Embrace The Perfectionists

Through April 4th, the Denver Art Museum presents “Embrace!” This collaborative exhibit is delivered with a disappointing forced feel. It looked to me like DAM threw 17 artists into a space and hoped for some good art. With all of the hype around the exhibit, it even seems like making money—not art—is the primary goal.

Overall, I think the unusual angular architecture of the Frederic C. Hamilton Building that houses “Embrace!” makes the pieces feel out of context. Of course, this is the risk you take in collaborative projects. The gallery space, designed by Daniel Libeskind, is perhaps the best element of the show.

Instead, I encourage you to embrace the amazing perfectionist painter Daniel Sprick. A local Colorado artist (originally from Little Rock, Arkansas), Sprick is a contemporary realist painter. Realism is a good art genre to explore if you are new to learning about the fine arts because of its meaning is often more straightforward. The museum has a permanent space for Sprick in its collection at the Monfort Gallery that includes three paintings and a video that features the artist himself.

At DAM, the first piece you see by Sprick is the impressive painting titled Release your plans (oil paint on panel, 2001). His paintings strive for perfection. They are extremely real, overwhelmingly detailed, and soft yet freaky. His subjects are mostly still lifes painted from direct observation and composed of weird, broken objects. Sprick chooses the most challenging objects for his paintings like Persian rugs, string, cloth, skeletons, egg shells, mirrors, and broken glass. These challenges highlight his technical painting skills.

The combination of these rough objects with a demure color pallet has an intense effect on the observer. At the same time, the projected video narrates your experience; you can see the artist talk about his life and work. In general, it makes for a weird experience to see the art and hear the artist talk at the same time. Typically when you view, there is no artist commentary and therefore there is a disconnect between the art and its intended meaning. But in this gallery you’re reading the book and watching the movie at the same time—and the outcome is completely different from what you expect.

As I observed and listened, I thought, “Wow! He is in some other place.” His social awkwardness comes across in his works; Sprick is unable to directly explain his art and its meaning. He says, “I think in a lot of cases artists don’t completely understand the meaning of their own work, nor do they really need to. I don’t think anything in my paintings depends upon explanation.” Many artists would disagree–particularly those who went to art school where they emphasize how critical it is to know the meaning of your work.

Still, Sprick’s work clearly seems to be about perfectionism. In the video he says, “You know the pursuit of perfection to me. I’m inspired by many great artists of the past and present and… they’ve shown us what the possibilities are. And so I want to push it as hard as the greatest artists have pushed it. And…that’s what I want to do and I think it’s possible. To do this work is a mixture of utter self effacement and brush ego.” He goes on to say that “perfectionism can be an absolutely maddening thing that won’t set you free ever.” I think Sprick is describing something about the human condition and doesn’t even know it because it’s so truly human.

If you have not yet seen a contemporary realist painting, visit DAM for this great experience.

Image source: http://www.artelibre.net/ARTELIBRE1/DANIEL_SPRICK/danielsprick.htm