The Denver Art Dealers Association, known as DADA, recently asked its members to participate in "Introductions," a citywide event in which artists who are either new to the galleries or new to Denver are being featured. Tina Goodwin, owner of Goodwin Fine Art, selected Rosane Volchan O'Conor for its Introductions show.
The exhibit is called Linhas Polimórficas ("polymorphic lines" in Portuguese). But putting the show's title in Portuguese is not an affectation for O'Conor, as she was born and raised in Brazil. She moved to Boulder last year, after having spent over twenty years in Houston. Technically speaking, Linhas Polimórficas is not O'Conor's Denver debut — her work was seen last year at the Center for Visual Art — but it is her first Mile High solo.
The exhibit is divided into two parts. In the front, just to the right of the entrance, is an installation. Beyond the wall, the main exhibition space has been hung with O'Conor's works on paper, mostly monotypes and silk screens. The relationship between the two sections is fairly obvious, with the installation being something like a walk through one of the prints; scribbled lines dominate in both. Formally, the pieces recall abstract surrealism, a cousin to abstract expressionism.
Earlier in her life, O'Conor was interested in science and had intended to become a physician, but she switched to music, becoming an expert flutist. Both of these previous interests appear in her work, with the forms evoking microscopic life while the structures are rhythmic.
For the installation (detail pictured), which has floor, wall and ceiling elements, O'Conor has called up a wide range of materials, including custom-shaped neon tubes and other glass tubes; ceramic vessels and small sculptures; wall drawings; a funnel net; and lots more. After proceeding through the installation you'll wind up among the prints — which are very strong. My one critique would be that it might have worked better to start with the prints and end up with the installation, meaning that their placement in the gallery should have been reversed.
Linhas Polimórficas at Goodwin Fine Art (1255 Delaware Street, 303-573-1255, www.goodwinfineart.com) closes on September 1.
