Here at the Denver Art Museum, we do things in a big way. In the summer of 2011 we presented a wide-ranging celebration of clay during Marvelous Mud. This summer, in the same spirit, we are opening a campus-wide exhibition called Spun: Adventures in Textiles. At the center of this textile celebration is the museum’s newly opened and renovated textile art galleries on level six of the North Building. There is so much art to see, you will have to make a couple of trips to take it all in!
Not only are we opening a new textile gallery with an inaugural exhibition called Cover Story, pictured above, but the DAM’s permanent collection also has inspired additional Spun exhibitions including:
- Red, White & Bold: Masterworks of Navajo Design, 1840-1870, draws from the museum’s extensive collection of Navajo textiles and conveys the importance of color, pattern, and an artist’s hand in the stunning cloths created during the high point of Navajo weaving.
- Material World offers viewers a range of work by contemporary artists who use fabric and related materials either directly or as a means of informing their art.
- Irresistible: Multicolored Textiles from Asia highlights the use of resist-dye techniques from several Asian countries.
- Pattern Play: The Contemporary Designs of Jacqueline Groag provides a rare opportunity to view works from one of most versatile women designers of the post-WWII period.
- Common Threads: Portraits by August Sander & Seydou Keïta allows for comparison of two bodies of work that documented social transformations in their respective countries through portraiture of everyday citizens.
- Fashion Fusion: Native Textiles in Spanish Colonial Art looks at the influence textile motifs played in colonial society.
- Bruce Price: Works on Paper, 2007–2012, offers a selection of Price's works, which experiment with nontraditional drawing and collage.
There also is extensive programming encouraging visitors to join in the exploration of this vibrant medium, including a drop-in Quilt Studio, collaborative projects with artists and creative groups, new in-gallery moments supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, The Institute For Figuring's Crochet Coral Reef Project, the Pop-Up Dye Garden, and the next artist-in-residence, Marie Watt.
Follow the thread to more fun this summer with Nick Cave: Sojourn, which is not part of Spun. It opens to the public June 9. Described by some as as textiles-meet-modern dance, Cave’s colorful, larger-than-life sculptures have been displayed in museums and many of them have been worn by Cave and other professional dancers as part of performances. Soundsuits consist of a wide variety of materials and are designed to make noise as the wearer moves. Cool, right? You know what’s even cooler? All of these exhibitions are free to members. Nick Cave: Sojourn is a ticketed exhibition.
Whew! Tired yet? We’re not! These are just a few of the reasons why you will want to visit multiple times throughout the summer. In fact, since you will be visiting us so often, why not join and enjoy all of this for free? If you have ever considered a membership to the DAM, this is a great time to take advantage of everything we have to offer. The summer of textiles awaits you. A DAM membership just makes sense.
See you all at the museum!