John McEnroe:

Beauty Does

John McEnroe: Beauty Does presented a survey of sculptures and photographs by the Denver-based artist. McEnroe’s exuberant experimentation with materials transforms them into nimble, stretched and flexible forms, continually pushing and stretching the limits of what they are capable of doing. For his site-specific installation in the Fries Family Atrium, McEnroe manipulated polymer and resin to resemble monumental drips of paint. Sheer and light, this large-scale installation featured stalactite forms that course through the open spaces of the museum. Like solidified rays of light, the plastic drips respond to and accentuate the natural light provided by the museum’s architecture. The photographs and sculptures also on view continue McEnroe’s exploration of materials and carefully play with color, texture, and composition.

Probing these essential and vital facets of visual art, McEnroe’s works collectively demonstrate his ongoing ambition to create art that requires no decoration or support—that is stripped down to its barest elements—so that it might offer a more immediate and authentic experience for the viewer. For McEnroe, the visceral or physical magic of each artwork either seduces or doesn’t; and no language surrounding it can make a work more compelling or successful. He believes beauty does ––or it does not.

John McEnroe was born in Topeka, Kansas and received his BFA from Kansas University and his MFA from The Ohio State University. His work has been shown at the Denver Art Museum and several galleries in Colorado. He is the recipient of several public commissions throughout the Denver area, where he currently lives and works.