Visionary: The Work of Michael Brantley

On view Dec. 13, 2025 through May 3, 2026

Black and white portrait of a crying woman who is leaning back away from the viewer with one hand raised to the side of her face.

Michael Brantley, The First Lady of Song, c. 2012, oil on canvas, 50 x 52 x 2 in. Courtesy the Artist.

Visionary: The Work of Michael Brantley, guest curated by artist Harold Smith, will feature the elegant and sophisticated work of painter Michael Brantley. Brantley is a master painter whose stunning work and practice compellingly encapsulates the love, fears, hopes, and dreams within the Black experience.

Whether he is painting a vibrant jazz singer, an emotionally stirring protest scene, or a reflective portrait, Brantley’s work is saturated with humanity, illuminating his dynamic, refined, and painterly approach. This exhibition will feature the artist's most recent work as well as some earlier pieces, giving the viewer a sweeping synopsis of Brantley's enlightening artistic practice.

Michael Brantley (b. 1970) is a multi-disciplinary figurative artist living and working in Kansas City, Missouri. Using oil paint as his preferred medium, his work reflects and celebrates the lifestyle, heritage, and culture of American Africans. Brantley’s art inspires, informs, and provokes dialogue. His large-scale monochromatic paintings in the jazz aesthetic have been spotlighted by the NFL and exhibited at the American Jazz Museum and at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.