colorado art redux, round I 9.22.2016

I’d planned to write one blog post about the art I saw in Colorado earlier this month, but it’s just too much for one post. For me, anyway. I like posts that are short and to the point. So I’ll write a few separate posts about the art, which is a teeny fraction of all the art there is to see in Denver! I’d hoped to visit the Plinth Gallery, but they were closed when I was there. I was pretty bummed about that. I still am.

The Denver Botanic Gardens are a short bike ride from where both my daughters live. This was a must-visit for me since I love gardening, and lucky me, there was a sculpture exhibit there, with pieces from the Walker Art Center Collection! The gardens are amazing. If you go, plan to spend an entire day!

This is “Woodrow” by Deborah Butterfield, 1988. Hard to believe it’s actually made of bronze and not wood sticks. He looked perfect in the garden!

I also visited the Denver Art Museum, a short walk from where my daughters live. (They live in a perfectly hip and cool Denver neighborhood!) I went to the museum to see another exhibit altogether, but as I walked down the hall, what did I find? Orion! By Deborah Butterfield, made of painted steel. He is perfectly grand there in the museum, gazing at the art!

Which reminded me that back home in Madison, at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, there’s a Butterfield piece in their permanent collection that I’ve seen several times titled “Dapple Gray,” in commemoration of the volcanic eruption in Washington State of Mount St. Helens in 1980. Made of gray metal and wire, with metal squares embedded in wire mesh to give it “dapples,” or spots. She also put adhesive on it, then dusted it with volcanic ash collected on her property.

And of course, I’m always delighted when I get to see “Blue Mustang” at the Denver Airport, by Luis Jiménez. You can read all about the Blue Mustang weirdness here, but I still break out in a big grin every time I see him:)

Horses and Colorado – they just go together. More about art in Colorado in my next post!