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Siah Armajani: Bridge Builder First Time Exhibition Featuring the Artist's Nearly Half a Century of Bridge Making, with a Spec

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Siah Armajani: Bridge Builder First Time Exhibition Featuring the Artist's Nearly Half a Century of Bridge Making, with a Spec 4420 Warwick Blvd. Kansas City, MO 64111 816.753.5784 kemperart.org MEDIA RELEASE Siah Armajani: Bridge Builder First time exhibition featuring the artist’s nearly half a century of bridge making, with a special never before seen selection of work inspired by Kansas City. KANSAS CITY – June 20th, 2016 – Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art is pleased to announce its newest exhibition, Siah Armajani: Bridge Builder featuring work by renown, Iranian-born artist, Siah Armajani (pronounced SEE-ah ARM-a-JAH-nee). Through a series of two and three dimensional works, the exhibition will explore the breadth of the artist’s career, from 1968’s King Post Bridge to the most recent Kansas City Bridge #2, completed in 2016 for this exhibition. Bridge Builder will be on view from September 9, 2016 through January 22, 2017, at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, Missouri. Admission to the exhibition and accompanying programming is free. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Armajani draws on the vernacular architecture of the Midwest, examining the structural and theoretical underpinnings of bridges since the late 1960s. He has worked on a number of high-profile projects throughout his career, including the design for the torch of the 1996 Summer Olympic in Atlanta, the New York Staten Island Tower and Bridge, the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge in Minneapolis, and the Round Gazebo in Nice, France. His art takes many forms ranging from drawing and sculpture to public projects that spur social engagement. Bridge Builder will be the first-ever exhibition to focus on bridges, a major theme within Armajani’s work alongside the premier of several drawings and sculpture. The exhibition was inspired by the artist’s Kansas City No. 1 (2000), gift of the Sosland Foundation in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Kemper Museum in 2014. By featuring Armajani’s work in this exhibition, the museum hopes to offer a unique perspective on the work of one of the most influential artists working today, underscored by the Museum’s existing relationship with his work. Curator of the exhibition Erin Dziedzic shared her thoughts on the forthcoming exhibition, “The Kemper Museum is delighted to have Armajani’s Kansas City No. 1, gifted by the Sosland Foundation to the Museum’s permanent collection as a major point of inspiration for the exhibition. It has been a true honor to work with Armajani on this important first-ever exhibition of his bridges, a most powerful structural and community engaging force found throughout his career. I’ve learned so much along the way about the poetics of architecture and space that permeate Armajani’s powerful imagery and sculptures and am proud to share this exhibition with Kansas City and beyond.” Siah Armajani: Bridge Builder is organized by Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, and curated by Erin Dziedzic, Director of Curatorial Affairs. Ancillary programs, including An Evening with Siah Armajani, Thursday, September 8, at the Kansas City Public Library—Plaza Branch, are scheduled in conjunction with the exhibition. A catalog with accompanying essays by Dziedzic and the artist will debut at the opening talk and will be offered through the Museum Shop. Visit kemperart.org to view all scheduled programs and times. ABOUT THE ARTIST Siah Armajani (b.1939) was born in Iran and moved to the United States in 1960 to attend Macalester College in Minnesota, where he continues to live and work. His sculptures and public works, informed by his democratic and populist ideals, exist between the boundaries of art and architecture. With nearly one hundred projects realized internationally since the 1960s, Armajani is recognized as a leading figure in conceptualizing the role and function of public art. As a student in Tehran, Armajani was drawn to American philosophers and writers, and later studied American populist thought as a philosophy major in the U.S. These early theoretical interests continue to catalyze his work, taking form in objects and architectural spaces designed in homage to literary, philosophical, and political figures including John Dewey, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Theodor Adorno, Ahmad Shamlou, and Luigi Galleani, among others. Siah Armajani has been the subject of over fifty solo exhibitions since 1978; including surveys and retrospectives at Parasol unit, London (2013); Musee d’art Moderne et Contemporain, Geneva, Switzerland (2007); Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Raina Sofia, Madrid (1999); Vila Arson, Nice, France (1994); Kunsthalle Basel, Switzerland (1987); and the Westfalischs Landesmuseum, Munster, Germany (1987). The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN, is currently planning a large-scale retrospective of the artist scheduled to open in 2018. Armajani’s work is in numerous public collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago, IL; Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; Dallas Museum of Art, Dallas, TX; British Museum, London; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, MN; Musee d’Art Moderne et Contemporarin, Geneva, Switzerland; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum fur Moderne Kunst, Frankfurt, Germany; National Gallery, Washington, DC; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; and Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, MO. Armajani is represented by Alexander Gray Associates, New York, NY. SELECTED FREE EXHIBITION-RELATED PROGRAMS An Evening with Artist Siah Armajani Thursday, September 8, 6:00 p.m. reception, 6:30 p.m. program Kansas City Public Library—Plaza Branch, 4801 Main Street, Free parking in the Library parking garage Siah Armajani: Bridge Builder Opening Reception Friday, September 9, 5:00–7:00 p.m. cash bar and music by Hermon Mahari Kemper Museum | Charlotte Crosby Kemper Gallery Image credit: Siah Armajani, Kansas City No. 1, 2000, Mixed media on board, 60 1/16 x 148 15/16 x 3 5/16 inches. Gift of the Sosland Foundation in Honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, 2014.19 © © 2016 Siah Armajani / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: E G Schempf ### ABOUT KEMPER MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART Kansas City’s renowned FREE contemporary art museum, the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art opened in October 1994 and draws 120,000 visitors each year. The Museum boasts a rapidly growing Permanent Collection that uniquely bridges modern and contemporary works of art featuring artists such as Louise Bourgeois, Helen Frankenthaler, Willem de Kooning, Georgia O’Keeffe, Keltie Ferris, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Richard Mosse, Frank Stella, and Ursula von Rydingsvard. The Museum hosts special exhibitions, installations, lectures, as well as children and families programs and workshops. The Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art (4420 Warwick Blvd.) is open 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Tuesday–Wednesday; 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., Thursday–Friday; and 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Sunday. Café Sebastienne serves lunch 11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday; dinner 5:30– 9:00 p.m., Thursday–Friday; and brunch 11:00 a.m.–2:30 p.m., Sunday. The Museum and Café are closed on Mondays and major holidays. Kemper at the Crossroads (33 W. 19th Street) is open 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Wednesday–Thursday; 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m., Friday; noon–4:00 p.m. Saturday, and the galleries at Kemper East (200 E. 44th Street) are open 10:00 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Tuesday–Friday; 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free at all three locations. For more information about the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, visit kemperart.org. For high-resolution images, exhibition checklist, or media inquiries please contact: Kent Michael Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art [email protected] | 816-457-6132 This release and other exhibition collateral are available online at: www.kemperart.org/press-kit .
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