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| Renèe Stout, No Self Bagging, 1983, 21” x 23” unframed, acrylic on canvas. Image: Belger Collection. |
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People in the Belger Collection
June 5 – October 3, 2015
Opening Reception, First Friday, June 5, 6-9 PM
Belger Arts Center, 2100 Walnut Street, Kansas City, MO 64108
mdickens@belgerartscenter.org, 816-474-3250
Belger Arts Center is pleased to present a new exhibition titled People in the Belger Collection. The exhibit opens on First Friday, June 5, 2015 and runs through Saturday, October 3, 2015. All artwork in the exhibition is culled from the Belger Collection, one of the nation's most unique private collections.
For nearly 30,000 years artists have been portraying their fellow citizens in two and three dimensions (example, Venus of Willendorf). The invention of mirrors didn't stop this practice, nor did the invention of photography and motion pictures. Some people like portraying other people, and some people like being portrayed. Some artists do self-portraits (old school selfies). Then there are the third party observers to all this, the whole reason for galleries like the Belger Arts Center galleries. There are two common threads in this exhibition – all artworks are from the Belger Collection; and all are depictions of people by people for people. Feel free to shoot a selfie, but no flashes please!
The Belger Collection focuses on American artists and their work from 1960 to the present. The core of the Collection is comprised of large holdings of artwork by Terry Allen, William Christenberry, Jasper Johns, Robert Stackhouse, Renèe Stout, William T. Wiley, and Terry Winters. In addition to these seven, many other artists are represented in the Collection, as visitors will see.
This exhibition includes some artwork that has have never been shown at the Belger Arts Center. These works by Thomas Hart Benton, Daniel MacMorris, and Pablo Picasso, pre-date the normal time frame of the Belger Collection. MacMorris did commissioned artwork for the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Liberty Memorial, and other public spaces.
People in the Belger Collection includes art from Thomas Hart Benton, Douglas Bond, Nick Bubash, Jennifer Onofrio Fornes, Viola Frey, John Gutowski, Peregrine Honig, Wes Lyle, Daniel MacMorris, Ray Matterson, Richard McLean, Jack Mendenhall, Manuel Neri, Pablo Picasso, Larry Rivers, Herb Snitzer, Renèe Stout, and Akio Takamori. There is one collaborative piece made by Jane Winter and John Williams (featuring each visitor).
Belger Arts Center has hosted over 70 exhibitions of sculpture, painting, ceramics, textiles, prints, and projected imagery. Since opening to the public in the spring of 2000, over 70,000 visitors have attended exhibitions in the main galleries at 2100 Walnut Street. Belger Crane Yard Studios art complex opened in 2013 and is located within five minutes of Belger Arts Center near Kansas City’s historic Jazz District at 2011 Tracy Avenue, Kansas City, MO 64108. For more information, please contact Gallery Assistant Mo Dickens at mdickens@belgerartscenter.org, or at 816-474-3250.
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Downloads: Press release attached, Image 1: Renèe Stout, No Self Bagging, 1983, 21” x 23” unframed, acrylic on canvas. Image: Belger Collection. |
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