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A Table (Somewhat): Conversations Between Objects

September 6, 2014–May 9, 2015

The title of Richard Artschwager’s Table (Somewhat) proposes a parenthetical quandary. If its existence as a table is called into question one might reasonably wonder "What, if not a table?”

A Table (Somewhat) is the first in a series of exhibitions subtitled Conversations Between Objects, which provoke a dialog between artworks that span different times and places. The CU Art Museum’s Dillon Collection of Scholar’s Rocks stems from an ancient Chinese tradition in which certain characteristics are treasured for containing the infinite within gnarled and veined forms. Contemplating these palm-sized rocks from different perspectives slows down looking. Shifts in scale guide human perception from the finite realities of physical matter to macrocosmic associations. Animals, cascading rivers and otherworldly mountain formations��reveal themselves to the mind’s delight. Richard’s miniaturized formica table is deceptively straightforward, but also disorients thought. A cube of faux tigerwood legs framing blocks of grass green and blue sky begs the question "What, if not a table?"

This is the inaugural exhibition curated by director and chief curator Sandra Q. Firmin.

This exhibition was generously supported in part by the HBB Foundation, CU Art Museum benefactors and members, and CU-Boulder Student Arts and Cultural Enrichment fees.