Unfolding Stories: Visions by Contemporary Women Artists

Campus Commons Gallery

March 4 – April 8, 2022

“Our backs tell stories no books have the spine to carry”
—Rupi Kaur

Co-curated by Laura Almeida, Curatorial Fellow and Acting Head Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Denver Art Museum

Storytelling is about recounting personal or collective tales. It is likewise a way to connect or express vulnerability. Stories can also educate and touch upon cultural experiences, identity, and values. This exhibition is about the stories that unfold around encounters and works by contemporary women artists. As we celebrate March as Women’s History Month, we collected narratives that stretch the boundaries and bonds of womanhood, expressed either through their letters, paintings, sculptures, voices, books, or abstract concepts. As their stories unfold, so do their visions and voices, in an inclusive and intersectional manner, many times subverting ideas of gender and questioning what it means to be identified as a woman or to occupy the role of a storyteller.

Unfolding Stories features an array of diverse voices, including the work of Ella Maria Ray, who will also lead a storytelling workshop at the end of March, and the work of Esther Hernandez. The international roster of female artists also includes Farima Fooladi, Simone Osthoff, Rochelle Johnson, Brenda Stumpf, Kaitlyn Tucek, Mattie Cox, Tayz Enriquez, Chelsea Kaiah, and more.