last weekend we finally made it to denver's museum of contemporary art. i've heard mixed reviews of the museum's new building. i really liked it. and the museum in general. i especially loved the maori art house by rangi kipa.

i particularly liked how the color popped against the white.
my favorite piece, however, was legend, a video installation by artist, candice breitz. she filmed 30 jamaicans singing the songs on bob marley's legend album. each person was filmed separately but the videos are all shown together. the result is fascinating. i enjoyed hearing how the voices meshed (when we walked into the museum we thought we heard a live choir) and how the participants moved and "interacted" with the others.
overall, i liked how the art in the museum was accessible to folks who like art, but may not have degrees in art history. i do like to be challenged, but during a recent visit to the new new museum in new york, i found i was challenged to the point of not being able to enjoy many of the pieces for which i wasn't provided an explanation.
the exhibit we saw there was called, unmonumental: the object in the 21st century and consisted of sculptures made with found objects. overall, it was interesting to see how the work in an established and prestigious museum looked a lot like "outsider" art sculpture, providing one more argument for why the term "outsider art" may not be a valid one. some of the pieces, however, were very difficult to understand. it's interesting that the photos shown on the museum's website are all of more accessible pieces, such as elefant by isa genzken (above). this sculpture reminded my mom of a creature in a child's room who comes alive once the lights are turned off. she was thinking of a horse. it seems isa was thinking of a pachyderm.