Amanda Johanson

Cultural event 2

Roderick, Concepts

 

Cultural Event 2

Plus Gallery

 

I had never been to the plus + gallery before.  I went to the opening of the new exhibition on October 22nd.  The plus + gallery is a contemporary art gallery that is full of different and unique pieces.  It was extremely interesting and very different to what you would see at the Denver Art Museum.

The new exhibit is called “This too shall pass” by Jenny Morgan.  I wasn’t familiar with Morgan’s work when I entered the gallery.  I just saw the opening advertised and I decided to go take part.  I am extremely glad that I ended up going to this opening.  Jenny Morgan was originally from Salt Lake City, Utah.  She did her initial art training for college in Colorado, and continued art classes in Utah.  She has done exhibits in multiple places and states including New York, however most of her exhibits have been in Colorado.

Her exhibit called “This too shall pass” was absolutely incredible.  From a distance, it would be easy to think that her paintings were actually photographs.  Each piece was so detailed and extremely accurate to the human face and body.  Before I read about the piece, I wasn’t sure of the point or content, I just thought that they were beautiful pieces done with some sort of red connection.  Each piece was an extremely detailed portrait, however there was a part of the person that was red.  My favorite piece was called “Old Soul” and it showed a half naked woman, completely humanistic, except for her hair that was the wild red color that she used in a different way in each piece.  The contrast between the realism of the figure and the fake look of the hair made this piece stand out so much to me.  I wanted to do more research on WHY she used the red.  Plus + gallery’s website said that “Deconstructing the Figure,” as termed by Morgan, involves a process of coming to completion with the painting then gradually excavating the surface to disclose partial areas of the bright red under-painting.”  (plusgallery.com)

At a closer look, the people in each of her paintings were people she knew from Denver.  After I knew this, it seemed more personal.  She knew each of these people that she had painted, which makes me think she spent more time getting details and important things in to create that sense of personality.  Also, it makes the viewer wonder how she knows each person.  What kind of a connection did she have with each person?  Were they friends?  Fellow artists?  I did further research and found that she did have a very personal relationship with each and showing that was one of her main points and ideas in each piece.    I would recommend anyone going to see this exhibit not only because her work is simply amazing, but also because the message of connection between the artist and his/her work is also important and very apparent throughout her work.

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