Denver Art Museum - Part 1

Kate and I spent some time at the Denver Art Museum yesterday http://www.denversartmuseum.org/) specifically to see the exhibits in the Frederic C. Hamilton Building which is a 146,000 square foot expansion designed by architect Daniel Libeskind that only opened a year ago.

I thought the official description of the expansion was amusing: "The Hamilton Building's design recalls the peaks of the Rocky Mountains and geometric rock crystals found in the foothills near Denver. "I was inspired by the light and the geology of the Rockies, but most of all by the wide-open faces of the people of Denver," says Libeskind. The building is covered in 9,000 titanium panels that reflect the Colorado sunshine." Okay, so if I were native, I think I'd take offense at the "wide-open faces" reference. (You mean my face is FAT!?!?! You said wide....)

The interior of the building was very clean. White. Stark. And, sadly, vertigo-inducing. I was worried that I might have to crawl down the stairs to the lower levels .... it was like being trapped an MC Escher drawing.





The exhibits were fun. Kate and I were mesmerized by this work of art created by American born artist Sean Landers. It's titled Pater Noster - produced with oil paint on linen. If you enlarge the photos you can read some of the composition - a stream of consciousness chronical of the artists' thoughts about his father's death. It was very compelling - we found it difficult to stop reading.



And, then of course, there's this piece of ... art. It is a cast bronze sculpture - contiguous and skillfully rendered/painted to look like little bits and piece of yard junk. Double-click on this photo to see the detail - and remember nothing has been "attached" to it - it's a single piece of casting. Clearly an "eye of the beholder" work. Need I say more? (Hey Marty + Kathy, make some space on the mantel - Christmas is coming!)



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