Leo Villareal Microcosm Illuminated!

We are so excited to have the Leo Villareal sculpture Microcosm re-illuminated!

Microcosm (2007) by Leo Villareal is a site-specific permanent installation. It consists of thousands of white LEDs, custom software, electrical wiring and hardware. It was re-illuminated in April 2025 after a years-long effort to completely restore the work.

Leo Villareal, Microcosm

Fusing art and technology, Leo Villareal’s Microcosm is part of the cantilevered entrance of the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. The artwork’s 60,000 light-emitting diodes (LEDs) shift and swirl to create countless patterns dictated by a computer program created by the artist: “I create the conditions and see what interesting things happen,” Villareal says. “There is never the exact same repetition of patterns.”

This extraordinary union of art and architecture came together before the museum even opened the doors in 2007. Villareal and his team worked with Kyu Sung Woo Architects and J.E. Dunn Construction during the construction of the building to install the work.

“The LED is a remarkable piece of technology, allowing limitless possibilities in light sculptures,” Villareal said. He writes code, based on an old game program (John Conway’s Game of Life), and uses formulae to vary the parameters for the light. Even under the prescribed conditions, the movement constantly changes. “Even though you might recognize a sequence of lights, there is always a variation in its velocity or the number of times it is repeated.”

 

Villareal is inspired by rules, chaos theory and nature, where small particles build together and then break apart like ocean waves crashing against land. Similarly in his installations, light fractals cluster together, then diminish and eventually disappear. “Light has a primal effect. I hope the work captures people’s attention, then as they look at it longer, they see more and more in it. People will have different experiences with the piece. They will see it very legibly from the road, and as they approach the front of the museum, they will see it at different scales. I want the piece to give the museum a sense of life and animation. I want it to give the sense that something exciting is going on inside the building.”

In addition to the Nerman Museum’s piece, Villareal has a permanent installation in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and has installed temporary pieces worldwide including on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and on 15 bridges spanning the Thames in London. His sculpture, Fountain (KCI) 2023, is prominently featured at the Kansas City Airport.

Leo Villareal received a BA from Yale University in 1990, and an MPS from Tisch School of the Arts, New York University in 1994.

New Works on View in the Mezzanine!

Il Lee, BL-076 , 2006, ballpoint pen on canvas, 72 x 48 in. Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS, Acquired in part by gift of Jung Lee Sanders and Andrew Jonas Sanders and in part by purchase with funds provided by the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Art Acquisition Endowment at the JCCC Foundation

There are new works on view in the museum’s mezzanine now that the Shooting Stars High School Scholarship show has been de-installed.

Some of the works are old friends (Tomory Dodge’s Wasteland, for example) but others have never been on view before.

This drawing by Il Lee was recently added to the collection thanks to a generous donation. Learn more about Il’s work:

 

IL LEE – Artist – Biography – Art Projects International

Positive Obsession: Drawings by Basil Kincaid

We are so excited to have Basil Kincaid’s exhibition on view at the museum!

Positive Obsession: Drawings by Basil Kincaid | Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

In addition to drawings and textile works, Basil has designed games. Check out his website for more information about these other projects: Basil Kincaid’s website

 

Exhibition open! Amy Kligman’s Salon is a huge hit!

It has been amazing to see how fast folks have taken to using The Salon for Possible Futures to meet and hang out! I have seen so many students, families and community members using the space, playing games, writing in the notebooks, having meetings.

A reminder that this exhibition is activated through extensive programming, and you are invited to attend any of the programs that will be hosted each month through December. We hope to see you at a movie or karaoke night or a workshop in the weeks and months ahead!

There are a couple programs on the calendar coming up (one is tomorrow!)

Works back on view in Regnier Center

Diego Romero, Dancing Coyotes, 2007, earthenware, 6 1/2 x 15 1/2 in. Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS. Photo: EG Schempf

The Regnier Center 2nd floor focus area artworks that were temporarily de-installed for their safety during recarpeting of those hallways are back on view!

We are so happy to have almost all of the works in the American Indian Art and Latino Art focus areas back up to use in tours and to enjoy each day. There were a couple of works that did not go back on view – please note that the Linda Haukaas Commodification of Indian Art drawing remains off-view to give it time to rest (reduce UV exposure). Marilou Shultz’s Untitled (computer chip weaving) also remains off-view as it continues to be on loan for other exhibitions.

Linda Haukaas, Commodification of Indian Art, 2009, graphite on paper bag, 16 x 16 x 5 in. Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS. Photo: EG Schempf

 

And another update! The Polly Apfelbaum work that was on the 2nd floor (near the Jeffrey Gibson American Girl (punching bag work)) has been removed and replaced with the work by Zachari Logan.

