08/06/2025
All the Ways We Want: Power and Tenderness in Contemporary Portraiture
A Major Exhibition Featuring Jas Petersen and Spencer Liautaud Comes to Kansas City
Opening Date: August 23rd; 7 PM (Artist Talk), 8-11 PM (Reception)
Exhibition Duration: August 23- Nov 2nd
Location: Zhou B Art Center – Kansas City, MO
Kansas City’s art scene takes a bold step forward this season with All the Ways We Want: Power and Tenderness in Contemporary Portraiture, a landmark exhibition bringing together two renowned and emerging voices in contemporary art, Jas Petersen (Chicago) and Spencer Liautaud (Nashville),in a deeply intimate and expansive dialogue on identity, vulnerability, and the dualities of human expression.
Through figurative and abstract work, both artists explore what it means to exist and be seen in today’s world: navigating gender, power, spirituality, nature, and the pressures of performance. Jas Petersen’s signature “Fastgirls” offer a provocative look at modern femininity, media, and the female form as both myth and message. Spencer Liautaud’s textural abstractions echo with emotional frequency, offering a more inward gaze into spirit, instinct, and the rituals of being human.