Much is made these days of the interconnectedness of the arts, and, like most things, such a focus can be good or bad.
On the negative side is a zealous urge by some funders and presenters to hammer together multidisciplinary projects even if they are so contrived and forced that they come off as little more than jumbled messes.
A refreshing antidote is an exhibition running through May 13 at Weilworks that brings together art and poetry while preserving the integrity and purity of each form.
Tracy Weil, founder of the enterprising gallery just off Brighton Boulevard in the new River North Art District, wanted to celebrate National Poetry Month in April via the visual arts, and he devised a clever and simple way to do it.
First, he asked Drew Myron, a former Coloradan who now resides in Yachats, Ore., to send a few of her poems as candidates for the project. The two have been friends since they met as students at Fort Lewis College in Durango.
Weil selected the evocatively titled work, “The Making of Dust,” which Myron wrote last year. Its opening line, “The car roars past the turned face,” relates to an experience Myron had while standing near the 16th Street Mall in downtown Denver.
Next, he invited 20 artists – most Coloradans but others from as far away as Amsterdam – to create works in some way inspired by the poem, and he made a related piece of his own.
Unfortunately, the resulting exhibition does not fully live up to the inventive concept behind it. Group shows by their very nature are variegated, but this one comes off as disjointed, despite the common theme meant to unite the selections.
The quality of the work varies too much, and, in too many cases, it is impossible to understand how the pieces relate to the poem. This is one of those moments where a few sentences from each artist might have enhanced appreciation of some of the works.
That said, there are still selections that make a visit worthwhile, such as Riva Sweetrocket’s “The Making of Dust.” It is dominated by a bold image of one disembodied hand pouring red sand into the other – a kind of hourglass symbolizing death’s impending approach.
With recent exhibitions at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities and the now-shuttered Studio Aiello, the Denver artist has really come into her own and deservedly so. She is an absolute master of the pastel medium with an appealing if hard-to-categorize style.
Her endlessly imaginative drawings veer into the surreal and fantastical, typically with healthy doses of metaphor. It is often difficult to know whether she is being serious or has her tongue in cheek, and that ambiguity only adds to the works’ appeal.
Another notable artist on the local scene is Denver stalwart Bill Amundson, who was commissioned to create a work for the 2004 Denver Art Museum exhibition, “Retrospectacle 2: The Locals.” The result was a socio-politically tinged portrait titled, “Nervous Patriot.”
His work typically consists of meticulously rendered colored-pencil drawings in a kind of storybook style – soft and playful. Offering a wonderful example is the work custom-made for this show: “The Making of Dust – Road Side Remix.”
In this wonderfully humorous and entertaining piece, Amundson has turned phrases from Myron’s poem into advertising slogans on oversized, roadside billboards, such as “Grace’s Intangibles: Real Things Made Gracefully Palpable.”
Less widely known is Denver artist Lee Lee who makes a strong showing with “The Making of Dust.” (Although these three examples all adopt the title of the poem, most of the works don’t.)
This mixed-media work on paper brings together depictions of cracked earth and a clothed figure standing waist deep in water, perhaps performing some kind of ceremony.
But the seeming innocence of this subject matter is shattered by tire tracks criss-crossing the piece, powerful symbols of the desecration of the environment and the past.
In the hands of the right artists, poetry and art can speak eloquently to each other.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
“The Making of Dust”
THROUGH MAY 13|Thematic art exhibition|Weilworks, 3611 Chestnut Place|FREE|Noon-4 p.m., Tuesdays-Saturdays; 303-308-9345 or weilworks.com
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“Chimera” This is the final weekend to view Minnette Vári’s controversial video installation, exploring racial identity in South Africa. Viewing hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the University of Denver’s Victoria H. Myhren Gallery. 303-871-2846 or go to du.edu/art/galleries/myhren
“Colorado and the West” This exhibition at David Cook Fine Art, 1637 Wazee St., offers a window onto the state’s historical art scene, with more than 100 paintings, drawings and prints from the 19th through mid-20th centuries. It runs through June 3. Call 303-623-8181 or go to davidcookfineart.com
“New American West II” Denver photographer Susan Goldstein highlights sometimes odd juxtapositions in her spare, peopleless images of the contemporary West on view through May 21 at the Edge Gallery, 3658 Navajo St. 303-477-7173 or go to edgegallery.org.
-Kyle MacMillan
