Museum of Contemporary Art / Denver

The Museum of Contemporary Art / Denver (MCA) is an innovative forum that inspires and challenges all audiences and creates understanding and dialog about art of our time.
In 1996, the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver was formed to provide Denver with a major contemporary art museum. MCA is located in a 7,000 square foot renovated fish market in the Sakura Square in downtown Denver. MCA is a non-collecting space and functions like the European model of a kunsthalle, offering the ongoing presentation of innovative and challenging artwork. MCA sees its role to be an incubator for art and ideas, artistic exchange and dialogue, and a place for the infinite exploration of the human imagination.

Our new home

In 1996, Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver (MCA) was formed to provide Denver with a major contemporary art museum. MCA has been instrumental in garnering widespread enthusiasm and support for the art of our time. In 2006, MCA will deliver a long overdue museum for world-class contemporary art to the Denver Metro area with the opening of our new 25,000 square foot home at 15th and Delgany.

In 2004, an Architect Selection Committee was formed and an international search was conducted for an architect to design "a place where architecture supports rather than defines the museum's mission." To activate public interest and challenge the selection process, MCA engaged in a six-week educational interview process with six architecture design firms engaging graduate students, high-school students, museum patrons, and thousands of new faces at public presentations where attendance grew to more than 900 people per lecture.

After much consideration, the Selection Committee and the Board of Trustees unanimously voted to select Ghanaian-British architect David Adjaye to design the new building. David Adjaye is "more artist than architect. Known as an innovator with materials and a sculptor of light, he's also a rising international star," states the international architecture journal Azure (Spring 2004). The MCA commission is Adjaye's first U.S. building and his first museum worldwide.

MCA's new facility is visionary and elegant. It will be a 21st century city landmark and a tourist destination. It will contribute to the revitalization of Lower Downtown, in particular the Central Platte Valley district near the historic Union Station building.

MCA's visionary project is a vital component of Denver's growing cultural landscape and complements other important cultural development projects. According to CBCA "metro Denver cultural and scientific organizations generated $1.3 billion in economic activity in 2003 driving $497 million in new revenue to the metro Denver economy." MCA's new building will contribute to the city's economic strength and towards its growing reputation as one of the most exciting cities in the United States.

Whether your commitment is to art, architecture or to Colorado's long term cultural and economic well being, this exciting project needs your support. We’ve received a generous $1 million gift of land as well as generous lead gifts from our Trustees and patrons of $6 million more. That still leaves a significant fundraising challenge. Outstanding naming opportunities exist and pledges of $25,000 or more may be paid over 5 years. Pledges of $10,000 or more may be paid over 2 years. Planned gifts are also welcome.

Contributions of any amount are greatly appreciated. We need your support, at whatever level, to realize this vision for Denver together. Special donor recognition is available at a full range of giving levels.

For more information, please contact Scott Anderson, Development Director, at 303-298-7554 x206 or scotta

Programs

Programs at MCA focus on celebrating the artistic strengths of this region, while also integrating national and international artists, curators and writers to create rich, cross-disciplinary dialogues. Exhibitions include Will Boys Be Boys? Questioning Adolescent Masculinity in Contemporary Art; PILLish: Harsh Realities and Gorgeous Destinations; Dots, Blobs and Angels: John David Rigsby; OVER ONE BILLION SERVED: Conceptual Photography from the People’s Republic of China; Blood: Lines and Connections; Colorado Biennial: 10+10; Elegy: Contemporary Ruins; POPjack: from Warhol to Marakami and 5 Abstract. MCA offers Multi-Disciplinary Outreach Programs such as Reel Love, an experimental film series, Slidejam, an artist’s slide presentation of the work of pier artists, and Visual Soundings, a program that introduces new forms of music into the gallery setting. Education Programs are based on the exhibits and include lectures, tours, and art talks by artists, writers, and curators as well as gallery guides, catalogues, and video documentation, as well as Contemporary Laboratory a teacher training/artist residency program for schools. Over 2,000 children and adults participate in MCA Programs annually.

Visitor Profile

MCA's innovative programs attract over 20,000 visitors a year. About one-half of MCA’s visitors are citizens from within the Denver metro area, one-quarter from larger Colorado and one-quarter from national or international destinations. Demographic surveys have determined that MCA draws its membership from the city's inhabitants who are educated, affluent, professional, well-traveled, and aesthetically aware.

