The Embrace show at the Denver Art Museum was one of the more extensive and interesting installation shows I’ve seen. Seventeen artists created their own ‘dialogues’ with the unusual architecture in various areas of the museum. Although ‘painting’ was a term often used to describe the art; the installations encompassed everything from plastic, cloth, wood, mirrors, found art, sculpture, video, and so on.

In addition to the interplay of the art and architecture, the use of language, interesting materials, and the interaction of the audience in the artwork were also important components of the Embrace exhibit.

El Anatsui’s Rain Has No Father? was a huge ‘cloth’ made of found bottle tops that were sewn together with copper wire. It was displayed in the African Art area where you observed other ancient African art in it’s proximity, seeing a common link between the traditional and the contemporary. His analogies to the Rocky Mountains and raindrops in shimmering clouds was remarkable. DAM is well known for it’s Native American collection and the art reminded me of Native American blankets and clothing as well. The flowing nature of Anatsui’s ‘cloth’ negated the actual stiffness of the metal components, and I admired the sheer amount of work involved in creating his ‘cloth’. Although his art did not have the same use of the diagonal wall spaces that was so obvious in other installations, the shadows created on the wall behind the ‘cloth’ were beautiful.

In Chamber, Charles Sandison used the diagonal walls and ceiling of a cavernous space for his video projections of swirling colors, letters, words, and symbols. Language was an important component. What I enjoyed about Sandison’s installation was that the viewers were also part of the artwork. Their bodies created shadows on the walls, so they were also ‘creators’. The images swirling on their bodies and clothing made them into mini artpieces walking throughout the space. The art repeated itself, yet it was constantly changing. It was a wonderful experience!

Another artist who’s art involved the audience through the use of mirror’s was Zhong Biao. In Mirage his combination of abstraction and different sized figures at different perspectives and angles added complexity to his huge painting.

In Twilight’s Compendium, Shinique Smith’s installation was probably the smallest in size. Yet her “binding and bundling” of found materials (usually fabrics) that were “unwanted, abandoned, coveted, and mass-produced” was an intriguing environmental comment on multiple levels. Many years ago I did a lot of sewing and also worked in the fashion industry, so her materials were reminscent of past experiences for me. Shinique Smith’s artwork is autobiographical, and tells stories not only about herself, but others as well. Again, language is a important component of her artwork.

Christian Hahn’s art did not relate to the architectural space of the building so much, but his use of space within his paintings was quite intriguing. His uniformed figures within unusual environments were prettily colored, yet somewhat scary and hazardous. The scenarios created conflicting emotions of “playfulness and aggression”. There were countless stories and possible lessons to be learned from Hahn’s art.

The walk up and down the stairways of DAM gave me multiple perspectives and created questions on several of the installations. Did I like the spray painted art of Katharina Grosse better from above or below? Where did that cord on the Jessica Stockholder’s plastic art on the staircase wall lead to? Was it interesting to view one installation through another installation? Would John McEnroe’s drippy art fall? Would I get cut by Matthew Brannon’s humungous knives? Why did the children love the bungie cord installation by Tobias Rehberger, but I got claustrophic? How did his interpretation of ‘rain’ compare to Anatusi’s ‘rain’? Did Rick Dula’s painting of the skeleton of the Hamilton building emphasis the complexity of the buildings structure?

Embrace was a wonderful exhibit at DAM and if you missed it, you can learn a lot from the 2 volume catalogue. There are many photos of the artists in the process of creating those extremely intriguing installations. The engineering feats alone were substantial. I find that as an artist, I learn so much from other artist’s comments, processes, and artworks.