Gelman Exhibit A Coup For Nelson-Atkins

By JOE ARCE & JOSE FAUS

Nelson Atkins museum director Julián Zugazagoitia looked around the landscape of Kansas City and saw an institution that needed to embrace the broader community in dynamic and creative ways.

Since he arrived, following a successful tenure at El Museo del Barrio in New York City, he has put his stamp on a series of visible programs that are meant to engage the community and expand the audience of the venerable institution.

That attention has been noticed in the Latino community. Two years ago the museum, in collaboration with Mattie Rhodes Art Center and other volunteers, embraced the Dia de Los Muertos celebration by transforming Kirkwood Hall with a large ofrenda or altar. Last year, the museum took the celebration to another level with an installation by acclaimed, contemporary, Mexican artist Besebe Romero.

This year, the museum is generating a lot of buzz in the community with the arrival of the Frida Kahlo * Diego Rivera and masterpieces from modern Mexico from the collection of Jacques and Natasha Gelman.

Zugazagoitia said recently in a phone interview with Hispanic News that it was a revelation to find that Kansas City had not had an exhibition that highlighted the achievements and works of the iconic masters of Mexican art.

“Our community was asking for something that would be meaningful,” he explained. “I thought this would be the exhibition that would be meaningful for our community to instill the pride in knowing that these figures were world defining.”

The show is also a personal coup for Zugazagoitia. “This is an exhibition that has big meaning for me because … the artists that are represented in this collection are artists that I grew up looking at and vibrating to. Whether it is Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros or Jose Clemente Orozco all these are the great names of Mexican modernism, which have definitely set the standard of incredible Mexican art to the world.”

One of the important elements of the collection for Zugazagoitia is that “it has continued to grow through time, collecting and enriching itself by including contemporary artists like Betsabe Romero, who was recently in Kansas City to do the Altar de Muertos, or many other artists that are still practicing today. It is a way to see the historical modern Mexico but also the contemporary scene. What it says is that Mexican art is still as vibrant and exciting as it was in the 40’s and 50’s.”

He sees this show as a bridge to existing and new audiences. “It is an extraordinary exhibition for anyone who loves art because it is really bringing those people who like and visit the museum to see the great achievements of mankind. This is the perfect exhibition to bring our constituents, our normal visitors, but also people who may not have thought of coming to the Nelson.”

In that category is the largely untapped Latino audience. “They will come because it is the pride of seeing perhaps things that reverberate in our community. To know that Mexican masters have really not only broken world records in terms of how much their paintings cost but also have instilled a tradition. Muralism in Mexico was very important but also to someone who was local here like Thomas Hart Benton. There are artistic connections that bring together the Mexican masters and American masters.”

Zugazagoitia has learned some lessons about the Latino audience he is trying to engage. “One of the things that I found is that most of our Latino visitors are more fluent in English than I expected. It also tells you that this has been a city where the Latino migration has come over many generations, which is something that is important that we acknowledge and enrich.”

Zugazagoitia credits the board of the Nelson for its vision. “We are very fortunate that the board of the Nelson recognized that we needed to seize opportunities and they created what we call the Don Hall initiative, which is a way of being able to bring exhibitions very quickly.”

The importance of a discrete and flexible fund that allows the museum to take advantage of timely opportunities is all over this show. As Zugazagoitia recounted, the demand for the work of such iconic artists compounded with the fact that Kahlo did not have a large body of work, makes the consolidating of them into a show a difficult enterprise.

“In normal times it would have taken three to four years to be able to bring this show [here] and the fact that I can bring it here so quickly in my early tenure is because we have a lot of support from the board and the philanthropic community of Kansas City to make things like this happen.”

Shows of this caliber can only help to increase the visibility of the museum. “This community needs to see the best in the world and we are going to be seizing these opportunities. These are things that we are expanding to see the Nelson … as an international and global museum. … These international exhibitions are difficult to put together because the works are so in demand. … People just can’t get enough of them. It is a tribute to [our] ability to be able to pull a show like this in record time. It is going to be a special moment.”

The subtext of the exhibition for Zugazagoitia lies in the personal story of the Gelman’s. “This is a story of immigration. We always think of immigrants coming from Mexico here. These were immigrants coming from Eastern Europe … escaping the Second World War and landing in Mexico and making it their home.”

He finds it intriguing and interesting that the Gelmans fell so deeply in love with their adopted country and its culture that they celebrated that love by amassing what amounts to an iconic survey collection of Mexican modernism.

“I think that is a good reflection for some of the members of our community who are immigrants to the United States to say we are all immigrants in a way. Immigrants bring talents that also recognize other talents in different places. … Immigration is something that has always enriched the country that receives immigrants.”

Zugazagoitia encourages people to come and see the show as quickly as possible and not put it off till some other time. It is going to be a short run, like ten weeks so it will go very quickly. I think it is an exhibition that you will want to see two times or more.”