This column ran in the Oct. 4 edition of the Rifle Citizen Telegram.
By Carole Boughton, CMC vice president and Rifle campus dean
Art. What is art? How do we define art?
There are a variety of different types of art. What do they all mean? Where do we start in order to begin exploring these concepts?
The contemporary art movement is considered to have begun in the early 1970s and can be defined as current art created by artists who are living among us. We are fortunate in the Colorado and Roaring Fork river valleys to have amazing artists, some of whom are willing to share their art with the Rifle community.
Colorado Mountain College Rifle’s 2018 Fall Art Show, “4 Views of the Contemporary,” features artwork by four artists with ties to the college. Each one has taught or currently teaches art for CMC. K Rhynus Cesark teaches for CMC Aspen, Andrew Roberts-Gray has taught at CMC Aspen, Michael Raaum also taught in Aspen and Cynthia Zyzda is currently teaching at CMC Steamboat Springs.
In a time of constant questions, contemporary artists create a space to reflect, reevaluate and experiment – leaving nothing sacred and leaving everything up for grabs.
Professional contemporary artists Cesark, Roberts-Gray, Raaum and Zyzda each produce their own distinctive work, using dynamic combinations of materials, methods, concepts and subjects that challenge the traditional. Their work often defies easy definition.
The breadth of work exhibited in “4 Views of the Contemporary” is a wondrous example of contemporary art and of the artists who unapologetically explore ideas and who use nontraditional mediums and practices, with an aim to better understand the present and envision the future.
“4 Views of the Contemporary” is on view Oct. 5 through Nov. 28, 2018.