KANSAS CITY, MO.- Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art presents the exhibition Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still. on view August 28, 2026, through July 25, 2027. The exhibition will be presented in two parts, with a second rotation of artworks going on view February 5, 2027. The works featured in the exhibition suggest slowness, contemplation, silence, and rest. Referencing a 1995 portfolio in the Kemper Museum’s collection, which includes poetry by Michael McClure (b. 1932, Marysville, KS – d. 2020, Oakland, CA) and lithographs by Robert Graham (b. 1938, Mexico City – d. Santa Monica, CA), Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still. offers an invitation to the viewer. States of rest and pause are referenced and/or encouraged throughout the exhibition, which posits reflection and free time as key to the human experience, both necessary and sublime.
Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still. Is composed of approximately 30 works from the Kemper Museum’s collection, displayed across two galleries. The works are installed in an alternating rhythm featuring figurative representation, abstraction, and landscape, and verses from the Michael McClure poem, which serve as a structural underpinning for the show. Figurative drawing and painting like Two Models on Kilim Rug with Mirror by Phillip Pearlstein (b. 1924, Pittsburgh, PA – d. 2022, New York, NY), and Male Nude by Paul Cadmus (b. 1904, New York, NY – d. 1999, Weston, CT) are foundational to the work selection. They are presented alongside and intermingled with such meditative abstractions as Murmur, and Duet by Chenoae Kim (b. 1952, Inchon, South Korea) and Memory by Frank Owen (b. 1939, Kalispell, Montana), and contemplative landscapes including Equivalent by Alfred Stieglitz (b. 1864, Hoboken, NJ – d. 1946, New York, NY) and Midnight Shore by Helen Frankenthaler (b. 1928, New York, NY – d. 2011, Darien, CT).
The exhibition is organized by Amy Kligman, an artist, community organizer, and Independent Curator. Explains Kligman, “In positioning these works in conversation, the common thread is not the content or process of the image itself but the state of mind it reflects and evokes. Artmaking and art objects have served humanity as sanctuary for centuries. The relevance and need for such a respite is as present in the contemporary world as ever.”
