Poster of Then & Now Retrospective
Jan. 13 – March 24, 2017
The Museum of Outdoor Arts is pleased to announce Then & Now: A Retrospective of Light-Based Sculpture by Dorothy & Mel Tanner. This is the first ever retrospective exhibition of Dorothy and Mel Tanner. Join us at the opening reception of this spectacular exhibition on January 13th from 6-10 pm. The opening will include hors d’oeuvres and libations and will feature live music mixing by DJ Buddha Bomb, incorporating some of the music created by Dorothy Tanner and Marc Billard.
Dorothy and Mel Tanner began their luminal art in the 1960s in Miami. Their interest in plexiglas and its unique light-transmitting quality engaged them in experimentation that led to the major component of their art form: light. In unison with the light sculptures, they added the elements of live projection, music, and electronics to create a multi-sensory experience that The Miami Herald described as “one of the most unusual yet beautiful experiences in the world of art.” The Tanners’ interest in the healing and spiritually uplifting effects that result from light and sound immersion became their lifetime dedication.
Since the passing of Mel Tanner in 1993, Dorothy continues to experiment with a wide array of materials and media. Plexiglas is a material that she sculpts, paints, sandblasts, bakes and shapes. Some are wall sculptures, some free-standing or mobile, while others are water sculptures.
“Their artwork is unlike anything we have seen,” says MOA President and Executive Director, Cynthia Madden Leitner. “Illuminated sculpture engages the audience with its pop-art modernity.”
Dorothy Tanner and her team relocated to Denver in 2008 where she collaborates with long-time associate, Marc Billard, in creating video, accompanied by Dorothy’s spoken word and their electronic music. These elements are all part of the Lumonics expression. More information about the art of Dorothy and Mel Tanner and the video and music collaborations can be found at lumonics.net.
The exhibition will be on display at MOA’s indoor galleries through March 24, 2017.
This exhibition is FREE and open to the public thanks to the generous support of the City of Englewood and the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).
Link to the Video of the Retrospective
April 15, 2020
Thanks to Kyle Harris for including Lumonics in Westword’s Things to Do in Denver Today Without Leaving Your Home:
Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery
In 2017, the Museum of Outdoor Arts hosted a retrospective of light sculptures by Mel and Dorothy Tanner. To document this stunning installation, the MOA produced a 3-D virtual tour.
Entrance to MOA with windows filled with photos of the Lumonics art
Art Shows to See by Michael Paglia, Westword
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017 AT 8:04 A.M
Rondo by Dorothy Tanner
Lumonics Then & Now. The eye-dazzling yet relaxing Lumonics: Then & Now: A Retrospective of Light-Based Sculpture by Dorothy & Mel Tanner transforms the interior galleries of the Museum of Outdoor Arts into a world of their own. The spotlights have been dimmed so that the Tanners’ internally lighted transparent acrylic sculptures and wall panels, along with their projected videos, can gently glow in the near-darkness. A soft electronic soundtrack composed by Dorothy Tanner and longtime collaborator Marc Billard adds another soothing aspect to the exhibit.
Mel and Dorothy were already established artists when, in 1969, Mel had what Dorothy calls “an epiphany.” At the time, he was creating abstract paintings and she was doing abstract sculptures. Mel’s breakthrough was the realization that they should add light, sound and, in the early years, performance to their conjoined practices, and Dorothy readily embraced the idea. Mel worked in this way until the end of his life; Dorothy, who is 94, is, believe it or not, still at it. This show is not to be missed. Through March 24 at the Museum of Outdoor Arts,
1000 Englewood Parkway, 303-806-0444, moaonline.org. Read the full review of
Lumonics: Then & Now.
This week I review the spectacular Mel and Dorothy Tanner retrospective from their Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery on view currently at Englewood’s Museum of Outdoor Arts- MOA. Read my review in the print edition of Denver Westword and on the arts and culture blog below and then
go see this show!
