Visual Arts

Listen and watch the audio slideshow, with images from opening night, here.

On the opening night of the exhibition Life After Death: New Leipzig Paintings from the Rubell Family Collection at the Kemper Museum, we asked some of the museum patrons to share their reactions.

By Laura Spencer

The artists from the "New Leipzig School" have been described as the 21st century's first artistic phenomenon. Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Curator Christopher Cook and exhibition co-curator Mark Coetzee, curator of the Rubell Family Collection, located in Miami, Florida explore what drew the Rubells to the works.

By Laura Spencer

In the second half of their conversation, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art Curator Christopher Cook and exhibition co-curator Mark Coetzee, curator of the Rubell Family Collection, talk in more detail about the city of Leipzig and the teaching style of its Academy of Visual Arts.

By Laura Spencer

Kemper Museum Docent Winfried Wiegraebe was born and raised in West Germany, but after reunification, he lived in East Germany near Leipzig. Here, Wiegraebe describes the day the Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989, and some of the reactions to a united Germany. He also talks about his love for contemporary art.

By Laura Spencer

In conjunction with the exhibition, the Kemper Museum presents a film series called Behind the Wall Film Classics. Dr. Larson Powell, assistant professor of German and film studies at UMKC, highlights the challenges of Eastern Bloc filmmaking.

By Laura Spencer

Through an audio collaborative, KCUR and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art will provide listeners with the voices and insights of living artists. Since its opening in 1994, the Kemper Museum has brought more than 100 artists to Kansas City. The collaborative project will present these artists' voices as well as community and curatorial voices to a broad range of listeners.

By Laura Spencer

Kansas City Snapshot is a project created by the local chapter of the American Institute of Architects to celebrate the organization's 150th anniversary. As discussions continue about the future of the metropolitan area - from downtown Kansas City to Metcalf Avenue - organizers say this "yearlong experiment" could provide an opportunity to take a look at where we are now...and how we live, work and play.

By Laura Spencer