The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City presents the first solo American exhibition of Belgian artist Ives Maes exploring the architecture of world’s fair sites as they look today in The Future of Yesterday: Photographs of Architectural Remains at World’s Fairs on view June 28–Sept. 9, 2012.
Ives Maes, Belgian, b. 1976. Crystal Palace (The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, London, 1851), 2012. C-print on acrylic. Courtesy of the artist and Galerie Christian Nagel, Berlin.
“Architecture for world’s fairs was built to disappear,” said Maes. “Everyone works in a frenzy to complete structures for a fair, and then they walk away when it’s over. We need to remember these buildings and these moments in time.”
The Future of Yesterday is held in conjunction with a major international loan and traveling exhibition at the Nelson-Atkins entitled Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939. While Inventing the Modern World examines technological and stylistic innovations, nationalism and cross-cultural inspiration embodied in the decorative arts of the period 1851-1939, The Future of Yesterday provides an alternative view to the utopian vision provided by these global events.
The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, Noon–5 p.m. Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org.
