Description: Upon my visit to The Denver Art Museum I visited the exhibition ‘Focus: Earth and Fire’ which seemed to center nature and its various characteristics. Within this exhibition there was an assortment of styles, with many of the pieces having an abstract quality with bright hues of fiery reds, oranges, and yellows yet others containing realistic greens, blues, and browns. A handful of the artworks were produced by different, more contemporary artists whereas the larger part of the compositions were done by a man named Vance Kirkland. The stylistic differences between the present-day pieces and the earlier composed artworks were quite noticeable. While the artists of the 21st century had a more naturalistic approach, Kirkland portrayed a metaphysical style in his works.
Analysis:
Vance Kirkland was an American artist who demonstrated surrealism and abstract expressionism in his artworks. His painting ‘Mystery of Mysteries (diptych)’ caught my eye because of its emotional intensity and overall liveliness. Vance Kirkland created this work in 1976 using oil paint and water on linen. This painting was vibrant with reds, indigos, and oranges in tons of tiny dots all over the canvas. The texture looked very rough if one got close however if you move further from the painting it seems like smooth uniform paint. Kirkland created a depth and three dimensional effect using color in this artwork which is also what captured my attention and drew me into this work. Through his use of color and texture Kirkland communicated his perception of the universe and specifically the perplexity of outer space.
Comparison:
While Renaissance artwork in the 14th through 16th centuries revolved around realism, the works in the 20th century were focused on abstraction and modernism. An idealistic sort of theme is also noticed in many of the pieces created during