Dennis Oppenheim

1938-2011  

 

Dennis Oppenheim was born on September 6th, 1938 in Electric City, Washington. He earned his BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland in 1964 and then went on to receive his MFA from Stanford University in 1965.

Gordon Church and the Albuquerque Public Art Program, along with support from UNM, commissioned a piece by Oppenheim in 1987. Local artists David Anderson and Tom Powell supervised the construction and the piece was fabricated by Mega Corp. The work, "Dreams and Nightmares: Journey of a Broken Weave" was part of a body of work called the "machine pieces"; complex constructions which he used to create a metaphor for the artistic process. By the mid-eighties his sculpture was based on the transformation of everyday projects; and since the mid-ninties his work became larger in scale and more permanent, fusing sculpture and architecture.

"Dreams and Nightmares" lives at the southern entrance to UNM's Main Campus at Lomas Blvd. and Las Lomas NE, across from the UNM Hospital. 

Oppenheim died on Friday January 21st in Manhattan of liver cancer. Read the full NY Times obituary.

Dreams and Nighmares: Journey of a Broken Weave by Dennis Oppenheim

Detail view of Dreams and Nightmares: Journey of a Broken Weave

Silver Gardens Project Prospectus Out Now!!!

Possible Site for Public Art

The Public Art Program is calling for submissions of ideas for a new Downtown Public Art Project.  

Silver Gardens, a green affordable housing  project developed through a public-private partnership between Jonathan Rose Companies, the Supportive Housing Coalition and the City of Albuquerque, will achieve a LEED ® Platinum 

certification.   

Public art will be included along the Eastern and/or Southern facing exterior facades of the adjacent parking structure. The site chosen for the artwork will support a "unique, one-of-a-kind artwork that could become a destination for residents and visitors alike." Watch this "video walk-through" to get a better idea of the proposed project site.  

 

Download the Prospectus for more information. 

Snow Falls on Dawn Light  

Dawn Light by Ed Vega, covered in snow

Albuquerque Public Art piece Dawn Light, by Ed Vega, was added to the collection in 1982 and lives near the intersection of San Mateo and Indian School NE. Photographed here after the "Blizzard of 2011".