Angel Otero (b. 1981), Let Water Run, 2009, Oil on canvas
Angel Otero discusses his art and techinique in this PBS NewsHour video:
The Nerman Museum owns two other works by Angel Otero, 10 Karat Still Life, which was featured in Adorned in 2022-2023, and Blindness.
Angel Otero, 10 Karat Still Life, 2009, Oil on linen
Angel Otero, Blindness, 2011, Oil on canvas
You can also learn more about Otero’s works through his website and his artist page on Hauser & Wirth.
Linda Besemer (b. 1957), Fold #84, 2002, Acrylic on aluminum rod
The Carolyn Campagna Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum in Long Beach, California, created a publication entitled “Linda Besemer: StrokeRollFoldSheetSlabGlitch,” named after Linda Besemer’s 2022 exhibition by the same name.
“StrokeRollFoldSheetSlabGlitch is the first survey of works by Los Angeles-based artist Linda Besemer. This exhibition emphasizes Besemer’s ongoing commitment to exploring alterity through conscious “othering” of abstraction and reflects upon the artist’s search for new meaning in painting over the past thirty-five years. Featuring twenty-three works produced between 1993–2021, the exhibition showcases key moments in Besemer’s career, taking visitors on a journey through the evolution of their practice, starting with early traditional gestural abstraction, exploring their “detachables” works, and culminating with their most recent glitch series. Visitors are also invited to delve into Besemer’s process and explore a collection of the artist’s maquettes, annotated drawings, and gouache color studies.”
The Nerman Museum has this publication in their Art Education Library. If you are interested in further exploring her body of work, schedule a time to stop by via email at tours@nermanmuseum.org, or, if you are JCCC Staff or Faculty, or a Nerman Museum docent, you can also check out the book for up to two weeks! You can also learn more about her artworks on Besemer’s website.
A different work by Besemer was also featured in the Nerman Museum’s queer abstraction exhibition, which was named one of the top 16-thought provoking exhibitions to visit in 2020.
Since Ding Shilun’s work, The Expulsion, was placed in the lobby a little less than a month ago we’ve been enjoying exploring the many intricacies and nuances of the painting. It is a great piece to spend some extended time with!
For more information about the artist, there’s an interview in W Magazine: Artist Ding Shilun Makes His Own Mythology (wmagazine.com)
and the gallery website features lots more information, including some videos of the artist speaking about his work: Ding Shilun – Video | Bernheim (bernheimgallery.com)
Ding Shilun (b. 1998), The Expulsion, 2022, Oil on canvas
We were so pleased to have Joel Daniel Phillips come speak at the museum on Aug 9th, and video of his talk is now available:
In his talk he mentions the book that is associated with his Killing the Negative series, a book he worked on in collaboration with another artist, poet Quraysh Ali Lansana. I have a copy of this book available in our Education Library now, volunteers may check it out!
Artist Website: JOEL DANIEL PHILLIPS
“Killing the Negative: A Conversation in Art & Verse” – this is the book in our library
It is very exciting to have Edgar Heap of Birds’ work on view now in the Kansas Focus Gallery – what could be a more appropriate location for this work than a gallery that is itself named for the land that we’re situated in.
The works in Kansas Focus Gallery do not always relate specifically to the Kansas landscape or anything thematically associated with Kansas, rather the artist have an association with Kansas in some way (they were born, raised, went to school or lived in Kansas at some point).
In this case however, the exhibition currently on view in that space is drawing our attention to our relationship with the landscape itself, with the environment and peoples who have existed in this place and continue to do so. Learn more about Edgar Heap of Birds’ Native Host sign series:
Katherine leading JCCC nursing student tour
We had a blast leading tours for JCCC Nursing students yesterday evening, continuing our tour programming specifically designed for healthcare professionals to help them hone their observational skill through looking at art.
We’ve hosted many Art Vision tours and programs over the years, if you haven’t had a chance to attend or lead a tour, here is some additional information you can check out:
Art Vision symposium guest speaker M. Jordan Love: watch video
University of South Florida, Contemporary Art Museum: watch video
Yale Center for British Art and dermatology: watch video
Artist Bridget Stewart: Observation Mindfulness PDF
Did you know that the popular series Art21 features numerous videos about artists in the Nerman Museum’s collection? There are videos about artists Louise Bourgeois, Nick Cave, Do Ho Suh, Keltie Ferris, Kerry James Marshall, Arlene Shechet and more.
Amy Sillman: To Abstract | Art21
New this week there is a video about Amy Sillman, an artist whose work, Elephant, is often feature on tours at the museum. Check it out!
We were lucky enough to have artist Preston Singletary visit the museum to speak at the Kansas Art Education Association conference in 2019 (and to perform with his band Khu.eex!) we were able to sit down with him and ask some questions specifically about the piece in our collection:
When Dyani White Hawk visited fall 2023 (just before she won the MacArther Genius grant!) we were able to sit down and chat about her work in the museum’s collection. A video of her speaking specifically about Untitled (All the Colors), and the transcript, are now available online:
Hallway installation 2024 May (PDF of Labels)
Just outside of the museum’s studio classroom and administrative offices there is an installation of works on paper and a small weaving from the museum’s permanent collection now on view! These works take the place of the Prairie Printmaker works that had been installed in that space since last fall. Stop by and take a look sometime soon, as these works will likely only be on view through summer, getting swapped out in early fall (TBD).
There is also a new work on view in the adult classroom space, a work on paper by Dylan Mortimer (this takes the place of the Emmi Whitehorse). If you missed it back in 2017, we have video of Dylan speaking at the Dazzling Decade exhibition opening (he speaks second, starting at about minute 23).
Fun fact: the hallway is one of the best places to install these smaller scale light-sensitive works in the museum because it has almost no natural light exposure. It is also an area that gets a lot of foot traffic.
