2022 Permanent Collection Acquisitions
27 works by 14 contemporary artists including Hung Liu, Aliza Nisenbaum, and Shinique Smith joined the Kemper Museum Permanent Collection in 2022. Together, these recent acquisitions celebrate the museum’s exhibition history, prioritize investment in and representation of the artists from historically excluded backgrounds, and emphasize the importance of art as a mode of interpreting our contemporary world.
Ernesto Caivano (Spanish, born 1972), Reverse Pendulum in Blue, 2008, stenciled linen pulp and screenprint on cotton base sheet edition 21 of 81, 10 x 8 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.1. © Ernesto Caivano. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Beth Campbell (American, born 1971), Endless Outcomes, 2017. Abaca, pigmented linen on cotton on handmade paper, edition 32 of 35, 18 x 14¾ inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.2. © Beth Campbell. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Lesley Dill (American, born 1950), Rapture’s Germination, 2009, silver linen paper on abaca and kozo blend base sheet with silkscreened, pulp paint and collage, edition 26 of 72, 19½ x 15¾ inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.3. © Lesley Dill. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Carl Fudge (British, born 1962), Platelayers’ Shed, 2010, silkscreened linen pulp on cotton base sheet with embossing, edition 51 x 104, 20 x 20 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.4. © Carl Fudge. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Richard M. Polsky (American, born 1931), Untitled, 2019, pencil, ink, paint, and metallic paint on handmade paper, 29 x 22 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.5. © Richard M. Polsky. Image courtesy of Dieu Donné
Richard M. Polsky, (American, born 1931) Untitled, 2006, pencil, ink, and paint on paper, 22 x 29½ inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.6. © Richard M. Polsky. Image courtesy of Dieu Donné.
Richard M. Polsky, (American, born 1931), Untitled, 2017, 20 x 20 inches. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.7. © Richard M. Polsky. Image courtesy of Dieu Donné.
Richard M. Polsky (American, born 1931), Untitled, 2016, colored pencil, paint, and metallic paint on handmade cotton paper, 18½ x 40 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.8. © Richard M. Polsky. Image courtesy of Dieu Donné
Richard M. Polsky, (American, born 1931), Untitled, 2016, pencil, ink, paint, and metallic paint on handmade paper, 20¼ x 20 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.9. © Richard M. Polsky. Image courtesy of Dieu Donné.
Richard M. Polsky (American, born 1931), Untitled, 2016, colored pencil and paint on handmade cotton paper, 18¼ x 39½ inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.10. © Richard M. Polsky. Image courtesy of Dieu Donné.
Richard M. Polsky (American, born 1931), Untitled,, 2016, pencil, colored pencil, and paint on handmade cotton paper, 18½ x 39½ inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.11. © Richard M. Polsky. Image courtesy of Dieu Donné.
Paul Wong (Chinese American, born 1951), Carbon, silver and gold, 2016, pigmented linen and cotton pulps, edition 20 of 25, 18 x 11 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.12. © Paul Wong. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
B. Wurtz (American, born 1948), Untitled, 2013, cotton and linen handmade paper with mesh bags, metal wire, and wood, veneer paper, edition 14 of 25, 25½ x 18 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dieu Donné, New York, 2022.3.13. © B. Wurtz. Image courtesy of Dieu Donné.
13 works on paper by Ernesto Caivano (Spanish, born 1972), Beth Campbell (American, born 1971), Lesley Dill (American, born 1950), Carl Fudge (British, born 1962), Richard M. Polsky (American, born 1931), Paul Wong (Chinese American, born 1951), and B. Wurtz, (American, born 1948). Gift of Dieu Donné, New York.
Based in New York, Dieu Donné is a leading non-profit cultural institution dedicated to serving established and emerging artists through the collaborative creation of contemporary art using the process of hand papermaking. The organization has worked with artists represented in the Kemper Museum Permanent Collection including Lesley Dill, Jim Hodges, Virginia Jaramillo, and Do Ho Suh. In 2022, Kemper Museum was honored to receive a gift of 13 works on paper by seven artists from the organization that demonstrate more than five different paper-making techniques.
Natalie Frank (American, born 1980), White Cat I, 2019-2020, from Madame d’Aulnoy, gouache and chalk pastel on paper, 30 x 22 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2022.5.1. © Natalie Frank. Photo: Farzad Owrang.
