Is this real life? AKMA debuts two exhibitions that question reality

The Albrecht-Kemper Museum of Art opens two new exhibitions that aim to challenge viewers’ perception of reality. Refracted Reality: The Work of Jim Cantrell and the 10th Annual Missouri Valley Impressionist Society (MVIS) Juried Exhibition will be on view Saturday, November 20 until Sunday, January 9, 2022.

An opening reception will take place from 4 to 7 pm, Friday, November 19 and is free and open to the public. A cash bar and light refreshments will be available. Masks are requested of all attendees while they are not actively eating and drinking.

Refracted Reality: The Work of Jim Cantrell is a retrospective of more than 50 works from Kentucky-based artist Jim Cantrell. His large-scale oil paintings take traditional, realistic subjects and tilt or skew the perspective, for example, a building reflected in the windows of another building or a portrait of a person reflected through mirrors. The result allows viewers to be immersed in a new perception of reality. This exhibition represents the third time Cantrell’s work has been the subject of a solo show at the Albrecht-Kemper, the first taking place in 1991.

Cantrell was raised in Oklahoma and earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Nebraska. He and his partner, Jeanette, established the Bardstown Art Gallery in Bardstown, KY, in the 1970s that they continue to run to this day. Although he was formally trained as a painter, this exhibition also features early works in pottery that also reflect his perception of beauty and the emphasis on forms.

The 10th Annual MVIS Juried Exhibition highlights 72 works of art depicting traditional subjects presented in new forms. Landscapes and other representational subjects are transformed using impressionist painting techniques. This is the fourth time in a decade that MVIS will host their annual juried exhibition at the Albrecht-Kemper.

“I am excited to help support the work of regional artists,” states Eric Fuson, AKMA executive director and exhibition juror. MVIS is a national organization founded in 2011 celebrating modern impressionism. With over 100 member-artists across the United States, MVIS organizes exhibitions in 10 states along the Missouri River Valley.

The AKMA is open from 10 am to 4 pm, Tuesday through Friday, and from 1 to 4 pm, Saturday and Sunday. The AKMA will be open the Friday, Saturday and Sunday after Thanksgiving and welcomes holiday visitors; the museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day.