Michael Klein began collecting Judaica quite by accident. Now the owner of between 450 and 500 objects, his collection started with the gift of four antique spice boxes his parents purchased for him while visiting Israel close to 40 years ago. Now his Judaica is the inspiration for a new exhibit, “Between Thee & Me — Artists Respond to the Judaica Collection of Michael Klein and the Van Ackeren Collection of Religious Art at Rockhurst University.”
This project features two independent, invitational group exhibitions, the first of which will be presented at the Epsten Gallery at Village Shalom July 24 through Sept. 4. It opens with a reception at 2 p.m. Sunday, July 24, with an artists’ discussion at 3 p.m. A second group exhibition will be presented at The Greenlease Gallery at Rockhurst University Aug. 26 through Oct. 1.
A select group of artists has been invited to participate in each exhibition by The Kansas City Jewish Museum of Contemporary Art Curator Marcus Cain and Greenlease Gallery Director Anne Pearce. These artists have been asked to create a work of art based on an object/artifact of their choice from the collection they have been invited to explore. When possible, the object serving as inspiration for the work of art will also be featured in the exhibit.
Klein believes the idea for this exhibition was a great one.
“These artists were able to get inspirations to create new work echoing the older work. Some of these items that stimulated the new works are hundreds of years old,” Klein said.
This exhibit is one of the many ways KCJMCA is commemorating its 20th anniversary this year. This particular idea was conceived by both Cain and Pearce. It also intrigued the two to find a way to explore the relationship between a private collection and a public collection.
“We felt this was a great opportunity to invite artists to create works of art in response to objects that they may or may not normally consider as a source for inspiration,” Cain said.
In all his travels and knowledge of the world of art, Klein said he has never heard of an exhibit where artists were asked to create new work based on existing work. While such an exhibit is unique, Cain said the practice of using other pieces of art as inspiration is “pretty traditional.”
“I think Ann and I both understand as artists that there is a lot of teaching that is based on observation of work in art history,” Cain said. “It’s not a coincidence that you have an art college next to the Nelson-Atkins Museum or that the Nerman Museum is part of Johnson County Community College,” Cain said.
Cain and Pearce also thought this was a great idea to have artists of “multiple faiths or in some cases perhaps no faith to work from these objects.”
An interesting collaboration that came from this, Cain noted, is a sculpture created by Linda Lighton, who is Jewish, and Asheer Akram, who is Pakistani, that references the eternal flame.
Cain said he and Pearce both feel that it is important that these objects from history remain alive.
“They need to remain a viable source of inspiration and they play an active role in the creative process,” Cain said. “It’s a great effort to reconnect with history.”
Klein’s collection
Klein has been reconnecting with history himself since his parents gave him the antique spice boxes that started his Judaica collection.
“They brought me back a mid-19th century Russian spice box. From that I got very interested, and I started reading up on Judaica in general and spice boxes, in particular,” he noted in a story published about his collection in The Chronicle on March 29, 1991.
That’s when he started visiting museums and auction houses.
“When I went to a city, if they had a Jewish museum or something of that nature, I went to it,” he said. Since he travels for business all over the world, he’s been to Jewish museums in such places as London, Israel and Chicago.
“I also got to know many collectors and, like many collectors, before you know it you have a house full of something,” Klein said.
Klein still enjoys discovering new pieces and learning “about Jewish communities and Jewish customs that I didn’t know existed.”
“I like the beauty of the items. With the newer items, I enjoy seeing the creativity of them and meeting the artists that have created those items,” he said.
He also enjoys the intellectual stimulation he gets from all the activities associated with his collection “and the interaction I have with other collectors and museum people.”
“I enjoy the sharing of it with other people so that the items are not just dead and cold in a storage case, but are actually out and being used. That’s what excites me about this show. The artists were able to get inspiration to create new works of art echoing the older works,” Klein said.
Klein’s collection was exhibited at the Epsten Gallery not long after it first opened about a decade ago. He’s also loaned some pieces to shows, but for the most part he said the collection does not leave his home.
Epsten Gallery exhibiting artists
Seven of the artists who will be exhibiting a piece at the Epsten Gallery are Jewish: Tanya Hartman, Ritchie Kaye, Misha Kligman, Linda Lighton, Jason Pollen, Julia Steinberg and Gerry Trilling. The other artists are: Asheer Akram, Barry Anderson, Mark Cowardin, Burton Freeman, Hugh Merrill, Lee Piechocki, Robert Quackenbush and Susan White.
Those exhibiting at the Greenlease Gallery exhibit are: Barry Anderson, John Conners, Anders Corr, Mark Cowardin, Bowie Croisant, Mike Erickson, Julie Farstad, Rachel Hayes, Jessica Kincaid, Susi Lulaki, Hugh Merrill and David Rhoades.
For more information regarding either, contact Cain at (913) 266-8413 or . Learn more about the museum at www.kcjmca.org.