Amid the jumble of art on view in “Colorado 2002,” a juried exhibition at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, the fresh vision of one young artist stood out: Tsehai Johnson.
Three years earlier, the ceramicist had earned her master of fine arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and she was just beginning to make her name in the state.
Sadly, some young talents burst onto the scene and then quietly fade away or, worse, prove disappointing later. But Johnson has more than lived up to the potential she first showed, becoming one of the Colorado art scene’s most respected figures.
The Denver resident is one of three well-known artists with area ties to be featured in concurrent solo exhibitions running through Aug. 23 at Plus Gallery. This set of offerings was among the most anticipated of the summer, and it delivers.
What sets Johnson apart is her rare ability to marry concept and craft. Drawing inspiration from domestic objects as banal as a cleaning brush, she sculpts elegant, highly original works, which she meticulously molds in porcelain.
Through much of her work, the artist has put a firm emphasis on order and pattern, as exemplified by “Field No. 11,” a wall piece roughly 7 3/4 feet tall and 12 feet wide. This porcelain relief offers a kind of three-dimensional re-creation of a flowery wallpaper design.
But that precise piece is the lone exception in this exhibition, simply and tellingly titled “Disorderly.” Clearly, in this latest body of work, Johnson has sought to disrupt the order she has so carefully cultivated previously.
Nowhere is this impulse more evident than in “Exploding Carpet,” a large-scale floor installation, in which Johnson vividly captures a sense of action.
Akin to what Harold Edgarton did in his famous stop-action photograph, “Milkdrop Coronet” (1957), Johnson suggests the chaotic effects of something being dropped into a pool of milk, with drops flying and splashing in every direction.
This complex sculpture, which is more than 10 1/2 feet across at its widest point, is composed of some 50 components (most on the floor but a few suspended above), each molded in a distinctive, asymmetrical droplet form. It is a tour de force in every way.
In his solo display, Denver sculptor Andy Miller offers an updated take on “soft sculptures,” which were conceived in the 1960s by noted pop artist Claes Oldenburg. Defying convention, he used soft, shiny vinyl to depict “hard” objects such as a typewriter.
Miller has adopted this medium but taken it in a different direction. Instead of trying to depict familiar objects, he is more interested in how the vinyl forms appear when they are deflated, hence the show’s title, “Flat and Empty.”
The show’s centerpiece is a white vinyl piece that looks like it would be a big ball if it were inflated. Instead, it is a flat, rippled, uneven form on the floor — fascinating in its own unexpected way.
Rounding out the exhibition are drawings and paintings by John Hull, a nationally recognized artist who left Denver in 2007 to become a professor of painting and chairman of the art department at the College of Charleston in South Carolina.
On view are two sets of diminutive creations, none larger than 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Hull is at his best in these smaller works, which have a looser, more spontaneous feel than his larger, more exactingly finished paintings.
The first group, titled “The Most Beautiful Woman in Town and Other Series,” consists of 15 sepia-toned pencil and ink drawings — each 5 by 7 inches. Hull demostrates a wonderful facility for this medium, bringing a gentle, sure feel to these works.
Also on view is “Mans Adventure,” a group of 63 acrylic paintings on canvas board meant to be exhibited as a whole. Interspersed are two series of narrative works, apparently offering very different notions of battles — one showing boxing matches and another depicting domestic erotic encounters.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
Tsehai Johnson, Andy Miller, John Hull
Art. Plus Gallery, 2350 Lawrence St. A trio of solo exhibitions featuring recent works by three widely known artists who are all current or recent residents of Denver. Through Aug. 23. Noon to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Free. 303-296-0927 or .
