DENVER, CO.- The first comprehensive exhibition exploring the sculptures and drawings of Allied Works Architecture debuts at the Denver Art Museum. Presented within an immersive installation designed by Allied Works, the exhibition features a cross-section of over 60 works made over the past 15 years, the majority of which have never been presented publicly. A counterpoint to the customary building models and technical architectural renderings, these works are both singular artistic creations and manifestations of the investigative process that is at the heart of the firm’s practice. Organized by the Clyfford Still Museum and the Portland Art Museum in association with Allied Works, Case Work: Studies in Form, Space & Construction by Allied Works Architecture will be on view in Denver through April 17, 2016. It will subsequently be presented in Portland from June 4 through September 4, 2016, before embarking on a two-year international tour.

“Case Work highlights a little-known part of Allied Works’ practice—namely the handmade works of art developed to articulate, inform and accelerate the firm’s creative vision,” explained exhibition curator Dean Sobel, a specialist in modern and contemporary art and the director of the Clyfford Still Museum, which was designed by Allied Works. “These sculptures and drawings are a pivotal part of the investigative process that distinguishes the firm’s approach. At the same time, these works are complete artworks in their own right, hidden gems that crystallize and convey core ideas or conceptual intentions.”

One of the few U.S. art museums with an architecture and design department, the DAM is a fitting host for the exhibition’s debut, where the department’s Curator of Architecture, Design and Graphics Darrin Alfred is providing local curatorial support. The museum’s Frederic C. Hamilton Building is directly adjacent to the Clyfford Still Museum, the design for which earned Allied Works a 2013 Design Award, 2012 Honor Award, and 2012 Craftsmanship Award from regional chapters of the American Institute of Architects.

“This exhibition marks yet another opportunity to partner with our neighbors at Clyfford Still just as we’ve been able to in the past with exhibitions such as Modern Masters,” said Christoph Heinrich, Frederick and Jan Mayer Director of the DAM. “I’m particularly excited to highlight the innovative work of one of the most interesting contemporary architecture firms in the country, Allied Works.”

Established by Brad Cloepfil in 1994, Allied Works Architecture has been widely recognized for crafting powerful spaces for art and interaction, and for developing architectural designs that are forged by the defining elements of their mission and site. Case Work marks the first time that the public will be able to view the artistic explorations of material, form, and spatial experience that have guided the firm’s architectural designs, including both realized buildings as well as projects that have yet to take shape.

The exhibition presents 17 of the firm’s bold and tactile architectural sculptures, made from wood, porcelain, resin, concrete, and collaged textiles, alongside material and structural studies. More than 40 drawings, ranging from gestural sketches to large-scale charcoal and pastel drawings, will also be on view. The works are integrated within a bespoke presentation system—a linear steel armature designed by Allied Works as a conceptual model, enlarged to life size, that can be adapted and reconfigured at each venue. Visitors will move through the installation to encounter a series of unique, custom-built “cases,” designed to reflect the specific qualities inherent in the works they enclose and present. Each case serves a dual function of transporting the objects from venue to venue, enabling a literal “unpacking” of ideas within the exhibition space.

Highlighted works include:

• Embedded Space: Carved from a single reclaimed beam of Douglas fir, the work represents the desire for a singular, unified experience across structure, landscape and earth within the building that would become the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver.

• Resonant Vessels: Comprised of concrete cast around salvaged pieces of different brass musical instruments, the smooth, geometric forms speak to the sheer variety of musical expression while simultaneously referencing modernist sculpture. Resonant Vessels was created as part of the conceptual design phase for the National Music Centre of Canada.

• Quilted Landscape: Wooden bits, porcelain and sawed colored pencil are collaged to create a quilt-like effect, inspired by aerial views of the Wisconsin farmland and created for the firm’s Wisconsin Art Preserve proposal.

• Boundless Figure: This assemblage of acrylic, cast resin, polished brass and charred pine evokes a transparent form extending into a landscape, only to be forced to turn back in on itself, held within the earth’s black embrace. Boundless Figure was created during the conceptual design phase for the Dutchess County Estate Main House in New York State.

• Braided Space: An interlocking brass structure imbued with movement, snaking across the landscape and binding the form to its site. Braided Space was created during the preliminary process of the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec design competition.

“Since first launching Allied Works in Portland in 1994, Brad has been celebrated for creating timeless and beautifully executed works of architecture,” said Brian Ferriso, The Marilyn H. and Dr. Robert B. Pamplin, Jr. Director of the Portland Art Museum, which co-organized the exhibition with the Clyfford Still Museum. “This exhibition provides audiences with an unusual opportunity to explore the conceptual sculptures and gestural drawings that underpin Brad’s creative practice and that embody the firm’s unique approach and standing within the field.”