Another Victory Over the Sun- June 2011- August 2011
Lights Out
Michael PagliaFor the second time, MCA Denver director Adam Lerner has decided to devote the entire museum to a single exhibit — in this case, Another Victory Over the Sun, a show about darkness and light. “We have great local and international artists,” says Lerner, “but the most dramatic experience for visitors will be the building as a whole, which is completely transformed for this exhibition. We are canceling all of the natural light in the building, allowing the art to create its own spectacular environment.”
Making the museum dark is no small feat with all those window-walls and skylights, but it’s essential for the pieces that Lerner and MCA curator Nora Burnett Abrams selected; the artist roster includes the late Dan Flavin, Spencer Finch, Scott Johnson, Melanie Smith and David Zimmer, among others. The title of the show, which is expressed by blocking out all exterior light sources, is taken from an avant-garde opera from 1913 that is best remembered today because it had sets designed by Russian constructivist Kasimir Malevich and featured his first all-black painting. Victory will be unveiled at 10 a.m. today at the MCA, 1485 Delgany Street. For more information, call 303-298-7554 or go to www.mcadenver.org.
Another Victory Over the Sun
Another Victory Over the Sun offers an experience where art frames architecture. During this exhibition, all the natural light in the museum will be blacked-out, allowing many of the works of art to act as their own source of illumination. The title of the exhibition refers to the 1913 opera, “Victory Over the Sun,” a cornerstone for modern art, which celebrated the power of human creativity to invent new worlds. With art’s victory over its frame, the viewers can no longer detach themselves from the art experience, but instead are engulfed within it.
Immersing the visitor in an art environment, Another Victory Over the Sun explores the relationship between museum and theatre. Presented on the main floor of MCA Denver, American artist Spencer Finch designed a pond for recreating the Japanese activity of looking at the moon in the reflection of the water. Mexican artist Miguel Calderòn presents a video of a panther in a dark room, experienced only as a glimpse of gnashing teeth and the sound of threatening growls. Other artists in the exhibition include: Dan Flavin, Scott Johnson, Juan Muñoz, Erin Shirreff, Melanie Smith, and David Zimmer.
Image: Juan Muñoz. Waiting for Jerry, 1991. Wall, light and studio soundtrack, dimensions variable.
Courtesy the Estate of Juan Muñoz and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York. Photograph by Kristien Daem.
This exhibition is sponsored in part by MCA Denver’s Director’s Vision Society (DVS) Members and we would like to recognize Ellen Bruss & Mark Falcone and Scott Miller & Tim Gill for their leadership funding. Further support of this exhibition is provided by our 2011 Gala Sponsor: Bart Spaulding. MCA Denver is supported in part by funding from the Colorado Creative Industries Division, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additionally, MCA Denver would like to thank the citizens of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District for their support.
Immersing the visitor in an art environment, Another Victory Over the Sun explores the relationship between museum and theatre. Presented on the main floor of MCA Denver, American artist Spencer Finch designed a pond for recreating the Japanese activity of looking at the moon in the reflection of the water. Mexican artist Miguel Calderòn presents a video of a panther in a dark room, experienced only as a glimpse of gnashing teeth and the sound of threatening growls. Other artists in the exhibition include: Dan Flavin, Scott Johnson, Juan Muñoz, Erin Shirreff, Melanie Smith, and David Zimmer.
Image: Juan Muñoz. Waiting for Jerry, 1991. Wall, light and studio soundtrack, dimensions variable.
Courtesy the Estate of Juan Muñoz and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York. Photograph by Kristien Daem.
This exhibition is sponsored in part by MCA Denver’s Director’s Vision Society (DVS) Members and we would like to recognize Ellen Bruss & Mark Falcone and Scott Miller & Tim Gill for their leadership funding. Further support of this exhibition is provided by our 2011 Gala Sponsor: Bart Spaulding. MCA Denver is supported in part by funding from the Colorado Creative Industries Division, a state agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additionally, MCA Denver would like to thank the citizens of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District for their support.
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