Overpacked? Yes. A bit of a hodgepodge? Yes. Some recycled selections? Yes.
These are all valid strikes against the latest pair of exhibitions at the Robischon Gallery, but viewers shouldn’t let any of these negatives keep them away.
The high quality of many of the individual works, the sheer magnitude of the combined offering and the noteworthy occasion it celebrates more than justify a visit.
The two concurrent shows, “30 x 30” and “Decades,” belatedly mark last year’s 30th anniversary of the commercial space, a laudable accomplishment in a city that has not always been especially hospitable to contemporary art.
Not only is Robischon one of the city’s oldest major galleries, most local art professionals – even many of its competitors – agree that it is the city’s best.
Founder and director Jim Robischon, and co-director Jennifer Doran, his wife, deserve a great deal of credit for their high standards and tenacity in the face of cultural indifference and lean economic conditions at times.
Although it has been possible over the years to quibble with some of their artistic choices and to wish they would be more adventuresome and ambitious in their offerings, they have presented many superb exhibitions and have consistently elevated the gallery’s overall level.
For the aptly titled exhibition, “30 x 30,” the gallery asked 30 of the artists it regularly represents to each create a 30-by- 30-inch work. Given the diversity of these creators, the results are all over the place in terms of style, media and success.
While some of these artists might have felt constrained by the size restriction, it pushed others to unexpected levels of accomplishment. The latter was especially true in the case of Anne Connell of Portland, Ore., who is represented with an oil on panel titled “Alphabet.”
This work was a considerable stretch for Connell, and the result is a tour de force. The fastidious painter, who works in painstaking fashion, typically creates much smaller pieces. This larger scale allows her to construct a more expansive, complex composition.
As usual, she constructs a kind of painted, multilayered collage, blurring fantasy and realism and looking back to the Renaissance and beyond. Geo- metry merges with hints of alchemy. Archetypal patterns converge with such elements as a lit match and trompe l’oeil depictions of a ruler and envelope.
Many other artists attempt these kinds of fantastical mixes of past and present, and too often they come off as forced and cloying. But Connell’s superlative craftsmanship, keen imagination and objective gaze help her avoid such pitfalls.
Other strong pieces include Jae Ko’s “JK357,” a seductive, swirled form constructed of rolled paper and glue; Gary
Komarin’s “Untitled,” a deliberately crude, cheerfully recalcitrant lime-green drawing; Stephen Batura’s “colossus,” with its vibrant flicks of paint; and Brad Miller’s “XXX,” a striking, constellationlike abstraction.
The rest of the gallery is devoted to “Decades,” an exhibition of 25 works by 10 internationally known artists who have had major exhibitions at
Robischon.
Many of these works were simply taken out of the gallery’s stocks and recycled from recent exhibitions, including its showcase of Chinese art at the end of last year, “Under the Radar.”
But the always-prolific Judy Pfaff of New York City has made 11 mixed-media works expressly for this exhibit. They are as spectacular as always, especially the large, semi-sculptural paper constructions in which she combines painting and drawing with other manipulations, including burning.
Christo once again shows himself to be a first-rate draftsman with two beautifully realized, 57-by-65-inch collaged drawings created in conjunction with “Over the River.” That planned work by him and his wife, Jeanne-Claude, would temporarily cover portions of the Arkansas River between Salida and Cañon City.
In all, 55 works are crammed into these adjacent exhibitions. A case of overexuberance? Yes. But 30th anniversaries only come along once, and the gallery deserves a pass.
“Decades,” “30 x 30”
ART|Concurrent exhibitions marking the gallery’s 30th anniversary|Robischon Gallery, 1740 Wazee St.|Free| 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; through Feb. 24; 303-298-7788 or robischongallery.com.