Zachari Logan, Pride Blooms Ditch Flowers, from Eunuch Tapestries, 2020, pastel on black paper, 59 x 65 in. Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Johnson County Community College, Overland Park, KS. Photo: EG Schempf

 

 

A Match Made in Heaven!

Attendance is up, people are spreading the word about the exhibition and bringing their friends!  As we welcome more people to the museum, we are adding more resources and options for engagement.

Just this last 2 weeks we’ve hosted groups from local middle and high schools, homeschoolers, the National Museum of Women in the Arts, numerous JCCC classes and the JCCC student sustainability committee to name only the folks who attended guided tours (and in spite of the snow days!)

Middle school student fashion design, inspired by tour

We’re looking forward to announcing more activities and resources soon.

As was announced at the talk on Feb 6, there was a review in Vogue magazine here

And mark your calendar, if you are a fan of fashion and wish to support JCCC Fashion students, there is the annual student fashion show coming up Friday, April 18

 

We’re gearing up for a BIG exhibition!

It’s been a hive of activity at the museum since we re-opened Jan 2. There have been hundreds of pedestals being built, floating shelves installed, giant paintings hung, mannequins assembled and dressed, and so much more (including a wall being moved from inside the gallery to out in the lobby). It is impossible to express in words just how packed with creativity this show is going to be! On our exhibition page

Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the opening talk Feb 6th: Katherine Bernhardt x Jeremy Scott Artists Talk | Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art

Perhaps, like me, you hadn’t heard of Jeremy Scott or Katherine Bernhardt before. Here is a brief bio page for them both to get started:

1-pager JS+KB

A documentary about Jeremy: Jeremy Scott: The People’s Designer – Wikipedia Jeremy Scott and Katie Perry at MET Gala (NY Times)

About the chandelier dress: Katie Perry Chandelier Dress (Vogue)

A recap (with images) of some of the most exciting designs Jeremy made during his tenure at Moschino: Jeremy Scott’s designs 2013-2023 (Business Insider)

Katherine’s gallery:

Katherine Bernhardt at David Zwirner Gallery

An interesting article about her home: Katherine Bernhardt’s amazing home (T-magazine)

A video of her discussing her work and process: Katherine Bernhardt (Apartmento Magazine)

Interview with Katherine in St. Louis Magazine: Both written and audio interview

More info and images to come!

 

Happy Winter! Reminder: Museum Closes for JCCC Break

Our temporary exhibitions may all be closed, but there continues to be a flurry of activity every day preparing for 2025! A reminder that we’ll be closed to the public after tomorrow until the new year, Dec 21-Jan 1, open again on Jan 2!

We’ve updated the “On View at the Museum” to reflect the many changes to what is on view inside the museum now. Whenever a huge exhibition is being prepared, there is a game of Tetris that is played with moving other art objects to make room, both in the galleries and in storage. It is all very exciting and we’re looking forward to sharing more details and photos in 2025!

In taking down the Actions for the Earth exhibition we had one time-sensitive task to handle, which was removing the live plants in such a way that they could be transplanted and transported to the greenhouse. When we went to start this process, we realized just how happy some of those plants have been – they may not have all gotten tall since August, but their root systems are amazing!

With the help of our exhibition tech team, we were able to get them safely stowed for winter and will be looking forward to planting them on the JCCC campus in spring!

Rashawn Griffin’s Apparatus 15 (Internal Fixation) now on view in Regnier Center

Rashawn Griffin’s work has been placed in the Regnier Center on the 2nd floor, just outside the room that is affectionately called “the cube” (a glass walled meeting room). It takes the place of the Roberto Lugo ceramic Kobe Urn, which is on loan to SFMOMA for their Get in the Game exhibition all about sports: Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture · SFMOMA. 

Prior to Lugo’s work being in this location, Wendy Red Star’s Untitled (silver) [Jingle Dress] was in this spot, and that work is also on loan (along with many other works from our collection), to the Spencer Museum in Lawrence for their Native Fashion exhibition: Native Fashion | Spencer Museum of Art. Check that one out before it closes Jan 5!

Here is the label info for Rashawn’s work:

Rashawn Griffin (b. 1980)

Apparatus 15 (Internal Fixation)

Clay, glaze

Collection Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, 2024.026, Acquired with funds provided by the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Art Acquisition Endowment at the JCCC Foundation

For the exhibition Sun Drinks White at the Nerman Museum in 2023, Rashawn Griffin created immersive environments that were simultaneously spaces, sculptures, and paintings. This included a room-like structure The Interior Fixation with a mirrored inside, which was filled with ephemera as well as ceramic sculptures, such as Apparatus 15 (Internal Fixation), seen here in isolation. With twisting, attenuated forms that recall limbs or organs, the organic nature of the clay sculptures calls to mind the possible dual meanings of ‘interior’ – the inside of a room but also of a body or a mind.

Rashawn Griffin earned an MFA from Yale University, New Haven, CT, and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.