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Kemper Museum is a free art museum in Kansas City, Missouri that presents global contemporary art.

Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art

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Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art acknowledges it resides on the ancestral territory of the Osage, Kaw, and Otoe-Missouria, among other tribal nations forcibly moved to the region such as the Shawnee, Wyandot, Delaware, Potawatomi, Sac and Fox and Kiikaapoi (Kickapoo) nations. We recognize and support the continued vibrancy of Native communities and cultures today who continue to thrive, as well as the inherent sovereignty of tribal nations. We are compelled to serve and advocate for these communities in accordance with our public mission.

Kemper Museum acknowledges and respects the diversity of Native people connected to this land today. Many recognize the land and all beings who live within it as relatives. We acknowledge the earth we inhabit, the waters of the Blue River, the Kansas River, the Missouri River, and the plants, animals, and people supported by them. 

We acknowledge our responsibility to be good caretakers of the land we occupy. 

Click here to learn more about our land acknowledgment process.

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Pattern is a common thread that connects these works from Kemper Museum’s Permanent Collection. Whether as imbedded designs in Polly Apfelbaum’s Squiggles (2018) and Thomasin Grim’s Deck (1990) or as a display configuration in Gio Swaby’s multi-panel Together We Bloom 2 (2023), these works draw on elements of pattern to convey a range of ideas and perspectives.

In Deck (1990) Grim creates what she calls a “symbolic narrative,” exploring the notion of fate versus will using black and white woven thread representations of tarot card drawings. This larger grid is structurally akin to Swaby’s silhouette portraits of women from her own close social circle, each one using varying patterns. While many of Swaby’s figures are known to her, Bisa Butler’s A Man’s Worth (2019) depicts with multiple fabric patterns a debonair Bill Hurley, a chauffeur for the white mayor of Charlottesville whose testimony in 1904 helped convict his former employer of murder. Paying homage to painter Alma Thomas, Butler uses small repeated light teal tick marks as the background for Hurley’s image. Apfelbaum also pays homage to a historical figure: Gilbert Baker, who originated the pride flag in 1978. In this large woven rainbow floor work, she incorporates the original flag’s hot pink color into her eight-stripe squiggled design, a color that was removed due to lack of fabric.

This exhibition directly connects to other fiber-based works on view throughout the Museum, in dialogue with Hangama Amiri: A Homage to Home in the Charlotte Crosby Kemper Gallery and Sarah Zapata’s So the roots be known, the eighth annual commissioned Atrium Project. Thread: Making Patterns is curated by Erin Dziedzic, former director of curatorial affairs at Kemper Museum.

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At Kemper Museum there is no charge for admission, parking, special exhibitions, or programs. Your donation underwrites these expenses and inspires many thousands with contemporary art each year.

Thread: Making Patterns

Bisa Butler (American, born 1975), A Man's Worth, 2019, quilted and appliqued cotton, wool, and chiffon, 89 x 50 inches. Promised gift of Bill and Christy Gautreaux, PG.2019.09.01. Art and photo © Bisa Butler, courtesy of Claire Oliver Gallery.