Last week at a preview for the ArtCrush auction, both serious buyers and tourists crammed into the Baldwin Gallery to see what the Aspen Art Museum had to show. Large paintings and neon lights were on display. Lavishly dressed men and women were also on display, taking in the opulence of the event where wine and hors d'oeuvres were carried around on silver trays.
This auction is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the museum, and they have a lot of momentum coming into it. The museum is fresh off of opening Chris Ofili’s Night and Day exhibit. Like lots of contemporary art, Ofili’s paintings are abstract and sometimes jarring. The show runs through the fall.
Back at the gallery, visitors have come to see what the museum has to offer.
“I like contemporary to a point - and it’s very contemporary - and I don’t know when the next change is, so we’ll see," says Madeleine Larson, a former gallery owner and board member of the Aspen Art Museum. "We shall see in the future. But I certainly think it makes Aspen brighter, better in having a new art museum here. A lot of people don’t like it, but I like it.”
She says contemporary art isn’t for everyone, but thinks the museum is making strides in raising its profile in the larger art community.
“Well I think the Aspen Art Museum will certainly enhance our city, enhance the tourists that come and in the art world I think it’s only going to go up, right?”
Night and Day, has taken over the five galleries in the three-story museum and is one of the highest profile exhibits that the institution has shown. The touring exhibit features a controversial piece “The Holy Virgin Mary”. The abstract painting depicts a woman with her bare breast exposed, and also uses elephant dung. The painting drew the the ire of former New York City mayor Rudy Giulliani sixteen years ago.
Lisa Phillips, the director of the New Museum in New York, helped to pick the curators of Night and Day. She visited the Aspen Art Museum and Anderson Ranch when the show opened. She says since that initial controversy about the piece, opinions have turned.
“We did not have any objections or complaints, only rave reviews from every quarter," says Phillips. "It was a complete change in perception. The art world, of course, supported what Chris was doing, but in a broad sense there was tremendous support and embrace of his work which was truly distinctive.”
Heidi Zuckerman, CEO and director of the Aspen Art Museum, says though she doesn’t think the Ofili show was their biggest, or highest profile exhibit, her time spent in the new building, which celebrates its first anniversary this weekend, has allowed her to realize something very important.
“I think that one of the things that we all have as a goal in life is to be magical, and to be part of things that are magical," says Zuckerman. "I think there have been a lot of magical moments in the last year.”
Heidi says that the ArtCrush fundraiser helped them raise an estimated two and a half million dollars so far. That is about twenty percent of their annual operating budget.
Lisa Phillips says the Ofili exhibit at the Aspen Art Museum is a big break for the space, one that could catapult them into the forefront of the art world.
“I think it’s a tremendous coup for the Aspen Art Museum," says Phillips. "Heidi had the vision to bring it to Aspen at a time when not every museum director could see that. So I think that Aspen is really lucky to have it, and I hope that everyone goes and sees it.”
Zuckerman says that in addition to serving and funding the museum itself, ArtCrush also helps local businesses and restaurants.
“A large number of people shopped in town those days...I know the hotels were full. I know the restaurants were hopping. I know that a lot of people were employed to put up and take down tents and serve food and wine. We’re really glad to acknowledge the museum as this significant economic driver in our community.”
