DENVER.-The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver (MCA | Denver), the city’s first institution devoted entirely to contemporary art, will inaugurate its new environmentally sustainable facility designed by David Adjaye, with two permanent commissions and an inaugural exhibition entitled Star Power: Museum as Body Electric. The two permanent commissioned works, both by Colorado-based artists, include a collaborative design for The Gates Rooftop Garden by artist Kim Dickey and landscape architect Karla Dakin and an exterior site-specific work by artist Clark Richert . The opening exhibition, Star Power: Museum as Body Electric, curated by Cydney Payton, MCA | Denver’s Executive Director and Chief Curator, will feature seven emerging and established artists from seven countries including: Carlos Amorales (Mexico), David Altmejd (Canada), Candice Breitz (South Africa), Rangi Kipa (New Zealand), Wangechi Mutu (Kenya), Chris Ofili (UK/Trinidad & Tobago) and Collier Schorr (United States). “I invited a diverse range of leading and provocative artists to respond to the underlying concepts for MCA | Denver ’s new building as outlined in our original RFQ,” said Payton. “My intention was that the first exhibition should manifest our goal of a creating a dynamic museum that supports artists and their ongoing investigations.”

Star Power: Museum as Body Electric

Star Power, while exploring the body and its relationship to architecture, marks a new direction for MCA | Denver by featuring commissioned work by individual artists in an artist-centered program. The subtitle, Museum as Body Electric, is a direct homage to Walt Whitman’s poem I Sing the Body Electric, as well as Whitman’s uniquely American spirit of innovation and creativity. Further curatorial inspiration comes from the conceptual brief that was developed by Payton for the design of the facility. Among the philosophical and mathematical concepts referenced by Star Power are: The Golden Proportion, interpreted as the ideal proportion between architecture, man and nature; the pentagram, as a guideline for the museum’s balancing of the five principles of art, architecture, light, nature and the human experience; and the five elements of water, earth, metal, fire and wood, all of which correlate to parts of the body in Chinese philosophy. These philosophies surrounding the number five correlate directly to the five unique exhibition spaces housed within the building, including galleries for works on paper, large works, new media works, photography, as well as a project gallery for artist in residence. Star Power artists will participate in the installation of their works just prior to the October 2007 opening.

Permanent Commissions

Clark Richert, who has made significant contributions to contemporary art throughout the western United States , was commissioned by MCA | Denver to create a site-specific work turning the lane alongside the new Museum into a plaza. The artist is designing the piece to cover the ground surface of the entire 102 foot by 22 foot lane. “I have rigorously applied the mathematical calculations of classical geometry to this commission based on Cydney’s early discovery that the building’s site was a Golden Proportion,” said Richert. “My piece will work both with and against the geometry of the building.”

Landscape architect Karla Dakin and artist Kim Dickey have been selected as the team to design the Gates Rooftop Garden . Chosen for their knowledge of regional native plants and weather conditions and for their design aesthetic, they will provide the Garden with a user-friendly, climate-sensitive garden which advances MCA’s commitment to sustainability. Dakin has been a practicing landscape architect since 1997 specializing in environmentally-sensitive design. Dickey is a ceramic artist whose work explores the relationship between utopia, dystopia, nature and nostalgia. Her work has been exhibited widely throughout Colorado and the United States . The Gates Rooftop Garden is generously funded by the Gates Family Foundation in the memory of both the late Charles C. and June S. Gates.

Opening Week Events

MCA | Denver ’s Inaugural week will include public lectures, receptions, a Gala dinner and a public celebration, among other events. The Museum anticipates over 25,000 visitors during the week, and over 50,000 visitors during the course of the first year. Public lectures include conversations with architect David Adjaye and Star Power artists. Other opportunities to meet the artists will be made available at receptions, gallery talks and breakfasts. A formal gala dinner for 900 will be held on site. To close the week, MCA | Denver will host a large scale celebration with a prominent national music artist and a variety of performance art.