Kemper at the Crossroads

I’ve been wanting to visit this gallery for a long time but was never sure where it was located. There’s not a lot to identify it as it’s a nondescript building from the outside but when it is lit up at night it’s not hard to miss. It’s closed most of the time, however except for Friday nights and Saturdays.
I’m a fan of the Kemper Museum and it’s collection, if not the building (I don’t like Gunnar Birkerts Houston Museum of Contemporary Art either). Considering what an amazing set of buildings the Nelson Atkins has become, it seems the Kemper was really shortchanged in its design. But I digress…
So liking the art and hating the setting, I was curious to see what Kemper at the Crossroads has to offer. I didn’t think it was necessarily an attempt to be «relevant» a lot of museums such as MOMA and the Guggenheim are finding alternate spaces to display work.
We came here on First Friday and enjoyed our visit. I easily like this space more than the Kemper Museum! I like how open it is to the street and how raw the space is, allowing the artwork to shine. The outline of the original building is visible in the floor. I only wish it were larger.
In one room there was a lot of interesting work from well known artists such as Jim Dine and Sam Francis. In the room between there was work by children and artwork by the Kemper Museum staff in the third space. The work by the children and staff was really interesting to see (some of it was better than others) and one of the ‘artists’ was working that night. This made it feel very personal and engaging. That’s something the Kemper Museum lacks in its other location so this a step in the right direction and well worth a visit.

An anonymous art snob said: «It’s a diverting spectacle, but I’m not sure that it’s good art.» My untrained eyes respectfully disagree.
I was captivated by Jeanne Quinn’s beautiful, whimsical installations at the Kemper Crossroads. The sight of delicate porcelain vessels suspended precariously from the ceiling, saved only by their tenuous hold on steadily shrinking balloons, is powerful and dramatic.
And the radiant chandelier creation (think floating pearls and electric whale bones) draped throughout the main gallery is quite dazzling.
Ceramic In (ter)ventions will be on display until January 2012.

Although the argument could made this is the kempers attempt at seeming relevant by opening an outpost in kc’s trendiest pocket of downtown— I was impressed. It is a simple exhibit space probably half the size of the space the kemper uses for rotating shows at their main facility.
The Jaimie Warren show was exactly the type of thing I wish the kemper would do more. It was provocative, young, funny, and very «of the moment.» it’s also nice to experience a storefront museum which doesn’t need a whole afternoon to experience. The hipper sibling kemper downtown is definitely on my radar.

I don’t expect to love every exhibition here, but that is art… it is subjective. This new Kemper outpost is joins the KC artistic boom that is the Crossroads.
Although some purists would like to see the Crossroads remain a raw and wild artistic frontier, progress is only natural. Kemper is recognizing the Crossroads as a big player and Crossroad devotee’s may find themselves giving it up for a big player like Kemper.