Michael Paglia, Feb. 15, 2017
Review: Lumonics Then & Now Shines at Museum of Outdoor Arts by Michael Paglia
Denver Westword
Feb. 15, 2017
“The eye-dazzling yet somehow relaxing Lumonics Then & Now: A Retrospective of Light-Based Sculpture by Dorothy & Mel Tanner transforms the interior galleries of the Museum of Outdoor Arts into a world of their own. The spotlights have been dimmed so that the exhibit’s internally lighted transparent acrylic sculptures and wall panels, as well as its projected videos, can glow gently in the near-darkness. A soft electronic soundtrack composed by Dorothy Tanner and her longtime collaborator, Marc Billard, adds yet another soothing aspect to the exhibit.”
link to article
Sat. Feb. 25, 2017
Film & Forum with Dorothy Tanner
Museum of Outdoor Arts
photo of Dorothy Tanner at the Forum by Gregory Daurer
Film & Forum Video, recorded and edited by Travis Powell
Part 1: Introduction by Cynthia Madden Leitner, MOA Executive Director & President, and Todd Siler, artist and art historian
Part 2: Documentary produced by Cynthia Madden Leitner, film by Heather Longway, Photography
Part 3: Interview with Dorothy Tanner
Celebration of Dorothy’s 94th birthday at the Museum of Outdoor Arts at the opening of the Tanner
Retrospective in 2017. Dorothy Tanner was born 100 years ago today.
The cake was a replication of her wall sculpture, Collage!
Photo by Heather Longway
Dorothy Tanner Installation in the Black Box Gallery at MOA
videographer: Marc Billard
music: Tanner/Billard
Feb 10, 2017 at the Denver Art Museum:
Friends of Painting and Sculpture’s (FOPAS) presents:
“Exploring the Denver Art Scene” Forum
Artist and art critic Todd Siler mentioned the Retrospective at the Museum of Outdoor Arts and projected Mel Tanner’s “Transworld” on the large screen. Looking at the monitor in front of the table are panelists Kealey Boyd (left), Michael Paglia of Denver Westword, and panel moderator Timothy J. Standring, Gates Foundation Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Denver Art Museum.
Todd Siler is at the podium and not in the photo.
Thanks to David Schler for the photo.
Exploring the Denver Art Scene, Part 1 (28 minute video)
featuring Michael Paglia, Kealey Boyd, and Todd Siler
Todd Siler’s presentation discussing the Tanner Retrospective begins at 17:40 and continues into part 2
Luminous Art Inspiring Our Hearts-n-Minds To Dream With Wonder:
Experiencing the Art of Mel and Dorothy Tanner Art Review
by Todd Siler
excerpt:
When I first encountered the art universe of Mel (1925-1993) and Dorothy Tanner in the current retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Outdoor Arts, my mind leaped “back to the future”. The radiant, mixed media sculptures exude a universal lifeforce, like starlight, that flows with nature’s most brilliant forms of light—including light-emitting diode (LED)s, which were first manufactured in 1962 and discovered artistically by Dorothy Tanner after 1993. In the hands and liberated minds of these two adventurous artists, the medium of light, as embodied and expressed in their sculptural muses, delights more than our eyes alone can absorb.
As this exhibition demonstrates, the creative spirit transcends virtually everything it makes in revealing itself and engaging us with its revelations! That reality becomes even more self-evident when conversing with Dorothy Tanner, the 94 year-old (going on 49) multimedia artist, whose humble wisdom inhabits her most soulful creations.
more
* Todd Siler, PhD (born August 23, 1953) is an American multimedia artist, author, educator, and inventor, equally well known for his art and for his work in creativity research. A graduate of Bowdoin College, he became the first visual artist to be granted a PhD from MIT (interdisciplinary studies in Psychology and Art, 1986). Siler began advocating the full integration of the arts and sciences in the 1970s and is the founder of the ArtScience Program and movement. (Wikipedia)
Virtual Tour
photographed by Heather A. Longway
Photo of Dorothy Tanner in the South Metro Villager
Bright artistic lights from the big city illuminate a 50-year retrospective of former New York artists Dorothy Tanner and her late husband late Mel. The mystique of Andy Warhol’s Factory was palpable Jan. 13 in the Museum of Outdoor Art’s indoor gallery at the Englewood Civic Center. The opening of “Then and Now: A Retrospective of Light-Based Sculpture by Dorothy and Mel Tanner” was a well-deserved tribute that had the feel of a New York underground-society event right there in Englewood.
continue reading
COLORADO, DESTINATION: ART!
