Modern Art on Slanted Walls
I have been wanting to visit the Denver Art Museum ever since it opened to controversial reviews in late 2006, and I finally got the opportunity to see what the fuss was all about a couple of weeks ago. My time was limited and I was only able to focus on their modern art collection, but it was enough time to get a feel for what makes the museum unique.
In galleries and museums, we usually make our way through a series of square or rectangular spaces (or maybe round, such as at Hirshorn in Washington, DC or the Guggenheim in NYC), but at the Denver Art Museum spaces are angular, walls seem to appear out of nowhere and many works of art can be found in tight corners all by themselves; the walls themselves are even slanted in some areas - with art hung on them. I found the space itself to be so intriguing as to almost overshadow the artwork itself, which is something I often hear about the Getty Museum in Los Angeles as well, with view of the Pacific Ocean being so spectacular it almost seems a shame to go inside.
One of my favorite pieces in the museum was a large work by Sean Landers:
Basically Landers' personal journal on canvas, excerpts cover everything from the death of his father to art and commerce. I spent most of my time in the museum exploring this piece.
I am on the fence as to whether or not I think the space itself works as a building to showcase works of art. On the one hand, it could be argued that it makes sense to make the space itself a work of art and envelope-pushing creation. On the other hand, if the purpose of a museum is to display important works of art, shouldn't that be the number one priority in designing the space, and is the risk of overshadowing the art too great in a space like this? Maybe the fact that it brings up interesting questions about the nature of art, exhibiting art and housing art is the whole point, and maybe these questions sharpens visitors' focus that much more, creating an experience that is more likely to stay with them and make them think about the art long after they've left. That is certainly what happened for me.
Christine Mason Miller
in Art, Exhibits, Events & Shows, Architecture, Denver
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Reader Comments (3)
have you been to the one in bilboa, spain? i know you're a traveler. amaaaaazing!
christine-
yes! i love this thought. i think that it is such a tension to know whether the space distracts from the work if it has too much personality before the work arrives, or if space is just a valid expression of the creative as any other artform.
hmmm. lovely to see that someone is trying to play with the gallery concept, though, isn't it!
Sean Landers..that was one of my favorite too...love the shots of that day!!!