Institutional Narratives

Looking at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Denver Art Museum

It is no secret that a huge part of art’s narrative and rhetoric is decided by curators who choose to display it. Museums and other cultural institutions have an incredible ability to make statements through the artwork they choose to show at any given time. Thus, every cultural institution is given the task of saying something with each gallery they put together.

At the Museum of Contemporary Art, the top floor has recently been used to display twelve contemporary artists alongside Georgia O’Keefe in an exhibit called “Aftereffect: Georgia O’Keeffe and Contemporary Painting.” Pieces from different artists, who had, in some way, been inspired by O’Keefe, were placed together to show how large of an impact her work had on the artists of today.

This message is being carried out through careful arrangement of the different art and blurbs from the artists about the role that O’Keefe’s work played in the development of their own style. After seeing all of this, the viewer is to create the sense that much of contemporary art has been inspired by O’Keefe. However, walking through the exhibit, it feels as though they are grasping at straws, or maybe throwing too many themes and styles into one exhibit. It seems harsh to say that O’Keefe had no impact on these contemporary artists. However, from walking around the exhibit for hours, it feels like a pretty big leap to say she was the main influence for all of them.

At the Denver Art Museum, the top floor currently houses an exhibit pushing a very different narrative. This floor, when I last saw it on Friday, is focusing mainly on spirituality — though definitely with a few unexpected pieces such as a video piece on the Dreamers and the southern border of the United States — and the juxtaposition of different religions. Religions that stood out were Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam.

The museum is sending a clear message through the grouping they have created within this exhibit. Historical altars have been placed next to pieces by Keith Haring. A chandelier representative of Christian and Islamic cultures hangs from the ceiling. A sculptural, whispering, Bible is next to an incredibly old Quran. There is no doubt that these pieces were chosen to portray a message that the Denver Art Museum, and its curators, are wishing to get across. This exhibit, for me, had a larger impact.

Of course, that floor at the DAM is undergoing changes as it becomes “The Light Show” for May and June.