By its nature, a biennial show is a different breed of cat. It
should show what’s happening now and will usually reflect the
vision of an individual curator. Curator/director Cydney Payton
added a step. It started with Payton’s concept to choose 10 artists
for the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver’s 2003 Biennial and
invite each of those creative minds to select one more person,
making them curators as well. She worked through about 460 initial
proposals to choose 10 Colorado artists working in innovative ways
with a variety of media. The resulting swirl of images in a show
titled “2003 Colorado Biennial: 10+10” is a delight.

The museum is a welcome addition to the arts community, offering
stimulating seminars that add other perspectives to the creative
process. Littleton and Douglas County artist Jane Denison, a new
member of the museum, got involved after Wilma Fiori, a Biennial
invitee, gave a program at the Art Student’s League. Englewood’s
Debbie Pool, who lives in the Arapahoe Acres Historic District of
1950’s homes, enjoys contemporary art and was introduced by a
friend who is active. Littleton watercolorist rita derjue talks of
the new mix of art and artists involved. They are among a growing
group of members who support the five-year-old
organization.

Jeffrey Starr’s collection of ceramic sculptures meets the eye
first. Some, such as “Droop,” have a soft metallic sheen to the
glaze. He invited painter Colin Livingston, who submitted a
pop-style tryptich. A recording of barking dogs and a collection of
evergreen trees bound and hung from the ceiling complete Chris
Lavery’s installation, “It’s Good to Get Out.”

Lavery invited Justin Cooper, whose installation “I Am Secretly
In Love With Everybody” includes a red and yellow wooden beam set
at an angle with a fresh pineapple balanced at one end. A summer
intern had the job of replacing the pineapple each week with
instructions from the artist that turned the process into a little
performance.

At the end of the hall, Kwabena Slaughter’s poetic, slow-moving
video offers a series of carefully composed, related images, while
a mirrored piece by his invitee Blair Brown reflects the Slaughter
video and the viewer.

In a cave-like space under the second floor balcony, Daniel
Raffin’s “Parabola Affirmed” whirls with three ceiling fans at
ankle-height above a deep blue floor filled with bright green
plastic disks. A video of an ocean, then crowd scene plays on a
wall. Quentin Gonzalez exhibits an in-your-face series of digital
images including “The Leper’s Kiss.”

Ilk, an alternative gallery, shows a gray box-like space, marked
“for rent” with a lease for prospective artists. The space is dull
and empty in contrast to its surroundings.

Patricia Tinajero-Baker’s site-specific installation “Virga”
should charm kids and adults with its bright crocheted forms,
painted wall and ladder-like braces. It invites the visitor to be
part of it for a moment, especially when descending stairs from the
second floor. The artist speaks of a “cultural dialog … based on
memory and contextual experience … a dreamlike landscape.” She
invited painter Bob Koons, whose oils on canvas work perfectly with
her piece and present a 21st century reference to art
history.

Geometric paintings by Wilma Fiore and Emilio Lobato, whom she
invited, complement each other across the room in the upstairs
gallery. Fiore’s work has appeared at Curtis Arts and Humanities
Center. Michelle Gonzalez has small constructions of vinyl, paper
and fabric, while Martha Russo used clay, pig intestines and
fruit.

In the center upstairs in Phil Bender’s “Christmas Ornaments in
a Bathtub,” another of his found object compositions. He was
invited by David Brady, who projects sound outside through a series
of microphones.

Two noon brown bag talks remain: Sept. 10, Michelle Gonzalez and
Sept. 17, Ilk. and Slide Jam programs will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 11
and 18. Monica Escalante and Ilk will each invite seven artists to
show slides about their work-for six minutes each.

Recently, Mark Falcone and Continuum Partners gave the museum
land at 15th and Delgany for a permanent building.

The next show will be “Blood,” with works by an international
assemblage of artists, with seminars on global concerns.

The biennial show runs through September 21 at the MCA 1275 19th
Street (corner of Larimer Street) in Sakura Square. Hours: 11 a.m.
to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday; Thursday until 8 p.m.; Noon to
5:30 p.m. Sunday, 303-298-7554.