Natalie Frank (American, born 1980), White Cat II, 2019-2020, from Madame d’Aulnoy, gouache and chalk pastel on paper, 30 x 22 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2022.5.2. © Natalie Frank. Photo: Farzad Owrang.
Natalie Frank, (American, born 1980) Woman (Magnifying Glass), 2019 linen pulp on cotton base sheet 33 x 24 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Dorothy R. Davies, 2022.2. © Natalie Frank. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Three works by Natalie Frank (American, born 1980): One multimedia work, an early handmade paper work created at Dieu Donné, New York as part of a first-ever long-term residency, gift of Dorothy R. Davies, and two recent drawings added to Kemper Museum’s Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection through a museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee.
Natalie Frank is an interdisciplinary artist whose work focuses on the intersection of sexuality and violence in feminist portraiture. Frank’s complex narrative drawings of women are influenced by overlooked stories and storytellers in literature that spans erotica to fairy tales. In 2022, Kemper Museum co-organized and presented the exhibition, Natalie Frank: Unbound. Championing the power of storytelling and narrative agency, the exhibition brought together 42 drawings inspired by feminist readings of some of the best-known and most provocative literary narratives. 2022 acquisitions White Cat I and White Cat II were both presented in the exhibition. Woman (Magnifying Glass) is an example of Frank’s handmade paper pulp painting series which contributes to the museum’s collecting focus on works on paper, and gifted to the museum in celebration of the artist’s solo exhibition.
Hung Liu (Chinese American, 1948–2021), To Create Mankind’s Happiness. Gift of Nancy C. Salgado Trustee of David Salgado Trust 2010 (Trillium Graphics), Sherry Leedy, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Jeff Kelley, Hung Liu Studio, and Toma Wolf, Byron Cohen Gallery.
Kemper Museum is honored to acquire this significant work by Hung Liu. An artist born in China, raised under the Maoist regime, and educated in both China and the United States, Liu was a painter known for engaging and challenging narratives present within historical Chinese imagery. Liu had a deep relationship with Kemper Museum, which presented two major solo exhibitions by the artist during her lifetime and has interpreted her work in numerous Permanent Collection exhibitions over three decades. Kemper Museum has one of the largest holdings of works by Hung Liu in its Permanent Collection.
Hung Liu American, 1948-2021 To Create Mankind’s Happiness, 2012 mixed media 41 x 240 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Nancy C. Salgado Trustee of David Salgado Trust 2010 (Trillium Graphics), Sherry Leedy, Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Jeff Kelley, Hung Liu Studio, and Toma Wolf, Byron Cohen Gallery, 2022.9. © Estate of Hung Liu.
Aliza Nisenbaum, (Mexican American, born 1977). DJ Luis, 2021, oil on canvas, 64 x 57 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2022.6.1. © Aliza Nisenbaum. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2021.
Aliza Nisenbaum, (Mexican American, born 1977). Dálida and Michael (Serenata del Tres Cubano), 2021, oil on canvas, 64 x 57 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2022.6.2. © Aliza Nisenbaum. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2021.
Aliza Nisenbaum, (Mexican American, born 1977). Sheree, 2021, oil on canvas, 64 x 57 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2022.6.3. © Aliza Nisenbaum. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2021.
Three paintings by Aliza Nisenbaum (Mexican American, born 1977) presented in the sixth year-long annual Atrium Project installation, a commissioned that presents the work of emerging and mid-career Hispanic and Latinx artists. Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee.
New York-based artist Aliza Nisenbaum is known for her bright paintings and unique approach to portraiture. She has exhibited across the world, working with locals in each city—from Delta Airlines and Port Authority workers for a commission from the La Guardia Airport to staff of the Liverpool Alder Hey Children’s Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic for an exhibition at Tate Liverpool. For the sixth annual Atrium Project, New York-based artist Aliza Nisenbaum created large-scale portraits of individuals connected to the Kansas City salsa music and dance communities.
