Visual Arts

For more than 500 years, African cultures have responded to European contact with a range of emotions - from admiration to resentment.

Kansas City, MO – An exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, "Through African Eyes," tells the story from the African point of view, through more than 90 artworks: bronze sculptures, photographs, wooden masks, paintings, and other objects made of ivory, metal and textiles. KCUR's Laura Spencer reports.

Marc Swanson's "Descent of Civilization (Bison Memorial)" is on view to the public at the northeast corner of 9th and Broadway, in downtown Kansas City. Here, Swanson talks about his influences and process.

By Drew Bolton

Ceramic artwork is on display across Kansas City. Three installations at the H&R Block Artspace, the Belger Arts Center, and Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art, celebrate the Kansas City Art Institute's 125th anniversary with work by faculty, students and alumni of the renowned ceramics department.

British ceramic artist Clare Twomey's interactive installations have been known to "produce feelings of surprise, wonder, joy, and introspection."

Kansas City, MO – Twomey's new exhibition, "Forever," at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, features 1,345 objects, authored by the artist; it's an interpretation of an 18th-century salt-glazed stoneware caudle cup from the Museum's Burnap Collection of English Pottery. There's also an interactive dimension: visitors can apply to be the owner of one of the cups.

A new sculpture, "Descent of Civilization (Bison Memorial)" was unveiled Wednesday morning at the corner of 9th and Broadway in downtown Kansas City. The work pays tribute to the American buffalo or bison of the American West.

Kansas City, MO – Brooklyn-based artist Marc Swanson has been described as a social provocateur and alchemist.

Many of Swanson's works combine animal forms with light from mirrors or cut glass. His sculpture, a towering bronze skeleton called "Descent of Civilization (Bison Memorial)" was inspired by a photograph.

Steve Kraske welcomes Juliàn Zugazagoitia to talk about his new job and his plans to extend the Nelson Atkins's role in the community.

Kansas City, MO –

Artist Ana Maria Hernando is joined by poet, writer, and psychotherapist Kenneth Robinson of Nashville, Tennessee, to read poetry in Spanish and English.

By Drew Bolton

Kansas City, MO – "Ana Maria Hernando: When the Women Sing"
October 1, 2010-January 15, 2011
Kemper at the Crossroads

Music: Excerpt from "Gallery Echo Sutras" by Jeffrey Rukaman