Community Needs

A relatively young city located between the two coasts, Denver continues to search for its own cultural identity. MCA plays an important role in this pursuit by bringing stimulating exhibitions and programs by artists and curators of diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds and sensitivities. MCA acts as a window to the world while tirelessly acting as a mirror that reflects the art of its place.

Evaluation

The Director/Curator and staff hold high standards in the administration of exhibitions and programs by constantly evaluating, reflecting, and documenting MCA's processes. Comments from the general public are taken verbally and through comment diaries throughout MCA. Surveys are available at all lectures, tours and other special programs to evaluate the success of the programs.

Volunteer

MCA Interns/Volunteers provide the much-needed assistance to MCA and are an integral part of creating a cultural identity for Denver. Interns/Volunteers at MCA assist in a variety of Museum work. Depending on interests, skills and availability, Interns/Volunteers could be involved in one or all of the following areas.

Visitor Services/Museum Shop
Education/Docent
Special Events
Membership
Public Relations
Development
General Office Support

VOLUNTEER APPLICATION PROCEDURES
Join Now! MCA actively recruits volunteers through its membership pool. Volunteers who are not yet MCA members are encouraged to join Denver's first and only contemporary art museum. Applications for volunteers are now being accepted. Volunteers are asked to give a minimum of 5 hours per month. Volunteer assignment are based on availability, skills, and interest. Evening opportunities are available. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, please complete the online application or call Scott Anderson, 303-298-7554 x203. scotta

INTERNSHIP APPLICATION PROCEDURES
Interns are required to give at least a three-month (one semester) commitment. All internships are unpaid, part-time positions and can be done for credit through an area college. Internship assignment is based on availability, skills, and interest. If you are interested in becoming an intern, please call or e-mail Aaron Bowles, 303-298-7554 x211. aaronb

2005 BIENNIAL BLOW OUT

For the "2005 BIENNIAL BLOW OUT" London-based curator Kenny Schachter selected ten artists throughout the Rocky Mountain from an open call for entries. The call actively sought challenging work that pushed traditional aesthetic boundaries and was sent to artists living and working in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. Schachter traveled from London to review all of the submissions and site-specific proposals and, in the end, chose artists in a diverse range of media who he thought best fulfilled the goals of the Biennial and the mission of MCA. The selected works include a wide range of media from photography to sculpture, from ceramics to digital art and site-specific installation.

Artists:
Louisa Armbrust (Denver, CO)
Angela Ellsworth (Scottsdale, AZ)
Denis Gillingwater (Phoenix, AZ)
Patti Hallock (Longmont, CO)
Jessica James Lansdon (Tucson, AZ)
Susan Meyer (Denver, CO)
Jason Patz (Denver, CO)
David Sharpe (Denver, CO)
Jeff Starr (Denver, CO)
Sherlock Terry (Corrales, NM)

KENNY SCHACHTER lives and works in London as an independent curator and writer. Schachter has curated numerous shows at cultural institutions worldwide, including PS1, NY; The Sculpture Center, NY; Artforms, London, UK; Hoenthal und Beren, Cologne, Germany; Chopo Museum, Mexico City, Mexico. In 2002, he established and led an experimental exhibition space in New York City, conTEMPorary, the first interior space designed by Vito Acconci. Schachter has also taught intermittently at the School of Visual Arts, New York University and Columbia University. He has lectured throughout the US, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, 91st Annual Conference of the College Arts Association, University of Texas, Kansas City Art Institute, Duke University, Phoenix Art Museum, Guggenheim Museum, and the Rhode Island School of Design.
[title]Guest Juror:[/title]
Kenny Schachter

OFF-SITE PROJECT V: I Will Smile For One Year

"A smile is its own language." – Burt Payne3

Artist's Statement: Using a large media format typically reserved for advertisements, the “Smile” posters encourage viewers to contemplate what inspires happiness. While the smiling faces are anonymous, the diversity of language used to communicate their intent acts as an access point for viewers from around the globe.

Raised on Norman Vincent Peale’s "The Power of Positive Thinking," Burt Payne3 is smiling as you read this.

