Today I got my first look at two new exhibitions opening this weekend, George Segal: Street Scenes and Inventing the Shuttlecocks.
These exhibitions are part of the All-American Summer which celebrate many things including the 20th anniversary of the Kansas City Sculpture Park and the 15th anniversary of the Shuttlecocks sculptures.
Street Scenes is in the featured exhibition space at the very southern tip of the Bloch Building. As you approach through the serenity of Noguchi Court, you are confronted by a wall emblazened with red paint. This wall leads you into the exhibition where the first work of art you see is Chance Meeting (above is a bronze version which is currently in the main lobby of the Bloch Building).
The exhibition spans 40 years of Segal's career, however it focuses on one theme: the city. Segal was a native New Yorker but moved to New Jersey as a teenager when his parents decided to try their hand at chicken farming. Segal remained in New York to finish his education but eventually moved to New Jersey to help the family when his brother left for World War II.
Eventually, the chicken farming was abandoned but the Segal family remained in New Jersey. George spent the rest of his life commuting to New York on a regular basis to find inspiration in the people and neighborhoods of the city.
The 13 life-size works in Street Scenes are thoroughly urban in nature yet universal at the same time. Subjects such as homelessness and hunger, isolation and emotional tension are pervasive. That may sound like some pretty depressing stuff but Segal's use of ordinary people for his models and everyday situations such as people at a Diner or Bus Passengers gives the exhibition a sense of authenticity.
Segal isn't judgemental in his views of the Homeless or sentimental in Depression Bread Line. Instead, Street Scenes gives us the unflinching view of a city dweller who observed the human condition with a keen eye.
Street Scenes opens on Saturday, May 9.