The Whale, 2009. Acrylic, water dispersed pigments, and dye on linen, 150 x 360 inches. Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery, New York; Modern Art, London; and Anthony Meier Fine Art, San Francisco. Photo by Grant Leighton.
Barnaby Furnas:
Floods
September 25, 2009–January 10, 2010
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Barnaby Furnas: Floods featured a selection of paintings from the artist's Flood series and The Whale, a new work painted on-site at MCA Denver. Known for his vivid, monumental paintings of rock concerts and Civil War heroes, Furnas selected all the works included in this installation. To create his monumental Flood paintings, Furnas props and suspends his canvasses to create sloped planes. Balanced on a scaffold over the work, he then douses, flings and pours paint across the surface. His work blends this spectacular aesthetic with the traditions of Abstract Expressionism.
A catalogue Barnaby Furnas: Floods accompanied the exhibition. The monograph includes two essays on the artist's majestically scaled Flood paintings, as well as photo-documentation of the artist making the painting The Whale. The essays clarify this connection to the older generation of Abstract Expressionist artists through the lens of the sublime and the spiritual aspects of producing and viewing his work.
Barnaby Furnas was born in 1973 in Philadelphia, where he currently lives and works.
Curated by
Adam Lerner, Mark G. Falcone "MaFa" Director and Chief Animator
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MCA Denver thanks the citizens of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District.