Politics on display at Golden art center starting Saturday
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While plenty of politics is on display at the Colorado Capitol, with the legislative session entering its second week, a more aesthetic version — including a bong — opens Saturday at the Foothills Art Center in Golden.
The exhibition of politically- and socially-engaged art takes on a lot of topics, said Marianne Lorenz, the art center’s cuator and interim executive director: “from the perils of hazardous waste storage, to homelessness, to our stalemated Congress (that piece by the way is a 10-foot-by-10-foot clay chess board with each chessmen representing some crazy aspect of our political system), to corporate greed, to guns (an exact life-sized replica of a Hotchkiss M1914 done in clear blown glass with the words ‘peace’ etched in over 200 languages — it is also a fully functioning bong).”
The show includes eight invited artists and 21 juried artists. Seven artists from Colorado: Regina Benson from Golden, Ira Sherman from Denver, Cheryl Bankes from Denver, Pam Fortner of Arvada, Maureen Hearty of Denver, Carol Krueger of Louisville and Jesse Mathes of Arvada.
Benson, a fiber artist and quilter, created a piece called “Corporate Transparency.”
“Following the dramatic stock and business failures of billion-dollar companies and their associated accounting firms, I spent hours listening to congressional hearings exploring the corporate roots of such enormous failures,” Benson said in a statement. “While the many stockholders, employees and pensioners of these failed firms detailed their hardships, congressional committees pressed to solve future such problems by legislating greater ‘corporate transparency.’ This piece depicts my view of what might be seen if, indeed, if there had been corporate transparency.”
Fortner, a paper and book artist, created “Tears of 94 Mothers.”
“‘The Tears of 94 Mothers’ was created in response to the daily incidents of gun violence that occur in this country,” she stated. “A bit of research revealed that 94 people are shot every day in the United States. As a country, the U.S. boasts the highest rate of gun ownership per capita. Ironically, the U.S. also suffers from the highest homicide rate in the world.
“This piece is created from sheets of delicate paper that has been dyed with ink to resemble the flow of tears. The paper was then bound on hard steel rods and suspended over the casings of 94 bullets. This piece expresses my sorrow over the unnecessary loss of so many lives.”
The exhibition runs through March 23. The Foothills Art Center is located at 809 15th St. in Golden. The Main Gallery hours are Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. and closed on Mondays.
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January 19, 2016