Following the well-worn formula of trying to offer something to satisfy every taste, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art is presenting three wonderfully disparate solo exhibitions.
The clear standout is a breathtaking group of nine fastidiously crafted metal sculptures by Tracy Krumm, a nationally known artist who is leaving the Kansas City (Mo.) Art Institute for a faculty post at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.
She stands in welcome contrast to much that is happening in contemporary art. Unlike so many artists who seem to copy whatever is depicted in the latest issue of Artforum, she has developed a still-fresh, immediately identifiable style.
And unlike artists who put concept above craft – in some unfortunate cases, spurning craft altogether – she takes an almost old-world approach to her work, devoting countless hours in crocheting metal wire and fashioning her extraordinarily intricate pieces.
That her sculptures rely so heavily on such seemingly antiquated artisanship and yet have a decidedly contemporary feel is one of several cross-currents that invest this art with an expressive power that goes beyond the beauty of its forms and awe-inspiring complexity of its construction.
The origin of all these pieces lies in textiles. “Wall Curtain: Saw Blade” (2002), for example, is just what its title says: three curtains of different lengths draped atop each other with frilly borders. If they were made of fabric, the 8 1/2-foot-tall piece would be unremarkable.
Instead, each panel is made of crocheted wire. This defies or perhaps subverts notions of what a curtain is and how it is made, upsetting our notions of where and how metal is used.
Krumm also likes to juxtapose delicacy and bulk. In the nearly 9-foot-tall hanging sculpture, “Shroud: Long Bag with Hook” (2006), arguably the strongest of the seven selections, she has suspended a big iron hook from an elongated, finely crocheted “bag,” which is in turn hung from what looks like an old automobile spring.
That central core element is surrounded by a cylindrical, crocheted-metal “shroud.” These related yet subtly competing components give the piece a layered dynamism while maintaining its airy transparency.
Rebecca DiDomenico, a Boulder artist who is regularly featured at the Boulder museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver, has created a magical installation – a room and adjoining alcove lined with more than 10,000 mica rectangles.
Each of the tiny, translucent panels overlays a dizzying array of black-and-white images ranging from past and present figures, often nude and sometimes erotic, to playing cards, centuries-old alchemist diagrams and architectural drawings.
Rather than the somewhat detached quality of the traditional art-viewing experience, this installation plunges the viewer into all-encompassing, almost overpowering sea of imagery, creating a powerful sensory experience.
Probably the best known of the three is American Indian artist Emmi Whitehorse of Santa Fe. She is represented with 19 abstract oils on paper with glyphs and marks deployed on fields of hovering color.
The museum probably would have been better served to have shown about half the number of pieces. These paintings are so similar to each other that they become repetitive, taking away from the strength of the individual selections.
This worthy trio of exhibitions offers a strong signal that the Boulder museum is back on track after a fallow period caused in part by leadership changes and questionable curatorial choices.
In a quickly growing contemporary art scene that needs as broad an array of museums and nonprofit art spaces as possible, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art has an important role to play.
It is good to see the institution stepping back onstage and joining the show.
Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
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Rebecca DiDomenico, Tracy Krumm and Emmi Whitehorse
Through July 29|Three solo exhibitions|Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th St.|$4|$3 students and seniors|11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays (303-443-2122 or bmoca.org)
