Traveling artists give ‘home’ a new meaning with Kemper exhibit
“The Soul of Kansas City (El Alma de la Ciudad de Kansas)” by Juan Diego Gaucin. // Photo by Kylie Volavongsa
The World in Kansas City celebrates KC’s intercultural, intermedium landscape of visual art.
It’s on view now through Aug. 9 and features the works of over 16 KC artists—not purely local per se, but hailing from various countries. Chief Curator Jessica Hong, who officially started at the Kemper in January, developed a vision for the show when asking Kansas Citians what they love about the city and what excites them.
“I will say it resoundingly: everyone seemed to be freaking out about the World Cup and bringing all these people to Kansas City,” Hong says. “Simultaneously, I was doing studio visits with artists from around the world. I was like, ‘Wait, how did you end up here?’”
From there, Hong dug further into Kansas City’s legacy of migration and exchange. As a result, the show’s selection challenges what we might consider to be local versus global.
“Structural Form: Globe” by César López // Photo by Kylie Volavongsa
Featured artist César López, for instance, was born in Guatemala, is an alum of the Kansas City Art Institute, and currently lives in Connecticut for an MFA program. Sculpture is his specialty, and his aluminum piece “Structural Form: Globe” floats from a chain over one of the gallery’s entrances, spinning slowly by motor.
As he explains the piece, López recalled a memory from 25 years ago, when he drew water from a well as his brother ran to tell him they were going to America. At the time, Guatemala had just come out of a civil war.
“So our world is very different, and for other places in the world that have had trouble, as you can imagine, technology is one of those things that essentially helps countries and civilizations move forward,” López says. “This is an interest of mine, so you’ll see the effect of technology, the speed of movement. There’s a little bit of a traveler feel to what I think about.”
Fatimah Tuggar works augmented reality into her piece, “Home’s Horizons.” You can download an app and point your phone camera at one of her paintings. What follows is a moving collage, with fantastical imagery of UFOs, boats, and octopi. There’s music to accompany it, too. And while you could listen with headphones, Tuggar’s playing of the sounds out loud evokes another means of cultural exploration, of engaging with art differently from what’s expected of a quiet museum setting.
“I was born in Nigeria and grew up there and in the UK. So, my notion of home when I moved here also changed and it’s an ongoing experience for me,” Tuggar explains. “My piece is an exploration about the notion of home—you know, the different kinds of containers that we consider home and the kinds of homes we aspire to.”
With the exhibition comes additional programming, where visitors can hear from and create with the artists themselves. Some activities include studio nights, film screenings, and workshops. They’ll be held on specific dates from March to July.
Admission to the Kemper is free. More visitor information is available here.
