Big, colorful and playful – the nearly 70 works in the centerpiece temporary exhibition in the Denver Art Museum’s recently opened Hamilton Building offer a bracing blast of the new and now.
Titled “Radar: Selections From the Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan,” the show is not to meant to be a comprehensive survey so much as a kind of subjective sampling of what has happened in contemporary art during the last 15 years.
Organized loosely by nationality, the 11,000-square-foot display in the high-ceilinged Anshutz Gallery emphasizes art from Great Britain, Germany and China – three of the hottest and most productive art centers over that time span.
It is an extremely needed and welcome offering in a city where opportunities to see avant-garde art of this scale and quality are still a rarity despite growing efforts by this institution and others in the area.
Taken together with the selections from the museum’s permanent collection of modern and contemporary art on view elsewhere in the Hamilton Building, this has to be the most spectacular assembly of the art of today ever presented in Denver.
As such, it should spark continued growth in Colorado’s own art scene and challenge local artists to push even harder in their work. In addition, it cannot help but shape and reshape visitors’ views about what art is and what it can be.
In a recent review of “Radar,” Christopher Knight, art critic for the Los Angeles Times, bemoaned the predictability of the Logan offerings as well as the near absence of anything created “between the Hudson River and the Pacific Ocean.” On both points, his criticism is off the mark.
If the Logans were copycats in their acquisitions, simply following the lead of others, then perhaps it might be fair to call this collection predictable. Instead, the two were among the first to collect the Young British Artists and perceive the rising tide of contemporary Asian art.
Now, of course, the smiling, neo-pop works by Takashi Murakami, for example, are so ubiquitous that they have almost become clichés. But on view here are three pivotal, large-scale examples by the Japanese artist that are little seen in Los Angeles or anywhere else.
These delightful pieces, including “Super Nova” (1999), an amazing, seven-part painting that stretches more than 34 feet in length, go far in explaining why Murakami caused such a sensation when he emerged on the international art scene in the 1990s.
As for the related charge that there is a “scarcity of surprises” in this exhibition, perhaps that might be true from the point of view of Los Angeles, where exhibitions of contemporary art are common. But in Denver, viewers have had little chance to see even contemporary stalwarts.
In terms of there being little if any art from across the United States, it should be remembered that this is a private not a museum collection, and the Logans have every right to follow their tastes and predilections in their purchases.
At the same time, it shouldn’t be overlooked that curator Dianne Vanderlip chose examples from the Logan collection that would complement the museum’s existing holdings, which do include a decent assortment of works from across the United States.
Despite some obvious gaps in this contemporary showcase, such as a near-absence of video and digital art, two of the burgeoning media within the field, it nevertheless offers a general gauge of key trends and directions.
What is missing is the kind of in-your-face, socio-political art that reached its nadir with the infamous, much-maligned 1993 biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City.
Mired in arcane philosophy and too often requiring long, explanatory texts, such work was off-putting with its overbearing preachiness and self-righteousness, and it was often so issue- and time-specific that it could not transcend the moment of its own creation.
There are scattered examples of socio-political work here, such as “Great Britain” (1995-97), Marlene Dumas’ pointed reflection on Princess Diana and her legacy. But most of these artists, thankfully, are more interested in making art than making statements.
Indeed, what is so fascinating is how what used to be dismissed as reactionary is au courant once again. Critics proclaimed the demise of painting for years, yet a sizable portion of this show is devoted to painting.
And there are some superbly realized examples, none more so than “Hem” (1999), Jenny Saville’s imposing, 10-foot-tall nude portrait with its textured, almost sculptured surface, including a section that looks like troweled-on plaster.
Sure, the freak-like exoticism of her giant, obese figures has sparked its share of attention, but it’s clear that what fueled this British artist’s almost instant stardom was her prodigious skills with a paintbrush.
Other first-rate paintings include Michel Majerus’ sprawling 15 3/4-by-23-foot “Gewinn” (2000); Fred Tomaselli’s “Field Guides” (2003), with its intricately inlaid photocollage; and Fang Lijun’s “Series 3 No.15” (1994), an other-worldly, monochromatic view of submerged figures.
If the word “figure” seems to keep cropping up, that is no coincidence. Figurative paintings and sculptures, the kind of art that was pooh poohed for several decades in the late 20th century as hopelessly out of date, abound in this exhibition.
This is not surprising, considering that human beings are as obsessed as ever with how they and others look. And in a world evolving with lightning speed, questions of cultural, social and personal identity seem more pressing than ever.
Greeting visitors at the exhibtion’s entrance is Michael Joo’s “Headless (mfg portrait)” (2000), a group of 28 Buddha figures with identical molded bodies, each with a different doll head suspended on a string.
Although certainly whimsical and fun, the piece is also a serious exploration of cross-cultural identity, as Joo, a Korean-American, draws on American pop art while looking at Asian traditions and art history.
There are some definite misses in this show, such as Dutch artist Carla Klein’s “Untitled” (2003), a loosely, some might say crudely, rendered big-sky landscape. It pales in comparison to a similar composition by Keith Jacobshagen among the museum’s Western holdings.
But, for the most part, “Radar” shows just how exciting contemporary art can be.
“Radar: Selections From the Collection of Vicki and Kent Logan”
ART EXHIBIT | Nearly 70 works from the holdings of the internationally known Vail collectors | Denver Art Museum, 13th Avenue between Broadway and Bannock Street | $10 Colorado residents and $13 non-residents, with discounts available for seniors, students and youth; free for museum members | 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Fridays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; through July 15; 866-409-0278 or denverartmuseum.org.
