Jaime Molina is a Denver-based artist. Learn what inspires him and his advice for young artists in this video.
His imaginative, interactive installation Past the Tangled Present is at the Denver Art Museum through October 28, 2018. Included with general admission, free for youth 18 and under.
These videos tell the story of how curators, conservators, and educators worked to conserve The Virgin of Valvanera (on view in Revealing a Mexican Masterpiece: The Virgin of Valvanera), a painting created in the 1700s.
Pam Fortner will be in the 3-D Studio November 25–26, 2017.
Helen Jones will be in the 3-D Studio demonstrating architecting space October 28-29.
Helen Jones is a practicing architect, sculptor, and instructor, at the University of Colorado, School of Architecture and Planning.
Megan Farlow: What will you be demonstrating at the Denver Art Museum?
Helen Jones: I will be using a series of models to explore form and physical space for a specific site.
Kathleen Sherman will be in the 3-D Studio October 21-22, 2017, with demonstrations from noon-3 pm.
Megan Farlow: What will your demonstration at the DAM be like? What can visitors expect to see?
Kathleen Sherman: I will create a sculpture using found objects and natural materials such as gourds, seeds and shells. I will also bring some sculptural components in miniature for viewers to use to create a sculpture of their own.
MF: Who or what inspired you to become a sculptor?
Artists have used varnishes to coat their paintings since the 1400s—some claim as early as the eleventh century. Varnishes serve to saturate the paint colors, provide some degree of protection for the paint surface, and to impart an even surface sheen. Some artists have used varnishes as an aesthetic medium, mixing resins into wet paint to create rich translucency or selectively applying them to juxtapose areas of matte and gloss.
Conservation & Varnish
Common Ground: Photographs by Fazal Sheikh, 1989-2013, is on view at the Denver Art Museum through November 12, 2017. The exhibition is included with general admission.
Watch the video above to hear more from Fazal Sheikh, and see several artworks featured in the exhibition.
Watch the video or read the Q&A below.
Ann Lambson: So tell us a little about La Musidora.
Héctor Esrawe: La Musidora is inspired [by] the rocking chair and a musical instrument…so it’s a mix of those elements that creates a single word called la musidora which is a mix of “la mecedora” and “la música” in Spanish.
For a painting that is over 300 years old, The Virgin of Valvanera is in remarkably good condition. One would fully expect that a painting of this age has undergone several attempts at restoration (by both skilled and amateur hands). Contrary to what is usually the case, this painting has not incurred major structural damage in the form of tears or losses, has never been lined (i.e. attached to a secondary canvas or solid support material), and has not been severely over-cleaned or extensively repainted.
As part of the research for the conservation treatment of the painting The Virgin of Valvanera, attributed to Cristóbal de Villalpando, a team from the Denver Art Museum traveled to Mexico City in March, 2017. There, the team was fortunate to visit several sites and meet with specialists on Mexican painting of the baroque period.
Art conservation is a field that encompasses a breadth of expertise. As we roll up our sleeves in anticipation of improvements and potential discoveries, a plan that will provide optimum preservation is essential.
Entering its seventh year, the Bank of America Art Conservation Project has funded more than 100 projects in 29 countries, on six continents. In 2016, the Denver Art Museum was among 21 institutions to receive one of these prestigious grants. As a result of this generous support, the conservation and New World curatorial departments will be able to undertake the full scope of historical and technical research as well as the conservation treatment of a very important painting from the museum's Spanish Colonial collection.