Artist's Bio: Colorado artist Burt Payne3 received a Masters of Fine Art from the California Institute of the Arts (CALARTS) in 1991 and a Bachelors of Fine Art, Women’s Studies Minor, from New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University in 1985. He was an artist-in-residence at the Bemis Foundation in Omaha, NE and was the recipient of the Villa St. Clair, Sete, France Fellowship where he organized a solo exhibition of his site-specific installation. Payne3 has been shown in numerous group shows nationally and internationally including at the Museo de las Artes, Guadalajara, Mexico; Museo de Monterrey, Mexico; Auditorio de Galicia, Santiago, Spain; Christopher Grimes Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Track 16 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA; Mint Gallery, Valencia, CA; and Shepards Bush Gallery, London, England.
[title]Location I: [/title]
The Denver Dry Goods Building
1555 California Street

[title]Location II: [/title]
Denver International Airport, Jeppesen Terminal
Level 6

WHITE OUT: Lighting Into Beauty

Artists in "WHITE OUT" offered portraits of beauty in all shades of white, an architectural snowflake labyrinth, sugar caves, year-round smiles, photographic masterpieces, and women that looked like a cross between “Marilyn Monroe and the moon.” Udo Noger's paintings are composed of three thin layers of canvas that trap light, expressing the artist's preoccupation with phenomena of light and beauty. In the Cafe area, Denver installation artist, Jaeha Yoo constructed a light/shadow maze to shift the viewer’s perspective and perception, to "white out" the field of vision without obscuring it. MCA also introduced an emerging New York artist, Tanyth Berkeley, with her series of female portraits titled "Orchidaceae," referring to rare species of orchids known for their unusual flowers.

Artists:
Tanyth Berkeley
Udo Noger
Jaeha Yoo
[title]Curator:[/title]
Cydney Payton

Will Boys Be Boys? Questioning Adolescent Masculinity in Contemporary Art

"Will Boys Be Boys?" questioned adolescent masculinity in contemporary art as the media’s obsession with youth has increased. This exhibition brought together recent paintings, photographs, sculptures, installations and video works that are less about a specific age group than the idea of the boy as a socially determined type - from physical presentation via clothing, hairstyle and accessories to gender specific social activities, rituals and objects.

Exhibition organized and circulated by Independent Curators International (iCI), NY

Artists:
Slater Bradley
Larry Clark
Greg Fiering and Matt Luem
Lilah Freedland
Tim Gardner
Luis Gispert
Anthony Goicolea
Janine Gordon
Ryan Humphrey
Nikki S. Lee
Julia Loktev
Maria Marshall
Ryan McGinness
Chloe Piene
Jeff Reed
Tom Sachs
Dean Sameshima
Collier Schorr
Type A (Adam Ames and Andrew Bordwin)[title]Curator:[/title]
Shamim M. Momin

Exhibition Reviews

"I want to say clearly that I think it was a very bad idea to expand the geographic reach of the [MCA Biennial] show beyond Colorado's borders. The reason has nothing to do with the quality of the show, which is quite high, but instead it has to do with the bad feelings it's engendered."
- Michael Paglia, Westword

"Missing [from the Biennial] was the concept of limiting submissions for the show to artists from Colorado, as director-curator Cydney Payton expanded the field to include Arizona, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming."
- Mary Voelz Chandler, Rocky Mountain News

"While this state might not have as rich an artistic scene as, say, New Mexico, there is more than enough happening to justify a focused, well-curated and high-profile biennial devoted just to it."
- Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post

CAST YOUR VOTE AND TELL US IF YOU AGREE WITH THE CRITICS.
E-mail MCA's Exhibition Coordinator, aaronb

Opinions will be posted during the Biennial BLOW OUT.

Truss Thrust: The Artifice of Space

"Truss Thrust: The Artifice of Space" presents three distinct visions, articulated through video installations that explore the physicality of the body, movement, space, and architecture.

Artists:
The Blue Noses Group
Sergio Prego
Peter Welz

Mezzanine Exhibition:
By and By, recent prints by Brad Brown

ARTIST BIOS:

The Blue Noses Group is a collaboration between Russian artists Alexander Shaburov and Viacheslav Mizin both from Siberia. Employing physical comedy, The Blue Noses create video installations in which they themselves perform and which comment on politics and consumerism in post Soviet-era Russia. In the installation "Little Men" they satirize popular computer and video games using simple materials such as cardboard boxes and video hardware. Inside ten boxes “little men” struggle, climb, wiggle, and fall in a literal, humorous, and symbolic commentary on the role of the individual within the larger society today. The Blue Noses Group has been exhibited throughout Russia and Europe including at the Kirov Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, the 50th Venice Biennale, and the Guelman Gallery in Moscow, Russia. "Truss Thrust: The Artifice of Space" at MCA will mark their first U.S. exhibition.

Sergio Prego pushes the boundaries between video, performance, sculpture, and architecture, exploring the relationship between the human body and the surrounding physical and architectural space, often conjuring impossible spatial situations. By utilizing multiple video cameras placed side by side or in a circular formation, Prego uses them to simultaneously record images, which he takes and reconstructs into sequences that suggest a consecutive fluid movement through space that defies all temporal and physical laws. His work takes the viewer on unexpected journeys where common notions about time and space are skewed, making us question how we move through them and how they move through us. A Spanish artist currently based in New York, Prego has been exhibited internationally including at PS1 Contemporary Art Center in New York, Galeria Antonio de Barnola in Barcelona, and the Museo de Arte Contemporano Reina Sofia in Spain.

Peter Welz is a Berlin-based sculptor best known for his recent investigations of kinetic motion through video, drawing, and architectural sculptures. His preoccupation with the analysis of movement in space has lead to a series of collaborative works with William Forsythe, the renowned choreographer and artistic director of the Frankfurt Ballet. Welz records Forsythe's movements and bodily rhythms by means of a series of video cameras positioned on and around the choreographer. Welz distinguishes himself through his formal sculptural sensibility where high technology never overwhelms gesture. Welz is the 2005 recipient of the prestigious "Kaiserring" Award, Germany's top award for visual artists. His participation in MCA's "Truss Thrust: The Artifice of Space" is one of his first U.S. exhibits running concurrently with an exhibit at the Renaissance Society in Chicago, Illinois. His work has been exhibited throughout Europe including at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, England, and the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, Ireland.

Brad Brown makes drawings with charcoal, graphite, tea and olive oil. He smudges, rubs and doodles in a systematic search for the final form of the work. Drawing figurative and abstract elements democratically, he amasses a quantity of images. From these he culls poetic fragments through a process of tearing and reworking the drawings. Brown has exhibited groups of these exquisite fragments in installations at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and The Drawing Center in New York. MCA is exhibiting a series of recent prints created this summer at Shark's Ink. in Lyons, Colorado. Brad Brown has received grants and awards from the California Arts Council, the Ruth Chenven Foundation, the Western States Art Federation and the Vermont Studio Center. His work is in the collections of the Arkansas Art Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

[title]Curator:[/title]
Cydney Payton

PILLish: Harsh Realities and Gorgeous Destinations

"PILLish: Harsh Realities and Gorgeous Destinations" explored the dichotomy of drug culture, its enchantments and pitfalls. The exhibition looked at all forms of substances from pills to alcohol, legal to illegal, while considering that they are a mirror into our evolutionary track- biologically, psychologically and culturally. The psycho-sexual appeal of substances as immediate or long-term escape from reality, as well as the consequences of such impulses and patterns, was part of the platform of experience that the exhibit put forth.

Artists:
Barton Lidice Benes
Glenn Brown
Richard Billingham
Albert Chong
Larry Clark
David Critchley & Dr. Elizabeth Lee
Elizabeth Diller & Ricardo Scofidio
Barnaby Furnas
Tom Fruin
Nan Goldin
Damien Hirst
Carsten Holler
Andy Diaz Hope
Mr.
Takashi Murakami
Roxy Paine
Thomas Ruff
Fred Tomaselli

[title]Curator:[/title]
Cydney Payton

Opinions

- "I don't agree that Colorado doesn't have "... as rich an artistic scene as, say, New Mexico ..." Colorado's art scene is very rich, diverse and lively, even though some would have us believe otherwise. Those who argue for only a Colorado Biennial, are short sighted. We are too insular here and can use an overview of what is happening in the region. There are SIX artists out of TEN in the current exhibit, why the "bad feelings?" Sounds to me like these sentiments are being expressed from some disgruntled artists who didn't get in the show, and complained to the critic. MCA is already doing a superb job of representing artists from this state, both in important solo exhibits, and group exhibits. A regional overview every two years doesn't seem to me like a bad idea at all."

