The first Saturday of every month is Penny Day at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) Denver, when Colorado residents are invited to visit the museum for only one cent. In past visits, I have always come away believing the art was the weirdest I have ever seen, but when I visited the museum yesterday, I actually liked a lot of what was on display. The name of the exhibition is The Future is Present, the Harbinger is Home: Selections from Prospect.6 New Orleans. Nineteen artists display works that portray New Orleans as both a harbinger for the future as well as a home to cherish. The posters on display in the photograph on the left feature The Great Exposition, a fictitious neighborhood event.
The art installation in the photograph on the right is a work by artist Jeanette Ehlers. It is a "massive disco ball made of synthetic afro hair," which symbolizes "how natural hair has long been considered a form of freedom in Black liberation movements." Ehlers is a Copenhagen based artist of Danish and Trinidadian decent whose work focuses on Denmark's colonial impact on the Caribbean and its participation in the Transatlantic Slave Trade. A very heavy topic, but a very interesting piece of art.
As always, the best part of the MCA Denver is the building itself, which was designed by London based architect Sir David Adjaye OBE. He evidently designed the building to "minimize boundaries between the exterior spaces of the city and the interior of the museum," and I must say, he did a good job of it. When walking around the building, I have always been impressed by the great views down 15th Street from the floor to ceiling windows, but never before realized that that was the main thing he was trying to accomplish with his design. I especially like the rooftop, which consists of a cafe and bar and an outdoor garden, with wonderful views of Denver. If you want to see this exhibit, it will be on display through August 24th. It is definitely worth the one cent.
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