On View at the Kemper!

This spring is an especially exciting time for Washington University’s Kemper Art Museum.The museum has two special exhibitions on display: one featuring the contemporary paintings of artist Thaddeus Strode and the other gathering an international group of artists responding to timely global issues of war, violence, and injustice.

The Kemper Art Museum invites all school and community groups to participate in a range of free special educational programs designed to closely examine the museum’s current exhibitions as well as its permanent collection. Open to young and adult audiences alike, these programs offer participants a unique opportunity to explore modern and contemporary art through a wide range of strategies, including educator-led tours, looking activities, free-form creative writing, and sketching in the galleries. To schedule a visit to the Kemper Art Museum, or for more information about these special programs, please contact Michael Murawski, coordinator of education and public programs at murawski@wustl.edu or 314-935-7918.

Thaddeus Strode: Absolutes and Nothings

On display until April 21st

This exhibition features the large-scale canvas paintings of Los Angeles artist Thaddeus Strode. In these works, Strode creates imaginative universes overflowing with an array of dripping and splashing paint, recurring circles, graffiti-like marks, text bubbles, monsters, and comic characters. 

On the Margins

On display until April 21st

“On the Margins” brings together a diverse group of international contemporary artists whose work addresses current social and political conditions while transcending the spectacle proffered by the popular news media. The exhibition also closely examines the visual language of these contemporary artworks, which draw on sources as varied as travel advertising, video games, cartoons, photojournalism, and fashion magazines, as well as pre-Columbian art, Chinese woodblock prints, and Korean military costume.

Thaddeus Strode, Absolutes and Nothings, 2001. Mixed media on canvas, 86 5/8 x 83 1/16".

Private collection, Los Angeles. Image courtesy of neugerriemschneider, Berlin.

Kemper Art Museum Launches Music Series

In February the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum at Washington University launched a new concert series designed to highlight the talents and diversity of contemporary St. Louis musicians. The free Friday evening concerts—titled Kemper Presents—features many local artists working in a variety of genres, from ambient jazz and electronica to experimental rock and American roots music.

“The Kemper Presents series allows us to reach out to the local community in a new way while also supporting the St. Louis music scene,” says Kimberly Singer, the museum's manager of marketing, visitor services and events, who organized the series.

All concerts are free and open to the public and take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call (314) 935-5490; visit kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu; or e-mail kemperartmuseum@wustl.edu.

Back to front page