Review: “A Lesson Before Dying” at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Kevin Demery’s “A Lesson Before Dying” uses everyday objects—hands, cowbells, wood blocks—as vessels for examining systemic racism and Black lived experience.

An enclosed display case shows Kevin Demery’s wooden anagram sculptures, where words like “Incarcerated,” “Indigenous,” and “Enslaver” are engraved on wooden panels with their rearranged counterparts like “trained,” “undoing,” and “Erased” set in front of them in movable block letters.

Kevin Demery’s “A Lesson Before Dying” is on view at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art through August 10, 2025 as part of the Charlotte Street Visual Artist Awards exhibition.

Review: “A Lesson Before Dying” at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
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