Denver Art Museum Gets Down and Dirty
This week marks the beginning of The Denver Art Museum's first ever campus wide exhibition based on one material, Marvelous Mud: Clay Around the World. Every department in the Museum is involved from Design to Photography. In Director Christoph Heinrich's words, “Don't think pots”.
The entire Summer is dedicated to activities and demonstrations surrounding the main exhibition. Activities include the Museum's Mud Studio where young and old can get hands on with clay as well as weekend demonstrations throughout the Summer. This weekend artist Bob Smith was on hand to perform Raku firing, an intense process that yields beautiful glazes, on the plaza in front of the Hamilton building.
Gwen Chanzit, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, worked over a year to bring Denver Overthrown: Clay Without Limits featuring 25 local and international ceramic artists. British artist, Clare Twomey has placed drifts of red clay throughout the Museum as if a strong wind carried it in. Colorado artists Martha Russo and Katie Caron worked together to create Apoptosis a continuation of the theme Martha started last year at MCA Denver's Energy Effects show. Apoptosis refers to the purposeful death of cells, for instance when a baby's hands are forming in the womb allowing the fingers to separate. The piece has an almost magnetic pull dominating its section of the gallery. The artists used a diverse array of materials in addition to (over 4,000 pieces of) clay, including old kiln elements and old telephone poles donated by Xcel Energy. Overthrown is an impressive showing on its own, but paired with the rest of what the DAM has to offer Marvelous Mud becomes a real treat.
Marajó: Ancient Ceramics at the Mouth of the Amazon is the first exhibition of its kind in the United States, featuring objects created between the fifth and fourteenth centuries on the island of Marajó in South America. Other exhibitions draw upon the DAM's extensive collection, prompting a reworking of permanent installations. Potters of Precision: The Coors Porcelain Company puts on display scientific vessels that serve a practical purpose and are elegantly designed. Dirty Pictures draws upon photographers representations of dirt and mud. These and many more sub-exhibitions round out Marvelous Mud.
Marvelous Mud: Clay Around the World is on display now through September 18. There is no special admission price, and members get in free!
Visit: Denver Art Museum
Article: Jesse Nobbe and Jose Medina, Photos: Jesse Nobbe
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