can find hard to relate to.

In All Plucked (above), Goya shows several women chasing a group of chickens with their brooms. The chickens have been newly plucked of their feathers and have the heads of men. The inscription on the print explains that once a woman has got a hold of a man's money, he can be discarded.

Another print, Until Death, shows an old woman primping in front of a mirror while her relatives fawn over her waiting for her untimely death when they might stand to inherit a great sum of money.

If you're not interested in the messages of the prints, you've got to appreciate the work of an artist who was considered one of the last great old masters. Plus, these works are not on view very often because they are highly sensitive to light. Either way, it is a valuable lesson.

½ Manila Curved Area Series W

News has made its way to me that the Museum has acquired several new works for the Modern and Contemporary collection. I hope to share some of those with you over the next few months.

The first to be unveild are two prints by Robert Mangold. They are from a series he worked on in 1968 that consisted of semicircular configurations of solid color subdivided into wedge-shaped sections.

Thank you to Leesa Fanning, Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art for her description of the following works.

In the same year of these prints, Mangold was creating paintings called the W and X series. The composition of these prints is the same as those paintings and their black lines form variations on that motif. Also, repetition of a kind of unit, such as the wedge-shaped form and the desire to make a composition based on a set of rules, around which certain variations can occur, are fundamental principles of Minimalism.

Mangold also believed that a “beautiful thing” about a “fraction of a form,” a semi-circle for example, “is that it is implies a circle, but it is also a complete thing in itself.”

Mangold emphasizes the literal quality of his art and formal qualities—line, color, form, repetition balance, and proportion are the subject matter of his art. He has consistently refused to make statements regarding content. As he says, “Art should be taken at face value.”

For all of the objectivity of the work, and the clearly rational approach to art making, ½ Gray Curved Area Series X and ½ Manila Curved Area Series W subtly reveal slight variations in the thickness of the black lines, and in small irregularities along the black lines, to convey the touch of the artist.

Together, these two prints join Four Color Frame Painting #4, a major work in the existing Modern and Contemporary collection, to build not only our holdings of Mangold’s work but Minimalism in general.

½ Gray Curved Area Series X

The best Museum guards are invisible. They blend into the gallery so as to not intrude on a visitor's experience with the art but they are present and ready to answer questions or share interesting facts without hesitation.

Six security guards at the Nelson-Atkins are getting their chance to step into the spotlight with an exhibition called On View at the Paragraph Gallery in Kansas City.

This show creates a venue where these artists can be seen by a public that doesn't usually notice their presence, a public they watch constantly, writes curator Marcos Gonzalez.

Gonzalez is interested in the phenomenology of the museum as understood from the perspective of the artist-guard: How are the artistic temperaments of these full-time artist-guards affected by the dynamics of the museum, the Nelson's collection, and the patrons viewing it? How does their work as paid people watchers put these artists uniquely in touch with the public's cultural spirit and standards of taste? How does their own work embody and reflect these insights.

On View is open through Nov. 13 from Noon to 5 p.m. on Thursdays & Saturdays. Paragraph Gallery is in downtown KCMO at 23 E. 12th Street.

Two of the new American galleries are now complete and ready for art installation, which will begin in January 2009. The respective rooms are painted in rich, deep shades of red and green.

The white cutout space in the mid-ground of the green room will house the John La Farge stained glass window, Peonies Blowing in the Wind, from 1889. The American galleries are scheduled to open in April 2009.

Just in case you haven't heard, tomorrow is the big day when America will elect a new president. I'm not a big fan of crowds and waiting in line so I cast my vote last week (very forward thinking for a state that gets dissed for being stuck in the stone age). I look forward to the day when we will be able to vote online as long as it can be safely verified that my cat didn't vote 27 times for the candidate of the Feline party.

Whether you voted early or just want to wait for Tuesday to enjoy your free coffee from Starbucks, I'm giving you an opportunity to warm up your voting muscles by casting your ballot for your favorite work of art at the Nelson-Atkins.

Highlights from the Museum's 13 collections are available on our website. Here's a tip: If your favorite work of art is not one of the selected works listed under each collection, try entering the title or the artist in our Search box. Chances are that it may pop up anyway.

In honor of the election, I have chosen Canvassing for a Vote by George Caleb Bingham (above) as my favorite.

And don't forget to vote in the other election!