Denver Art Scene
So, today was my first day of true sight-seeing in Denver - and I must say - I was impressed. Very nice art scene here. 4 official art museums of varying sizes: the DAM (Denver Art Museum - which was closed sadly), the MCA (Museum of Contemporary Art), the Visual Arts Center, and the Denver Sculpture garden. Additionally, their was Santa Fe Drive which is called the "Denver Art District."
Overall, the Denver Art District was so-so - some gems, but the signal to noise ratio sucked - much like it does at place like the torpedo factory. For every nice abstract piece, there were 5 pictures of someone's cat, and three fruit bowls. None of them were strong enough to gain particularly notable mention.
The MCA and Visual Arts Center were both great though. What really stood out was one video installation at each. The first one I really loved was called The Exquisite Hour by Phil Soloman - very eerie - reminded me of Unchien Andalou by Dali. The other, called The Phantom Canyon by Stacy Steers was reminiscent of the old Terry Gilliam cartoons that used to be on Monty Python - except creepy instead of funny.
Other notables include:
Delta Queen by Floyd Tunson - funniest part of which you can't see because it is blocked in the photo by the chair - there ae two bewildered white people looking at the black folk, which made me snicker. Whole piece was very reminiscent of Romare Bearden, and as he is one of my favorite artists, that is indeed complimentary.
Linda Girvin's Bracketed Agenda was one of a couple that were up that shifted as you walked past them - except not in a cutesy, wow I'm at Disneyland kind of way.
David Zimmer had a series of which this one was my least favorite, but the only one I could find. Each was an LCD with a moving picture of either a bird or bees, contained within an antique looking contraption like a lantern. Very neat effect.
Turning Around by James Surls isn't nearly as impressive on the web as in real life (almost always true, particularly with sculptures) - in particular because in has pairs of eyes all around it to simulate the motion of turning.
The Perfect Lover by Jeanne Quinn - cause you gotta love a woman that sculpts with q-tips even if they aren't real ones. They don't show the piece in the link - but honestly, wouldn't do it justice anyway.
Couldn't find a link - but Heidi McFall has a piece called "Kirsten" that looks like a photo but is actually - I wanna say oils. It was pretty uncanny - and apparently faking photos is what she does.
Francesca Woodman's Photos are flipping creppy - take a gander at the rest of them before jumping off-site.
Couldn't find the photos of Albert Chong that I saw today - although these are great examples. Apparently he double exposes shot of himself and other things as a comment on identity. Nifty.
Jeffery Starr's The Coil wasn't all that unique - I just thought it was purty.
Couldn't find a pic, but Linda Herritt did a piece entirely composed of luggage called "Migratory Patterns." ROFL!
Edit: Found the q-tip piece after all
Overall, the Denver Art District was so-so - some gems, but the signal to noise ratio sucked - much like it does at place like the torpedo factory. For every nice abstract piece, there were 5 pictures of someone's cat, and three fruit bowls. None of them were strong enough to gain particularly notable mention.
The MCA and Visual Arts Center were both great though. What really stood out was one video installation at each. The first one I really loved was called The Exquisite Hour by Phil Soloman - very eerie - reminded me of Unchien Andalou by Dali. The other, called The Phantom Canyon by Stacy Steers was reminiscent of the old Terry Gilliam cartoons that used to be on Monty Python - except creepy instead of funny.
Other notables include:
Delta Queen by Floyd Tunson - funniest part of which you can't see because it is blocked in the photo by the chair - there ae two bewildered white people looking at the black folk, which made me snicker. Whole piece was very reminiscent of Romare Bearden, and as he is one of my favorite artists, that is indeed complimentary.
Linda Girvin's Bracketed Agenda was one of a couple that were up that shifted as you walked past them - except not in a cutesy, wow I'm at Disneyland kind of way.
David Zimmer had a series of which this one was my least favorite, but the only one I could find. Each was an LCD with a moving picture of either a bird or bees, contained within an antique looking contraption like a lantern. Very neat effect.
Turning Around by James Surls isn't nearly as impressive on the web as in real life (almost always true, particularly with sculptures) - in particular because in has pairs of eyes all around it to simulate the motion of turning.
The Perfect Lover by Jeanne Quinn - cause you gotta love a woman that sculpts with q-tips even if they aren't real ones. They don't show the piece in the link - but honestly, wouldn't do it justice anyway.
Couldn't find a link - but Heidi McFall has a piece called "Kirsten" that looks like a photo but is actually - I wanna say oils. It was pretty uncanny - and apparently faking photos is what she does.
Francesca Woodman's Photos are flipping creppy - take a gander at the rest of them before jumping off-site.
Couldn't find the photos of Albert Chong that I saw today - although these are great examples. Apparently he double exposes shot of himself and other things as a comment on identity. Nifty.
Jeffery Starr's The Coil wasn't all that unique - I just thought it was purty.
Couldn't find a pic, but Linda Herritt did a piece entirely composed of luggage called "Migratory Patterns." ROFL!
Edit: Found the q-tip piece after all