A new exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art features Latino artists from Kansas City

Twenty-two Kansas City-based Latino artists spent close to a year curating an exhibit called “A Layered Presence.” It is the third installment of the KC Art Now initiative to display more local work in the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
When sculptor Cesar Lopez immigrated from Guatemala with his family in early 2001, he didn't expect that politics would engulf his existence more than two decades later.

“That was such a big factor in understanding not only were we about to go through such a large change by coming to America, but that the country itself has changed,” said Lopez, who is a graduate of the Kansas City Art Institute.

The painter-turned-sculptor is one of 22 local Latino artists who contributed to the “A Layered Presence /Una Presencia Estratificada” exhibit at Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Its focus is the stories, memories, sociopolitical issues and conflicts in the personal or national identities of Latino immigrants or their children.

Lopez’s sculptures feature a sequence of symmetrical aluminum strips joined together with rivets and other materials like PLA plastics made by 3-D printers.