| In Review: Eclectic Eye at the FAC |
| Written by Ken Hamel | |
| Monday, 22 October 2007 | |
All I can say is thank goodness that I had a chance to get down and see "The Eclectic Eye: Pop and Illusion" at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center before it closes this Sunday, October 28th. And I'm also thankful that I can repeat my admonition in last week's newsletter while you still have time: brave the wasteland of sprawl and SUVs that lay between Denver and downtown Colorado Springs and take in this stunning world-class collection of Pop and "Illusionistic" art from the masters of the mid to late 20th century (and some lively contemporary works as well.) Where to begin... the subtitle for the show is "Selection from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation" and Weisman built his collection from the school of artists that would basically come to represent Pop and contemporary art in the 60s, 70s and 80s. There's a Claes Oldenburg typewriter eraser, James Rosenquist's 1963 "Toaster" (among 2 other Rosenquist works), works from Andy Warhol, George Segal, John Chamberlain, Jim Dine, the list goes on and on. But the show doesn't stop at 1989, and there are dozens of excellent works from contemporary artists right up to 2006 with Srdjan Loncar's wonderful "Self-Portrait" composed of 100s of photographs in a patch-work assembly of color and texture, building up clothing, skin and hair onto a 12 foot human sculpture (be sure to check out his smaller piece "Mother" which also highlights his photo collage technique). The show ambles across 3 halls, the largest being the "El Pomar Gallery" which is basically large enough for full-court basketball, and not only does the show succeed wholeheartedly via the sheer number of outstanding works, the exhibit is also extremely well thought out: Ronald Danes 1968 "Bend III" with it's high-gloss geometric patterns is alongside similarly themed contemporary work by Vasa Mihich ("Column #3088") and Doug Edge ("Containers #2). Other groupings include the shadows and light of Larry Bell's "DB5 1981 Corner Lamp" across from Robert Irwin's 1968 untitled orb, and Ellsworth Kelly's 1982/83 "Painted Wall Sculpture Series" in a wonderful color contrast with Kenneth Noland's similarly stark and simple "Autumn Spirit." I could go on and on, everywhere one turns is another masterpiece, including a Nam June Paik video sculpture "Michelin Man Laser Robot" alongside a Frank Stella painting "Bonin Night Heron;" a classic photo collage by David Hockney ("Metropolitan Operah House, NY, December 14th 1982"), a Jonathan Borofsky chattering man, and a Duane Hanson realistic sculpture of Weisman's father ("Executive on Telephone"). My only minor quibbles: the lighting is way too low making it difficult to really appreciate some of the pieces (and don't lay any "responsible curatorial" business on me as I've seen a variety of "important" art in more generously lit environments). The new El Pomar Gallery is the centerpiece of the recent FAC addition and it would certainly have benefited from the addition of skylights; Also the excellent catalog to the show does not cover all of the more current artists on display (Mexican Fernanda Brunet's beautiful abstract milkdrop explosions ala Harold Edgerton is missing, as are examples of Loncar, Edge and Mihich works). Also the catalog shows the incredible 1945 Willem De Kooning "Pink Angels" which I'm guessing was too valuable to travel. Strangely, two excellent works by Tim Hawkinson (whose hypnotic retrospective I was able to catch at the Whitney in NYC last year) are housed on the main floor of the museum well away from the rest of the show, so be sure and suss those out. And of course while you're in the building, you must check out the first-rate selection of works from the FAC's permanent collection on display, which I hope to write about soon. I enjoyed the institution before its expansion despite the hour plus drive, and quite frankly, after the renovation, the FAC rivals the DAM as a resource for art in Colorado. |
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