Denver Art Museum to debut new site-specific commissions celebrating Hamilton Building
(Denver, Colo.) October 30, 2009 — On Nov. 14, the Denver Art Museum (DAM) will present Embrace!, an exhibition of unique, site-specific installations in the Museum’s Daniel Libeskind–designed Frederic C. Hamilton Building. Featuring 17 new works in a range of media, Embrace! marks one of the largest exhibitions of site-specific commissions in a U.S. museum, including never-before-seen works from Katharina Grosse, El Anatsui, Shinique Smith, Matthew Brannon, Jessica Stockholder, Lawrence Weiner and Tobias Rehberger, among others.
Working with Christoph Heinrich, DAM’s incoming director and Polly and Mark Addison Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, each artist has chosen a particular space in which to realize and exhibit an individual work. With projects ranging from
Katharina Grosse’s four-story spray painting in the Museum’s
atrium to a multimedia presentation by Charles Sandison, the
exhibition introduces an extraordinary dialogue between art and
the building’s architectural elements. Embrace! is organized by
the Denver Art Museum and will be on view throughout the
Hamilton Building Nov. 14, 2009, to April 4, 2010.
“To realize 17 new works from such a talented list of artists is
quite spectacular,” said Heinrich, who has been selected by the
DAM board of trustees to succeed Dr. Lewis I. Sharp as
Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the Museum. “The artists
worked throughout the building during the summer and fall.
Some works are still in progress, and visitors have had the opportunity to watch the artists’ creative process
and experience their very individual ways of embracing the unique spaces inside the Museum and
communicating with the architecture.”
DAM has commissioned works from an international list of artists, ranging in age from early 30s to mid-70s,
with projects encompassing painting, sculpture, drawing, new media and interactive works. The full list of
Embrace! artists includes El Anatsui (Nigeria/Ghana), Kristin Baker (U.S.), Matthew Brannon (U.S.), Rick
Dula (U.S., Denver), Katharina Grosse (Germany), Christian Hahn (Germany), Nicola López (U.S.), John
McEnroe (U.S., Denver), Rupprecht Matthies (Germany), Tobias Rehberger (Germany), Charles Sandison
(Finland/U.K.), Dasha Shishkin (U.S./Russia), Shinique Smith (U.S.), Jessica Stockholder (U.S.), Timothy
Weaver + eMAD (U.S., Denver), Lawrence Weiner (U.S.) and Zhong Biao (China).
“As we continue to explore the role of the artist in the museum setting, we have organized what promises to
be an engaging and unexpected exhibition,” said current DAM Director Lewis Sharp, who has announced he
will retire on Dec. 31, 2009. “We are thrilled to be able to invest in the creation of these new works and bring
such a diverse and important group of contemporary artists to our community.”
Katharina Grosse, George, 2009. © The artist; courtesy Denver
Art Museum, (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn, 2009.
Photo by Jeff Wells.
Dasha Shishkin, Dying Christ Rushed To The Hospital (You Are Going To Need My Help,
Sweetheart), 2009. © The artist; courtesy Denver Art Museum. Photo by Jeff Wells.
John McEnroe, The Bathers, 2009. © The artist; courtesy
Denver Art Museum. Photo by Jeff Wells.
Projects include a hyper-realistic, true-to-scale painting, created by Denver artist Rick Dula, which appears to
penetrate the building and peel back the interior to expose the steel girders and underpinnings of the
Hamilton Building. Renowned conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner’s sculptural wall installation has been
mounted on a dramatic wall atop the 120-foot El Pomar Grand Atrium. Perhaps the most visible and
expansive installation, by Katharina Grosse, features airbrush painting that spans the four-story atrium and is
visible from every floor.
The DAM will present programming
throughout Embrace! designed to break down
traditional barriers between the artist and
visitor. The Museum engaged the artists to
develop and install their work throughout the
Hamilton Building beginning in August,
allowing visitors the unique opportunity to
participate in the art-making process and
witness the creation of influential
contemporary works through a set of
“installation insider moments.” For information
on future events, sign up for the Museum’s
email newsletter, Art Mail, or follow the
Denver Art Museum and Untitled on Twitter
and Facebook.
Embrace! Publication
The exhibition will be accompanied by a two-volume catalogue, the first of which will include two essays on
the history of installation art and the curatorial premise of Embrace!, as well as an introduction to each of the
17 participating artists. The second volume will document the commissions as they are realized in the
Museum, from concept through installation, and the artists’ perspectives on the final works. The first volume
of 120 pages will be available Nov. 14; the second volume of 140 pages will be developed and produced as
the works are finalized this fall.
Embrace! is organized by the Denver Art Museum. A special thank
you to Vicki and Kent Logan and to the individual patrons of
Embrace! who have sponsored the work of these artists. Support is
provided by U.S. Bank and Accenture, the Denver Art Museum’s
Technology Partner. Additional funding is provided by Avanade
Inc., the citizens who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities
District, the generous donors to the Annual Fund Leadership
Campaign, the LEF Foundation and the John G. Duncan Charitable
Trust. Promotional support is provided by The Denver Post, CBS4
and 5280 Magazine.
Denver Art Museum
The Denver Art Museum is located on 13th Avenue between Broadway
and Bannock Streets in downtown Denver. Open Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday and Saturday 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday
noon-5 p.m.; closed Mondays, the Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, Christmas
and New Year’s Day. Admission for Colorado residents: $10 adults, $8
seniors and students. Admission for non-Colorado residents: $13 for
adults, $10 for seniors and students, $5 for visitors aged six to 18, free for
children under six. The Cultural Complex Garage is open; enter from 12th
Avenue between Broadway and Bannock or check the DAM website for
up-to-date parking information. For information in Spanish, call 720-913-
0169. For more information, visit www.denverartmuseum.org or call 720-
865-5000.
