The Kansas City Jewish Museum is pleased to present j.m. rees: quasi-objects of a mental kind. Kansas City-based artist and architect Jack Rees will present a new body of work that explores the relationship between visual and verbal methods of communication while combining art, design, architecture, and technology. This exhibition features a series of two-dimensional “drawings” on wood panel, a pattern-based, computerized digital video, an 18-foot tall sculpture, and a limited-edition artist book-as-catalogue.

(This event begins on Sunday, May 16, 2010 with a rededication of Village Shalom’s Siah Armajani Gazebo at 1 p.m.) The opening reception for j.m. rees: quasi-objects of a mental kind is from 2-4 p.m. in the Epsten Gallery with an artist talk at 3 p.m. J.M. Rees will also give a follow-up lecture, My Jewish Intellectual Roots, on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 3 p.m. in the Village Shalom Social Hall. j.m. rees: quasi-objects of a mental kind will remain on view through Sunday, June 27, 2010. (All events are free and open to the public.)

j.m. rees: quasi-objects of a mental kind

In quasi-objects of a mental kind, architect, designer, and sculptor Jack Rees examines the relationship between the personal and the universal through the form and function of language and its symbols of communication across the ages. Taking a macro-to-micro point of view, Rees brings together a visual lexicon of printmaking, from the Renaissance to the 21st century, in the form of a reconstituted, 18-foot Tower of Babel that represents the centerpiece of this installation-based exhibition. Additionally, Rees draws upon his interests in mathematical systems, the nature of optics and space, and his love of textile, graphic, and industrial design to create a new series of wood panel drawings and a computer generated digital video work for this exhibition. These two-dimensional and computer-based digital works simultaneously expand the scope of Rees’ analytic investigations while simultaneously revealing the organic code of an intimate human imprint.

Established in 1991, the purpose of Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art (KCJMCA) is to provide innovative art exhibitions and related programming that engage seniors and diverse audiences from all segments of our community to enrich lives and celebrate our common humanity through art. KCJMCA realizes this goal through two projects: The Epsten Gallery at Village Shalom and through partnerships with local, regional and national institutions that engage in KCJMCA’s Museum Without Walls exhibition program.