Then & Now: A Retrospective of Dorothy & Mel Tanner at MOA
Heather A. Longway/ Heather Longway Photography ©2017
There are moments in life that are extraordinary and there are artists that don’t always realize the impact their art has on society. Dorothy and Mel Tanner are such artisans who have made it their lives mission to open the minds of not only the artistic world but of every soul that encounters their artwork.
Then & Now: A Retrospective of Light-Based Sculpture by Dorothy & Mel Tanner exhibiting at the Museum of Outdoor Arts (MOA) indoor gallery will be a prime opportunity to experience the legendary work up close and personal.
continue reading
Seeing the Light
A 93-year-old artist looks back on decades of unconventional work.
by ABBEY WHITE
5280 Magazine, Jan. 2017
Dorothy Tanner at the Museum of Outdoor Arts, Photo by Paul Miller/5280 Magazine
DorothyTanner in front of Shazam at the Museum of Outdoor Arts
Photo by Paul Miller
While Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and the Who were all busy playing with their lasers, Westminster artist Dorothy Tanner was inventing a different kind of light show. In the ’60s, together with her late husband, Mel, the now 93-year-old created an artistic style known as Lumonics, a technique that involves LED-lit abstract sculptures backed by soundtracks that add to the display’s mood. Lumonics soon took off, and the Tanners brought the art form with them, often collaborating with theater troupes and musicians, when they moved to places as far-flung as Miami and Maine.
Several years after Mel died, Dorothy moved to Colorado, where she opened Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery at Tanner Studio. “Palm trees and flatlands become boring after a while,” she says. By that point, Dorothy had been diagnosed with glaucoma and macular degeneration. But even though her vision is deteriorating, she hasn’t stopped creating. In fact, you can still see her immersive installations in Then and Now: A Retrospective Exhibition of Light-Based Sculptures by Dorothy & Mel Tanner, debuting January 13 at the Museum of Outdoor Arts.
21 Best Events in Denver, January 10-16
“The unstoppable Dorothy Tanner”, photo by Candace Hill
Hip couple Dorothy and Mel Tanner began exploring Plexiglas light sculpture back in the ’60s, inventing their own avant-garde genre while freely experimenting with what’s come to be known as “new media” on the modern front: refracted light, projections, music and electronic enhancements. Mel passed away in 1993, but Dorothy, now in her nineties and still resiliently creative, remarkably continues those experiments begun decades ago at her Lumonics studio and gallery in metro Denver. The Tanners will get their due with Then & Now: A Retrospective of Light-Based Sculpture by Dorothy & Mel Tanner, an eye-popping exhibit (and their first full retrospective) opening on Friday, January 13, with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m. at the MOA Indoor Gallery, 1000 Englewood Parkway in Englewood. Then and Now runs through March 24; visit moaonline.org for details. Learn more about Dorothy Tanner and Lumonics at www.lumonics.net
Photographer: John Leyba/The Denver Post
Light Fantastic
Plugging in, turning out and turning up the story of Dorothy and Mel Tanner at the MOA
by Ray Mark Rinaldi, Special to the Denver Post
Jan. 19, 2017
“I’m a long story,” Dorothy Tanner says of herself. And she tells it, in bits and pieces….read more
(Heather A. Longway/ Heather Longway Photography ©2017)
(Heather A. Longway/ Heather Longway Photography ©2017)
Denver Life
Dorothy Tanner Lumonics I denverlifemagazine.com
Dorothy Tanner talks Lumonics: part sculpture, music, lights and electronics—with potential healing powers.
DENVERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM
Q&A: Dorothy Tanner, 94, on Lumonics, Her Light-Based Art Form
By: Hayley Woodward
“Light, music and art combine for a wild, psychedelic ride at ‘Then & Now: A Retrospective of Light-Based Sculpture,’ the first retrospective exhibit of the work of Dorothy and Mel Tanner, on display now at The Museum of Outdoor Arts, headquartered inside the Englewood Civic Center.”
continue reading
Museum of Outdoor Arts hosts intriguing Lumonics show
by Sonya Ellingboe
(Heather A. Longway/ Heather Longway Photography ©2017)
Light sculptures by Dorothy Tanner glow on the wall of the Museum Outdoor Arts’ Indoor Gallery in Englewood, in “Then and Now: A Retrospective exhibit of Light-Based Sculpture by Dorothy and Mel Tanner.”
“The glowing exhibit includes examples of work from the long, rewarding careers of two artists who early on realized the many possibilities of plexiglass, combined with light and color.”
read article
Art in Light
ENGLEWOOD, CO – JANUARY 13: Photos of art work done by Dorothy Tanner who is 93 January 13, 2017 who has an exhibit at the Museum of Outdoor Arts in Englewood that lights up. (Photo By John Leyba/The Denver Post)
Le sculture di luce di Dorothy Tanner: un viaggio nel colore – Luce e Design
Una lunga storia, quella che unisce in quasi cinquant’anni di produzione nel mondo della light art l’artista americana Dorothy Tanner e del marito Mel Tanner. Oggi, l’ormai…
LUCENEWS.IT | BY MASSIMO VILLA
Based on Ray Rinaldi‘s article in The Denver Post
“This soundtrack contains recordings made at Museum of Outdoor Arts- MOA during the Lumonics Light & Sound Gallery opening on Friday, January 13, 2017. The soundtracks begins with songs by Dorothy Tanner. Dorothy’s ethereal voice meshed perfectly with the Lumonics artwork. An excerpt from the Buddha Bomb DJ set of that night follows the first 32.5 minutes comprised of Dorothy Tanner’s music.”
– excerpted from Buddha Bomb’s Soundcloud page
MOA Lumonics Opening 01/13/17 Dorothy Tanner & Buddha Bomb
SOUNDCLOUD.COM | BY BUDDHA-BOMB
DON’T MISS LUMONICS AT MOA
by Patrick Lyons
Patrick Lyons and Dorothy Tanner
Don’t miss the captivating show at MOA Indoor Gallery! It’s a spectacle of light and design. Meeting Dorothy was a golden opportunity for me, living in Denver. She’s one of our hidden treasures.
read blog
MORE PICTURES FROM THE EXHIBITION
Jabberwocky by Dorothy Tanner
Photographer: Michael McIntyre
Jabberwocky by Dorothy Tanner
Space City by Mel Tanner
Photographer: Michael McIntyre
Space City by Mel Tanner
Space Flower by Dorothy Tanner
Photographer: Gregory Daurer
Inversion by Mel Tanner (foreground)
Messenger by Dorothy Tanner
Photographer: Gregory Daurer
Sand Castle by Dorothy Tanner
Photographer: Diane Allison
Blue Field by Mel Tanner
Photographer: Diane Allison
Messenger by Dorothy Tanner
Photographer: Stefan Krusze, The Villager
Blinker (left) and Post-Mayan by Mel Tanner
Photographer: Stefan Krusze, The Villager
Floating by Dorothy Tanner
Photographer: Janine Trudell, Tailwind Media
Jupiter by Dorothy Tanner
Photographer: Janine Trudell, Tailwind Media
Exhibition Reviews & Media
Westword by Michael Paglia
Documentary presented at Film & Forum, produced by MOA
Film & Forum Video, produced by Travis Powell
The Denver Post and One Good Eye by Ray Mark Rinaldi
Independent Review by Todd Siler
ArtBeat Magazine by Wendy Pitton
5280 Magazine by Abbey White
Littleton Independent by Sonya Ellingboe
Westword: 100 Colorado Creatives by Susan Froyd
Denver Life Magazine by Hayley Woodward
Exploring the Denver Art Scene (Todd Siler Segment)
Exploring the Denver Art Scene, Part 1 (28 minutes)
Denver Art Shows to See Now by Michael Paglia, Westword
Rocky Mountain PBS Arts District recommendation
Colorado Public Radio Announcements: