Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
July 17, 2002
Art exhibits highlight U.S. history and the American West
Photography, American Indian art and depictions of the West featured at Denver Art Museum
By Alwen Bledsoe
This month the Denver Art Museum expands its regular collection with 100 years of photography by Hallmark, an exhibit of contemporary American Indian art and early depictions of the American West. Each exhibit features at least a small taste of the history of Colorado or the West.
"An American Century of Photography: The Hallmark Photographic Collection" fills nine galleries at the Denver Art Museum with 242 photos spanning almost 100 years. The photos are all connected to the United States, either through subject or artist. Some of the 200 photographers featured include Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Andy Warhol, Walker Evans, Sally Mann and even Frank Lloyd Wright.
According to Andrea Kalivas, who works with public relations for the museum, this is the show's seventh and final venue. It has traveled through New Zealand, Australia, and all throughout the U.S., she said.
The exhibit begins with a Horace Ashton photo from 1911. A man perches on a steel beam above a city — Ashton's representation of the photographer's role, says Kalivas. The exhibit travels through the century's history, through social commentary, and, of course, through the innovations and experiments of photography in the U.S.
In the late 1800s, stop action techniques sped up shutter speeds and allowed photographers to begin depicting moving subjects — a leaping tigress and a galloping horse, for example. In the late 1800s, photography creeps out of its purely documentary role and begins following art movements like impressionism, and in the early 1900s abstraction comes in and the subjects of photographs blur and become pure shape. Man Ray's experimentations go so far as to leave out the camera entirely, creating the camaraless image.
Depictions of the Great Depression, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and urban life bring idealization, realism and social commentary into the camera. And fashion photography, advertisements and photojournalism all take their place in the middle of the exhibit.
The collection features a few Colorado artists. Bryce Canyon, a gas station in Colorado Springs and a fair in Longmont all hang, captured in silver, black, and white on the walls. And photographs by women also take up a substantial amount of wall space.
Photos by such contemporary artists as Annie Leibovitz, Charles Moore, Robert Adams, and Robert Mapplethorpe in his less controversial guise end the exhibit.
Upstairs a small collection of contemporary American Indian art called New Classics is nestled within the museum's third floor Native Arts galleries. A vibrant abstract painting in red, yellow and turquoise opens the exhibit, the work of Dan Namingha, a Hopi Indian. Next to it is Les Namingha's contemporary pottery. Both are grandchildren of the famous Hopi potter Nampeyo.
Though traditional art and craft forms like beadwork and basket weaving are reflected in the pieces in this exhibit, it also showcases the contemporary concerns and innovations of these artists, Kalivas said. For example, paintings from the "Bonnie and Clyde Series" by Mateo Romero, a Cochiti Pueblo Indian, takes the icon of Bonnie and Clyde and places Native American skin and concerns into the story, she said.
Vibrant renditions of traditional subjects meld with abstraction and contemporary concerns, revealing art that expands traditional images of Indian art.
"It forces you to think of Native American art not only as it was 100 years ago ... but as very active and flowing out of their culture today," Kalivas said.
West Point/Points West showcases art from West Point Military Academy, one of the first U.S. institutes to create a fine arts program, Kalivas said. The academy brought artists and photographers along on its expeditions to explore, map and depict the Western frontier. Some of the artistic results of those explorations include paintings, photographs, drawings, prints and books illustrating the Western landscape and the everyday life of American Indians.
This exhibit shows 25 of these pieces, including a huge and breath-taking view of Yellowstone near the end of the collection. The art, done before the Trail of Tears, depicts a sympathetic view of American Indian life, Kalivas said.
"They were in awe of the people who lived in the land," Kalivas said.
And the success of their expeditions was dependent on American Indian expertise and friendliness, she added.
Tiny detailed paintings depict small landscapes, a large canvas holds a painting of West Point bathed in rosy light, photographs depict canyons and rivers, and vibrant paintings show American Indians hunting, visiting and dancing.
The art, Kalivas said, was instrumental in shaping America's first impressions of its wild frontier.
The photography exhibit is open through September 29, and West Point/Points West runs until July 21. Admission to the exhibits is included in the General Admission price. General admission is free (excluding for the Hallmark photography exhibit) for Colorado residents every Saturday. General admission is free for children 12 and under, $4.50 for students and seniors, and $6 for adults. For more information, call 720-865-5000 or visit www.denverartmuseum.org.
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