Image: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, New York
Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art will open 'Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still.' on August 28, presenting an exhibition drawn from the museum’s collection and centered on rest, silence, contemplation, and restoration. The show is scheduled to remain on view through July 25, 2027, in Kansas City.
The museum describes the exhibition as an invitation to pause. According to the museum’s August newsletter, 'Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still.' brings together figurative works, abstract compositions, and evocative imagery to consider quiet as an active part of life rather than a break from it. The exhibition includes works by Helen Frankenthaler, Alfred Stieglitz, Georgia O’Keeffe, and other artists from the collection.
The show is curated by Amy Kligman. The museum’s website lists the exhibition dates as August 28, 2026, through July 25, 2027, while the newsletter also refers to an August 28 opening. The materials provided do not identify a separate opening program for the exhibition itself, but they do place the presentation within Kemper’s broader schedule of late-summer public activities.
The exhibition arrives after another museum project, 'The World in Kansas City', which is listed on Kemper’s site as running from March 5 to August 8, 2026. That earlier exhibition was inspired by the 2026 FIFA World Cup and was created by Chief Curator Jessica Hong. The museum’s August email notes that visitors still have a chance to see that show before it closes on August 9.
Kemper’s newsletter also frames 'Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still.' alongside a series of related events that extend its themes of looking, making, and movement. Among them is 'Studio Night: Action & Rest' on August 27, one day before the exhibition’s stated opening, described as a figure-drawing evening led by artist Stefan Shultz and inspired by works featured in 'Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still.' The session is set to include one moving model and one static model.
Additional listed programs include 'Art & Wellness: Inviting Surprise' on August 28 and 'Move: Outdoor Yoga with Joy Monzón' on August 29. The museum also has recurring public offerings such as 'Open Drawing+' on August 6, gallery conversations with a Kemper Museum docent on August 8 and August 22, and 'Director as Curator: Gallery Spotlight' on August 15. Those events are presented as separate programs in the newsletter and are not described as part of the exhibition itself.
Kemper Museum’s own materials emphasize free admission and a calendar of public programming around the exhibition period. 'Lie. Sit. Stand. Be Still.' is set to remain on view at Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City from August 28, 2026, through July 25, 2027.
