The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 19, 2025
The Nature Theater of Oklahoma
c. 1988
(American, 1955–2017)
and K.O.S.
Secondary Support: 81 x 81.5 cm (31 7/8 x 32 1/16 in.)
John L. Severance Fund 1999.327
Location: Not on view
Description
Rollins was a veteran of the art collaboratives that formed in New York City in the 1970s when he started his own, known as K.O.S. (for Kids of Survival), in the early 1980s. Working with high school students from the south Bronx, Rollins made a number of ambitious paintings in a signature style and format-book pages mounted on canvas-on which he and his students painted images in response to the text. The stories he selected, (in this case a chapter from Kafka's novel Amerika) were chosen for their anti-authoritarian stance and implicit criticism of power structures. Their painted forms of warped, biomorphic musical instruments have ties to urban street art and graffiti.- [Craig F. Starr Associates, New York]
- {{cite web|title=The Nature Theater of Oklahoma|url=false|author=Tim Rollins, K.O.S.|year=c. 1988|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1999.327