Inside the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Chance Encounter  by George Segal (1989)

I was still in a sculpture frame of mind when I entered the Nelson-Atkins Museum proper. I headed over to the contemporary art galleries, where I was immediately drawn to Chance Meeting by George Segal. (His Rush Hour is in the Sculpture Garden, and I had spent a good amount of time admiring it.) 

Segal's path to becoming an artist was less than a straight line. He grew up working on his family's chicken farm, and he and his wife Helen had a poultry farm of their own after he graduated from NYU with a degree in art education. Segal's art and agrarian lifestyle came together in 1957 when the Segals' farm was the location of a "Happening" or, as his website explains, "live art with an environmental sensibility." I wish I could have been there!

Farming is a tough life; so is making a living as an artist. Segal taught art as a way of making ends meet. He had begun to explore sculpture as a medium when one of his adult ed art students brought a box of dry plaster bandages to class. Segal took them home and began to experiment. He wet them and applied them to parts of his own body. With his wife's help, he created an entire seated figure, eventually adding a chair, table and window frame to the work. With Man at a Table, Segal's signature style had been created. Segal frequently uses friends and family as his models. In fact, the woman in high heels in Close Encounter is his daughter Rena. For more on Segal, click here. And to see his Man at a Table, click here. 

Museum Guard by Duane Hanson (1975)

As I was strolling the galleries, I was once again tricked by Duane Hanson when I came upon his Museum Guard.  His hyperrealistic work gets me every time. (Once at MOMA I excused myself for standing in front of one of his sculptures during a docent tour. She was so realistic that I didn't process the fact that she was sitting in a chair with a dog at her feet.) 

Like Segal, Hanson's work comes directly from the bodies of his models. He creates a cast and then paints the figure, warts, wrinkles, veins and all. The sculpture is then outfitted with real clothing and a high quality hairpiece to complete the effect. It's easy to just revel in the realism of his work, take some pictures and move on without thinking about Hanson's message. But he's providing some social commentary as well as a fun art experience. "My art is not about fooling people," Hanson said. "It's the human attitudes I'm after -- fatigue, a bit of frustration, rejection. To me, there is a kind of beauty in all this." For more of Hanson's work, click here. 

The Lynch Family by Joseph Hirsch (1946)

In case you're beginning to wonder, I did see some paintings that captured my attention. Joseph Hirsch was an artist known for his social commentary, particularly with respect to civic corruption and racial injustice. He said, "In my painting I want to castigate the things I hate and paint monuments to what I feel is noble."