A Lesson Before Dying

Artist Kevin Demery (American, born 1992)

Date2024

MediumMDF, acrylic, pinewood, chain, steel butterflies, bells, garden hooks, and windchime

DimensionsOverall: 66 × 36 inches (167.64 × 91.44 cm)

Credit LineGift of Major Dwight Oran Smith (U.S. Army Retired)

Object number2025.61.1-28

On View

Not on view

Gallery Location

Terms

DescriptionThis is a vertically oriented sculpture in the form of a windchime. There is a thick, silver chain from which a silhouette of a head is suspended; there is a circular hole toward the back of the head which the chain goes through. At about a 45-degree angle there is a circular plate-like disc which the silhouetted head sits atop. There are cherubim shapes cut out of the disc. Beneath the disc are two progressively smaller circle-shaped sculpture pieces, in bronze and gold, and suspended from them are cherubim silhouette sculptures. Inside the angel sculpture pieces, a black windchime is suspended.Exhibition History

Exhibition History

A Lesson Before Dying, part of 2024 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, Missouri, November 9, 2024–August 10, 2025.

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by Dwight Smith, 2025 [1];

His gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2025.

NOTES:

[1] Purchased from the 2024 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards exhibition, on view at the Nelson-Atkins November 9, 2024-August 10, 2025.

Published References

Reproduced in The Conversation: 2024 Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards (Kansas City, MO: The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 2025).

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