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Last Updated: Oct 16th, 2008 - 13:33:17 |
Surrounded by concrete and apartment buildings, the Denver Botanic Gardens serve as a natural bastion in an urban environment. But now the Gardens have let the city in to show they can coexist.
"Urban Nature" is the Gardens' first in-house exhibit. The exhibit features work by nationally recognized artists and local artists, including five Metro students.
"Urban Nature" focuses on the synthesis of urban influence and horticultural practices. The administrators for the Gardens said they hope visitors will enjoy the work, but also think about the messages of each piece.
"The main reason we are having this (exhibit) is to spur dialog," said Will Jones, public relations manager for the Gardens. "We are hoping people will come in and not only appreciate the beauty of the artwork, but to look at some of the messages of the artists."
Some of the pieces in the exhibit are more prominent, like legendary New York City artist Lady Pink's sprawling mural lining the walkway by the front gate.
Other pieces are tucked in among the ponderosa and wildflowers, such as Metro students Ian Rumley and Todd Robinson's twin mural.
Rumley and Robinson's paintings follow with the theme of urban and natural coexistence by drawing parallels within the wild kingdom. The piece features a city where the buildings are made of honeycomb. The citizen bees exist harmoniously, living and working in the garden at the bases of the buildings.
"We wanted to address how insects have civilizations as well, but they tend to coexist with the environment and not clash with it," Rumney said. "I just try to remember human beings are animals, and people forget sometimes."
Metro students Liz Bunker, Sophie Fernandez and Javier Flores also have their work displayed in the exhibit.
Although most of the artists in the exhibit could be described as street-style artists, that is not necessarily how Rumney would label himself.
"If somebody said, 'What do you do?' I wouldn't say street style," Rumley said. "But I am a tattoo artist, and that has heavily influenced everything I do, which is in ways an urban art form."
The Gardens seem a natural site for such a progressive exhibit with its own unique blend of natural beauty and cement.
Metro students from painting professor Carlos Fresquez's mural class were also a natural fit for the exhibit.
"Denver has such a great urban art community that when we sent out the call we got a lot of response from the local artists, and some of those artists happen to be Metro State students," Jones said. "We love their work, but it wasn't a concerted effort to go after them. We were just looking for great art."
For "Urban Nature," the Gardens demonstrated this sustainability by providing artists with panels made of recycled material, which are low in toxicity.
Like any provocative exhibit, "Urban Nature" has not been without its share of controversy.
"We have had some visitors who don't understand, or haven't been willing to, embrace the fact that urban art is art," Jones said. "We have had some people come in and say, 'Why do you have this graffiti in the middle of all this beauty?'"
Jones is quick to explain that even though most of the art is done with spray paint, it is not graffiti because the term graffiti refers to vandalism where this art, "Urban Nature", was commissioned.
Although there are always people who either love or hate an exhibit, Jones said most visitors to the garden he has talked with appreciate the art.
But as an artist Rumley also wants to engage the viewer regardless of what their opinion may be.
"It is getting people interested and making them think," Rumley said. "Regardless of what they think, that is a positive effect."
Like a flower pushing up through a crack in the sidewalk, cityscapes have their moments of natural beauty.
And just as artists work to create an oasis in their own home, Jones said he hopes visitors to the Urban Nature exhibit will be inspired to do the same.
"We are trying to show people they can incorporate nature into whatever environment they are in," Jones said.
The "Urban Nature" exhibit runs through Nov. 30 at the Denver Botanic Gardens.
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