Rockne Krebs: Drawings for Sculpture You Can Walk Through

This exhibition presents a group of works created by Kansas City–born artist Rockne Krebs (1938–2011), whose large-scale installations, often spanning entire urban landscapes, were created with the ephemeral media of laser and natural light using prisms, mirrors, and electronic controls.

Sometimes his light projects were shown in interior spaces, but more often they were staged out of doors at night, where they could be experienced on a vast urban scale. What remains of these transitory projects are the artist’s drawings as well as his written and photographic documentation. In 2010, Philip M. Smith, a member of the scientific community, gave the Spencer Museum of Art an important group of works by the Krebs, including eighteen drawings and one Plexiglas sculpture. Rockne Krebs: Drawings for Sculpture You Can Walk Through shares all of these works alongside a work previously owned by the Museum, with accompanying supporting materials.