Shade: Clyfford Still/Mark Bradford Mark Bradford

Contemporary works and abstract expressionist masterpieces converge in Shade, a collaborative presentation by the Denver Art Museum (DAM) and Clyfford Still Museum (CSM). In this two-venue exhibition, paintings by renowned contemporary American artist Mark Bradford—who will represent the United States at the 2017 Venice Biennale. In Shade, Bradford underscores the legacy of abstract expressionism and explores abstraction’s power to address social and political concerns. The exhibition examines both his and Still’s unique relationship to black in their paintings, whether it’s used to force viewers out of their comfort zones, evoke emotions, or confront conventional notions of race. As an African American painter, Bradford has long been fascinated by Still’s extensive use of black as a signature component of his work. Still made many statements about the color, referring to his canvases as “black suns” and “black monsters.”