Bravery, Art and Politics by Stephen Gould, Denver Post
One of the most controversial works of art in Denver in the past two decades has re-appeared - without a peep of protest. You've got to see the piece for yourself, of course. But until then, imagine an artwork so outlandish, so on-edge, back in 1983, that it drew protests and counter-protests - no, not between Native Americans and Italian-Americans, but between Native Americans and throngs of Artist-Americans who had gathered from Denver and Boulder in defense of art. It's "The Shoot-Out," by pop artist Red Grooms. It's a large (12 feet by 20 feet) cartoon-like depiction of a cowboy and an Indian in a shoot out. And it's quite visible from the plaza of the Denver Art Museum's new Hamilton wing, across 13th Avenue, on the second-story roof of the DAM's Palettes restaurant. It's boldly lit. Audaciously so. But no longer controversially so, apparently.
For those who were arts-aware in the early 1980s in Denver, "The Shoot-Out" was the "Columbus Day" protest of its time. It happened in September 1983. The protest - and counter-protest - was about an inanely comical piece of art, by a nationally recognized "pop" artist with a unique, instantly recognizable artistic style. The protests in Denver made The New York Times. According to modern and contemporary art curator Dianne Vanderlip (who is retiring to emeritus status next week after nearly three decades at the DAM), Grooms' work represents "good, red-blooded American humor, and is "a superb piece of American art." Early in Vanderlip's tenure, when the Native American protest against "The Shoot-Out" was in full whoop, Vanderlip was there, courageous, standing up for the sculpture. "The Shoot-Out" was so provocative to some that one University of Colorado at Denver professor threatened to throw a can of black paint on it.
"The Shoot-Out" is a big-time sculpture with a social provenance. It's a well-traveled piece, considering it hasn't left Denver. It started out, in 1982, in the courtyard of privately developed condominiums at Speer and Lawrence, on land purchased from the University of Colorado. "The Shoot-Out" was commissioned by the developers, with the advice of Vanderlip. News reports said complaints from prospective buyers led the developers to move the sculpture to a traffic island nearby, at the corner of Lawrence and Speer, across from the Auraria campus. The island is owned by the University of Colorado. "The Shoot-Out" sat there for a year, wrapped in a tarp, bereft of its true intentions, awaiting landscaping. Then it was re-unveiled in September 1983.
That's when the Native American community, inspired by students and teachers at UCD, began planning their protest. They said the cartoon- like figures, visible from their classrooms, "belittle the suffering of their people during the 19th century." They called a protest rally for late September. Then the artists, and Vanderlip, showed up. I wasn't there, but I know artists. Some are mild. Some are maniacs. But most would put their bodies on the line to save art. The University of Colorado Regents unanimously ordered the sculpture off their mid-traffic island.
To wrench "The Shoot-Out" from the absurdity - perhaps even danger - of that situation, Vanderlip and the DAM came to the rescue. "The Shoot- Out" was moved to the sculpture garden at the rear of the Ponti building. And there, after still another re-unveiling, it sat, on its four painted aluminum wheels until 1996. That year, it was moved to the rooftop terrace of the Ponti building. And there it resided for the next 10 years. Now it rests, finally, without a murmur except for the silent whizzing of the cartoon bullets and arrows and the whir of traffic heading west on 13th Avenue.
On 14th Avenue, heading east, is the outdoor sculpture "Wheel," by Native American artist Edgar Heap of Birds, installed in 2005. Sculpture doesn't get much more political than "Wheel." Ten 10-foot bright red poles are splashed with black text and gold symbols in overt protest of the bitter history of the treatment of Indians in America. "Wheel" is crude by some standards, particularly artistic. But it was blessed with tom-toms and incense. It is now "sacred." The ultimate point of "Wheel" is not art, but location, location, location. As museums go, it's in prime real estate. And its messages are unmistakably, perpetually negative.
If nothing else, it provides a clear - if imperfect - balance to the good-humored whimsy of "The Shoot-Out," now in its rightful, artful space. See for yourself. Judge for yourself. (Article Last Updated: 01/06/2007 09:25:04 PM MST)