The Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art is celebrating their 20th anniversary with a temporary exhibition entitled Vance Kirkland’s Cosmos, which is available to view through May 28, 2023.
Vance Kirkland (1904-1981) is the namesake for the museum, but this is the first focused exhibition of Kirkland’s work and is well worth seeing.
Many people may know Kirkland for his vibrant Dot Paintings. His art began to explore outer space in 1954 and continued until his death in 1981. His imagination created several series depicting the evolution and expansion of the outer universe and his own personal universe.
In 1977, Vance Kirkland commented, “…I am trying to paint something I do not know exists in a tangible way…if I am looking at space, who is going to say that it never existed? It has existed in my mind.”
The exhibition is co-curated by Founding Director and Curator Hugh Grant and Deputy Curator Christopher Herron. It includes some of the artist’s impressive large-scale paintings, seldom seen on public display and features a newly-named series of paintings done in the last years of his life—Energy of Forms in Space.
The museum is located at 1201 Bannock Street in Denver and open Wed.-Sat:11am to 5pm and Sunday 12 to 5pm. Admission is free for member and $12 General admission (ages 13+ only), $10 Seniors (age 65+), Teachers, Students (ages 13+) and active-duty military personnel with ID.
Kirkland Museum of Fine and Decorative Art is worth a visit in general, and this special exhibit adds value to your time there. For more information, visit kirklandmuseum.org.