Leonard Pryor, (American, 1924–2015), Paper Boy, 1949, oil on canvas, 42 x 29½ inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Renée Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor in loving memory of their parents Leonard and Maxine Pryor, 2022.1.1. © Renee Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Leonard Pryor, (American, 1924–2015), Female Figure Study, 1958, oil on canvas, 22 x 20 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Renée Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor in loving memory of their parents Leonard and Maxine Pryor, 2022.1.2. © Renee Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Leonard Pryor (American, 1924–2015), Seated on Stool, 1958, oil on canvas, 22 x 18 inches. Gift of Renée Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor in loving memory of their parents Leonard and Maxine Pryor, 2022.1.3. © Renee Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Leonard Pryor (American, 1924–2015), Relaxing, 1958, oil on canvas, 30 x 23½ inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Renée Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor in loving memory of their parents Leonard and Maxine Pryor, 2022.1.4. © Renee Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Four paintings by Leonard Pryor (American, 1924–2015). Gift of Renée Pryor Newton and Craig Pryor in loving memory of their parents Leonard and Maxine Pryor.
Leonard Pryor was a Kansas City-based artist and educator who played an influential role in the cultural landscape of the city. Pryor was the first Black student enrolled at the Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI), where he studied with renowned artist Thomas Hart Benton, whose work is also included in the Permanent Collection. Pryor later worked in Benton’s studio, and in conversation, these collection works can reveal how the two artists may have influenced each other and build a deeper and more inclusive understanding of Kansas City’s cultural history. Pryor went on to join the faculty at KCAI and became the school’s first Black dean of students. Throughout his career he also organized exhibitions of work by Black artists, was the district coordinator for art, music, and physical education for Kansas City Public Schools, and taught art and photography at Lincoln High School, where he was the department chair. Three of these newly acquired works were on view in the 2022 exhibitions, Five Years and Counting: Expanding the Permanent Collection and Third Person: Storytelling as Cultural Construction.
Untitled by Paul Anthony Smith (Jamaican, born 1988). Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee.
This large-scale work by Paul Anthony Smith represents a collage of images from New York, where he lives, and the Caribbean, where he is from, overlaid with his unique picotage process in a pattern reminiscent of cinderblock fencing largely found at properties in the Caribbean. (A photo of Smith working with in his studio with a photograph featured in work is featured this New York Times profile.) The picotage process of picking away tiny portions of the photographic image began more than a decade ago in Kansas City, where the artist attended the Kansas City Art Institute. This work created for Smith’s 2022 solo exhibition at Kemper Museum, which celebrated that significant innovation in his career.
Paul Anthony Smith Jamaican, born 1988 Untitled, 2022 picotage on inkjet print with paint and sticker mounted on Dibond 71⅝ x 104 inches Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, Bebe and Crosby Kemper Collection. Museum purchase made possible by a gift from the William T. Kemper Charitable Trust, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, 2022.4. © Paul Anthony Smith. Courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. Photo: E. G. Schempf, 2022.
Granny Square by Shinique Smith (American, born 1971), Gift of David Castillo, Miami.
Kemper Museum is honored to welcome the first work by artist Shinique Smith into its collection in 2022, after first exhibiting the artist’s work in the influential 2017 exhibition, Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction. In 2022, Kemper Museum was honored to bring Smith to Kansas City as part of a collaboration with Juneteenth KC and three area museums: The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art presented a new performance by Shinique Smith titled Breathing Room: Evocation; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art hosted an artist talk by Smith; and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art presented the exhibition Shinique Smith: STARGAZERS.
Shinique Smith, (American, born 1971), Granny Square, 2013, acrylic, fabric, and collage on wood panel. 48 x 48 x 21⁄4 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of David Castillo, Miami, 2022.8. © Shinique Smith.
Offering IX by Reginald Sylvester II (American, born 1987), Gift of a private collection.
Born in North Carolina, educated in the Bay Area, and based in New York, Reginald Sylvester II is an emerging artist inspired by theology, personal histories, and innovative use of color and material. His work is grounded in movements in American abstraction especially Abstract Expressionism, including work by many of the artists in Kemper Museum’s Permanent Collection, including Helen Frankenthaler, Willem de Kooning, and others. This acquisition preceded the 2023 exhibition, Reginald Sylvester II: Green Gate.
Reginald Sylvester II (American, born 1987), Offering IX, 2022 acrylic, paper, tarp and rubber over wood 60 x 72 inches. Collection of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri. Gift of Private Collection, 2022.7. © Reginald Sylvester II. Image courtesy the artist and Maximillian William, London. Photo: Daniel Greer.