Mention Oprah, Elvis or Martha and everyone knows exactly who you mean.
To be known by a first name alone has become one of contemporary culture’s marks of true celebrity.
But no pop icon can top the enduring fame of Marilyn. She has been dead more than four decades, yet her mystique and allure seem to exert as much a hold on the public consciousness as ever.
For the latest evidence, look no further than the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, which is presenting the exhibition “Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe” through July 6.
With 307 Marilyn-related artworks, including 140 period photographs, it is a big offering, probably too big for anyone but those devoted, dare we say obsessed, fans who can never get enough.
The Fine Arts Center is the seventh stop on a 10-city tour that began in September 2006 in Dallas and has included such institutions as the Dayton (Ohio) Art Institute and Art Gallery of Nova Scotia in Halifax.
To museums hungry to enhance their turnstile numbers, the appeal is obvious: Marilyn. With her name in the title, it’s almost a guaranteed hit, one that will probably lure more than a few Denverites to the Springs.
But it’s easy to wonder if there isn’t at least a partial disconnect between the exhibition’s assumed mass appeal and the actual artworks on view.
There are some of the expected Marilyn-inspired images, such as eight of Andy Warhol’s iconic 1967 screen prints of the actress and model, and three keyhole views of her in a series by Mel Ramos titled “Peek-a-Boo.”
But most of the central portion of the show is devoted to artworks from the last decade or so — mostly paintings and works on paper — inspired in some way by Marilyn or the mythology that has grown up around her.
Many of these — unexpectedly — are by European artists, especially Germans, a phenomenon that makes sense once one realizes that “Life as a Legend” was organized by Artoma in Hamburg, Germany.
Some mainstream viewers, looking for a more straight-ahead take on the subject matter, might find some of these works tough going.
But for fans of contemporary art, such an emphasis is welcome. Potential visitors should be aware that the quality of these works fluctuates, and some would probably otherwise not be exhibited in such a high-visibility show if it were not for their connection to the theme.
In many ways, these pieces are about echoes. Unlike the period photographers, virtually none of these artists had any direct contact with Monroe.
Instead, their creations deal with the media personifications of her and the celebrity cult that grew up around her. Many are inspired by Warhol’s ubiquitous visions of her, which were themselves derived from photographs, not the woman herself.
Spanish artist Antonio de Felipe plays off this echoing effect in several paintings that pay homage to and mimic pop artists such as Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. In “En el Jardin de Hollywood (In Hollywood’s Garden)” (2003), he depicts Monroe against a backdrop of Warholian flowers.
Offering another twist on celebrity mimickry and homage is Christopher Makos. He is represented with a series of his well-known photographs of Warhol, another of the century’s pop icons, donning a blond wig and imitating Monroe.
In “Madonna Marilyn” (2003), an oil on aluminum that looks like a blown-up video still, Martin C. Herbst updates Marilyn by merging her with contemporary pop phenemenon Madonna. Such a fusion raises questions about the differences and similarities between these two figures and reinforces the notion that society’s hunger for such super-celebrities shows no signs of being sated.
As an imaginative supplement to this portion of the exhibition, the Fine Arts Center asked 16 area artists to create their takes on Monroe and her legacy. They took the charge seriously, creating some commendably ambitious works, most shown in a side gallery.
Two deserving note are Carol Dass’ haunting photographic re-creation of Marilyn’s death, a masked figure lying on a bed with pill bottles prominently arrayed on the nightstand, and Floyd Tunson’s “Untitled (Alpha and Omega),” a large-scale painting tellingly configured like an altarpiece.
Rounding out the exhibition are four galleries of photographs (more than most people probably want to pore through), including many that have become part of the pop DNA of America. Among these is Milton Greene’s familiar portrait of Monroe in a tutu, part of his legendary 1954 “Ballerina” sitting.
While such images are critical to understanding the Monroe legend and some tie directly to the artworks elsewhere, there is nonetheless a sense of a divide between these period images and the artistic homages, most from decades later.
“Life as a Legend” boils down to one central reality: Marilyn. And in the end, what else really needs to be said?
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
“Life as a Legend: Marilyn Monroe”
Art. Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 W. Dale St. An exhibition of more than 300 artworks inspired by Marilyn Monroe and her enduring mystique. Through July 6. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and Sundays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays. $12 general public and $7.50 for art center members. 719-634-5581 or .
