Floyd Tunson's latest show is one of the greatest ever devoted to a Coloradan

See also: You won't want to miss the collective works of Colorado great Floyd D. Tunson

Comments (0) By Michael Paglia Thursday, Jan 17 2013

Dealing almost exclusively with African-American subjects, Tunson's installations can be lyrical and romantic, like "Pop Up Rodeo," or more in-your-face confrontational, like "Hearts and Minds," which addresses gang violence and is perhaps his greatest work. In it, Tunson orchestrates a bevy of images, including striking portraits of handsome young black men and depictions of targets, drugs and money; all of it is organized beneath a pair of gigantic handgun paintings that bracket the piece on either side at the top. In "Delta Queen," another of his over-the-top installations, he mixes the wistful sensibility of the rodeo piece with the socio-political content of the gang piece. "Delta Queen" is the most densely composed of the group.

In the 2000s, Tunson continued his lifelong exploration of race with his provocative "Remix" series, which put together racist depictions of Africans and copies of modern-master paintings, and the outrageous "Universal Bunnies" series, which plays off the archaic racist phrase "jungle bunnies" in combine-paintings and sculptures.

"Hearts and Minds," by Floyd Tunson, mixed-media installation.

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Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center

30 W. Dale St.
Colorado Springs, CO 80903

Category: Galleries

Region: Southern Colorado

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See also: You won't want to miss the collective works of Colorado great Floyd D. Tunson

Floyd D. Tunson, through January 20, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 West Dale Street, Colorado Springs, 719-634-5581, www.csfineartscenter.org.

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Also in recent years, Tunson has created a body of abstract paintings and one of abstract wall-relief sculptures, with both types referring to abstract expressionism. Though these may seem unprecedented in his oeuvre, Tunson has always used approaches that are most associated with abstraction, even when dealing with recognizable subjects.

I would say that Floyd D. Tunson: Son of Pop is in the elite category of the greatest shows ever devoted to any contemporary Colorado artist — think Dale Chisman at RedLine, or Robert Mangold at the Arvada Center. If you haven't seen it, you really should.