- "Only critics try to limit art, artists spend their whole lives exploring the creative possibilities of their mediums. I think opening the biennial to the surrounding states was a good idea."

- "I think what you did with the 2005 Biennial is just fine, I can't wait to come and see it. I'd like to see a greater sampling of work throughout the territory, but I would put forth the distinctly American proposition, that if its your show, you should do what you think is best for your institution and your public as everyone should. I don't understand the uproar over the inclusion of a larger geographical territory. Denver is clearly a regional capitol. Besides, I believe the Biennial for the MOCA Ft. Collins included the same territory and no one complained about that. The unhappiness seems to stem from nothing more than the fact that your political incorrectitude seems to have been committed on landscape in which the chronically dissatisfied exist in numbers nearly equal to those of a certain (lower) eternal resting place. Too bad for them."

- "Who's traditional aesthetic boundaries were being pushed?"

- "Overall interesting ... where are the paintings?"

- "Sometimes one wonders if the point of art is to edify, entertain, or merely to confuse. I think it's fair to say that the current exhibition is a mixed set of all three."

- "Diverse & provocative. This exhibit made me think a lot about America. Thanks for always being thoughtful, accessible, and challenging."

Over One Billion Served: Conceptual Photography from the People's Republic of China

"Over One Billion Served" examined present-day China through the lenses of eleven gifted conceptual photographers. Although a popular art form in the West, it has only been since the mid 1990's that Chinese photographers have experimented with conceptual photography. The results, featured at MCA, chronicled intriguing personal interpretations of the ongoing restructuring of China's culture, society and its dramatic economic growth. The latter factor, coupled with rampant social change and erratic political reforms, have left this country in a state of constant transition. Chinese life-styles and values are challenged on a daily basis, influencing such issues as identity, sexuality, and self-expression for Chinese men and women alike.

Organized by Julie Segraves, Executive Director of the Asian Art Coordinating Council in conjunction with MCA

Artists:
Bai Yiluo
Liang Yue
Liu Jin
Liu Wei
Sheng Qi
Wang Jingson
Wang Qingsong
Wu Xiaojun
Zhang Dali
Zhao Bandi
Zhu Fadong
[title]Curator:[/title]
Julie Segraves

POPjack: Warhol to Murakami

"POPjack: Warhol to Murakami" examined the relationship and origins of Pop Art from Andy Warhol to Takashi Murakami and beyond. This exhibition elaborated on the interconnection between two distinct styles of Pop art and their shared artistic influences. While American Pop commenced by examining everyday symbols, advertising and star-culture, it continues today as a new breed with influences from the work of contemporary Japanese artists. Japanese Pop evolved from more diverse sources. This movement blends the use of ancient techniques of composition and pictorial space with contemporary anime and manga, (animation and comic books) and other commercial iconography. This flipping back and forth of ideas gave the show its title POPjack.

Artists:
Matthew Abbot
Jim Dine
Keith Haring
Robert Indiana
Jasper Johns
Hideaki Kawashima
Masahiko Kuwahara
Roy Lichtenstein
Mr.
Vik Muniz
Takashi Murakami
Yoshitomo Nara
Tam Ochiai
Tom Sachs
Aya Takano
Andy Warhol
Tom Wesselman
Brenda Zlamany

Bloodlines

Truss Thrust: The Artifice of Space

Coming Soon!

Please consult our "UPCOMING" Section[title]Truss Thrust
Oct 7 - Jan 8, 2006[/title]

Museum of Contemporary Art / Denver

Our new home

Programs

Visitor Profile

Community Needs

Evaluation

Volunteer

2005 BIENNIAL BLOW OUT

OFF-SITE PROJECT II: The Dikeou Collection

OFF-SITE PROJECT V: I Will Smile For One Year

WHITE OUT: Lighting Into Beauty

Will Boys Be Boys? Questioning Adolescent Masculinity in Contemporary Art

Exhibition Reviews

Truss Thrust: The Artifice of Space

PILLish: Harsh Realities and Gorgeous Destinations

Opinions

Over One Billion Served: Conceptual Photography from the People's Republic of China

POPjack: Warhol to Murakami

Bloodlines

Truss Thrust: The Artifice of Space

Coming Soon!