artist
By Bret Schulte
Senior Reporter
Always underestimated when it comes to cynical
modernist poetry, abstract oil paintings or WWII propa
ganda films, Nebraska is the home and alma mater to
American renaissance artist Weldon Kees, whose paint
ings and poetry earned him fame in New York and San
Francisco during the era of beatniks, bohemians and
unprecedented subculture activity.
. The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery is exhibiting
the abstract artistry and collages of the Beatrice
born Kees through April 12. The Sheldon
will also play host to poetry readings
of the artist, two film screenings, a
conference of art professors
from around the Midwest and
an interpretive perfor
mance by Lincoln exper
imental group
Howlooseanation of
Kees’ music.
Bordering on an all
outjfestival, the exhibit
celebrates a Nebraskan
whose diverse artistic
achievements are final
ly being recognized with
in cultural circles as among
the most significant of the
early American 20* century.
University of Nebraska
Lincoln Assistant Professor of
English Nicholas Spencer, host of
the Rees’ poetry reading on Feb. 5,
said Rees’ accomplishments have long
been overlooked.
“Rees is one of the most important writes
to come from Nebraska,” Spencer said. “I think
we mistakenly associate Nebraskan art and liter
ature with ruralism, and I think what Rees
reminds us is sophisticated and complex litera
ture and art is part ofNebraska’s heritage, too.”
Like most intellectuals of the day, Rees
was more concerned with areas of per
sonal interest such as current issues, society
and the arts than his personal past, which is sel
dom discussed in his writing.
“The interesting thing about Rees
is there are only one or two refer
ences to Nebraska in his poet
ry,” Spencer said
Rees is most
notorious for
his refresh
authentic depictions of an era when most artists and writ
ers were consumed with high-brow cultural elitism and
pretentious artistic endeavors.
Despite the fact that
Kees was close friends
with many members of
the avant-garde and was
influenced by them, his
artistic output remained
decidedly personal.
“He was interested
in popular culture inas
much as he wasn’t com
pletely turned off by it,”
Sheldon curator Dan
Seidell said. “Most of
his peers were com
pletely turned off by it” ^
Bom in 1914, Kees ~ I
graduated from the ~
University of Nebraska
(now the University of * ■
Nebraska-Lincoln) with
a degree in literature. He
wait on to write for the Midwest s premier literary maga
zine, The Prairie Schooner, and study library science at the
University of Denver. ' *
After his move to New York in 1944, Kees rapidly fell
into the emerging avant
garde movement, a
group of American and
international artists and
writers interested in
pushing theboundaries
of artistic expression.
Although first and
foremost a poet and
writer, Kees also exper
imented with abstract
painting, collages and
film, for which hd won
awards for his editing of
World War II footage
for newsreel clips.
The artist is most
famous for his associa
tion with the beatnik
movement in post
World War II San
Francisco, where he
was active in poetry
readings organized by
the infamous Kenneth
Rexroth and Allen
Ginsberg.
Kees allegedly
ended his life by jump
ing off the Golden Gate
Bridge in 1955. His
body was never found.
More than 40 years
later, Kees has returned
.m - ^ . . ^ .
_ . Photos (Courtesy op Sheldon Memorial Abt Gallery
PHOTOS: (TOP) SEES, who was a poet, anther, painter, playwright,
composer and filmmaker, also worked with collages. This untitled
piece from 1946 is on display at the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery.
(ABOVE) “RAFFLE #2,” an oU painting from the collection of Gertrude
Stein, is Just one of WetdeeKees’paintings on exhibit at the Sheldee
llnmnfinl Aw# lfc»iinnt
ffliffilPilill
to iNewasKa -at least m memory -and the variety ol the
Sheldon events spanning the next two months are a trib
ute to a Nebraskan whose diverse artistic achievements
are long overdue for serious recognition.
Planned events include a poetry reading by Professor
Nicholas Spencer Feb. 5 followed immediately by a show
ing of two short films by Kees, titled “The Apex” and “The
Bridge.” The evening’s presentations will begin at 7 pan.
On March 4, die Sheldon’s Mary Riepma Ross Film
Theater will play host to a conference titled “The
Subjects and Methods of the Study of American Art”
The conference will feature art professors from the
University of Iowa, Kansas and the State University of
New York-Purchase. A panel for public discussion will
follow the conference for continued dialogue on Kees
and topics of modem art
The musical group Howlooseanation, characterized
by frontman Mark Baldridge as a “jazz-noise group,” will
give aperformanceofKees’ragtime music on March 13.
Although Kees rarely cites his Nebraska background
in his work, its influences are obvious and, according to
Seidell, made the writer remarkable.
“He made fun of his hometown, I think,” Seidell said,
“Not in a vicious way, but of a small-town perspective.
“But he also made fun of the big town, that the New
Yorker could be just as colloquial as a waitress in a
Beatrice caf6.”
■•Mm Ims mi Am
MsatWtMtnv
Jan. 9-April 12
Present-April 12
An exhibraon of 34 of Kees’
paintings and collages.
Feb. 5
Poetry reading by Nicholas Spencer,
an assistant professor of English at
UNL, followed by a presentation of
two of Kees’short films, The Apex"
and The Bridge *
March 4
The Subjects and Methods of the
Study of American Art,’a colloquium
featuring art professors from the ■
University of Iowa, the University of
Kansas and SUNY-Purchase,
followed by a public forum on Kees
and modem art
March 13
Local group Howtooseanation will
perform several of Kees’ musical
compositions.
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