Museum of Contemporary Art Denver
Selected Works from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection and Gala Porras-Kim
The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (MCA Denver) was founded in 1996. Donations since that time have allowed for the establishment of a permanent location in a 27,000 square foot environmentally sustainable building in downtown Denver. Opened in 2007, the building was architect Sir David Adjaye OBE of Adjaye Associates (UK)'s first U.S. museum commission.
The Museum has three stories of galleries that are spacious, light and airy. They give a sleek, modern feel without feeling stark. Especially once inside, I didn't feel like I was getting hit over the head with an architecture hammer, but that the spaces were a strong support, allowing the art to be enjoyed without competition from the building. And yet it wasn't invisible, if that makes any sense.
In fact, some of the galleries have windows, allowing for views out into the surrounding city. But placed unobtrusively, so one could avail oneself of them, or not. The building also hosts a rooftop garden, bar and cafe, which seemed like a pleasant place to relax and nosh. I did not try anything, so can't speak to the quality of the food, but the garden was nice.
BONUS! I was able to walk over from where I was staying, and DOUBLE BONUS!!! since it was a Tuesday evening, I got in for a fiver!1
When I visited (July 2024), there were two exhibitions up: a group exhibition, Critical Landscapes: Selected Works from the Ella Fontanals-Cisneros Collection, (June 7 - September 1, 2024) and Gala Porras-Kim: A Hand in Nature, (March 8 - September 1, 2024) a solo show.
The Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO) promotes Latin American contemporary art in a variety of ways, including sharing works from their extensive collections. This exhibition featured eight artists. The exhibition notes said the artists ranged from emerging to established, but I'm pretty sure they were all new to me.
I particularly enjoyed the works by Jac Leirner,2 and Johanna Calle. Leirner's works featured everyday objects, things one wouldn't necessarily think of as "art objects", but somehow by the arrangements - and, I suppose, by the fact that they were in a Museum - became so. Lots of food for thought there, and also fascinating to appreciate the aesthetic qualities of things that you generally don't give a second glance to.
Calle's drawings were playful, verging on whimsical in some cases, but also had a layered quality to them where they gave one impression when viewed from a distance, but another when viewed up close. Although I'm not a Spanish speaker, the use of words and letters in the pieces below really resonated with me.
Porras-Kim is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work explores the nature of artifacts and collection - how we interact with objects and what gives them meaning, particularly in an arts and museum framework. One facet of this is preservation, and trying to keep objects from degrading.
Contrary to that, several of the works in the exhibit were expressly designed to change. Forecasting Signal, shown below, has a piece of graphite impregnated cloth hung over a panel. A dehumidifier pulls moisture out of the air inside the gallery. The water is then piped into the cloth, which then drips the graphite onto the panel. The works on the wall are records of this process in other locations. I spoke with the gallery sitter, and they said it had been really neat to see the development from a blank panel at the start of the exhibit.
Super interesting to see works that much more obviously include something other than the explicit hand of the artist in the creation. I mean everything we do has some element of chance, and results depend on the materials we use, but this was kinda next level. Again, more food for thought!
MCA Denver is a nice size - I was able to enjoy both exhibits without feeling overwhelmed, which was great. Actually, either would have been quite satisfying, content wise, but it was neat to see them together as there was some conversation and parallels between the themes. It was definitely worth a visit, even though I hadn’t known what was on exhibit before I got there!3
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$5 admission after 5 PM Tuesday–Thursday!
Who, from the name, I figured was a man. Not that it matters to the art one way or the other, but interesting tic of the mind and assumptions!
Sometimes you go to a museum for a particular exhibit, and sometimes you go to go to the museum…