“Clyfford Still Museum Presents ‘Held Impermanence’: A Guest-Curated Exhibition on Contrasting Desires”

# *Held Impermanence*: An Exhibition Exploring Conservation, Time, and Mortality

The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, presents *Held Impermanence*, a thought-provoking exhibition guest-curated by artist, scholar, and curator Katherine Simóne Reynolds. On view until September 14, 2025, the exhibition offers viewers an intimate exploration of the fragility of both art and human existence. Drawing deeply from the museum’s vast collection, *Held Impermanence* examines how Still’s artworks—and our perspectives on them—change over time due to conservation challenges, material degradation, and emotional resonance.

## A Dialogue Between Time and Art

Reynolds’s exhibition highlights the paradox inherent in Clyfford Still’s artistic legacy: his desire to keep his body of work intact versus the reality that all artworks age and bear marks of time. Still’s collection includes acclaimed masterpieces alongside pieces that reveal physical deterioration, offering a rare window into the aging of art itself.

Within *Held Impermanence*, Reynolds places particular emphasis on paintings with noticeable condition issues, allowing these works to serve as visual metaphors for healing, mortality, and transformation. The exhibition asks visitors to reflect on the evolving nature of art, encouraging them to consider how their bodies and emotions interact with Still’s paintings. By doing so, Reynolds fosters a dialogue about impermanence—both in art and in life.

## The Role of Conservation in the Viewing Experience

Art conservators often speak of “inherent vice,” a term used to describe the inevitable deterioration of materials over time. Paintings, like people, accumulate wear—cracks, tears, discoloration—that tell a story beyond their initial creation. *Held Impermanence* acknowledges this process by embracing artworks that show signs of aging rather than presenting them only in their most pristine states.

To further emphasize the fragility of Still’s works, Reynolds curates a selection of works on paper displayed behind curtains, shielding them from excessive exposure to light in the museum’s skylit galleries. Visitors are invited to gently lift the curtains for a private, intimate viewing experience, reinforcing the notion that art, like memory, must be handled with care.

### Archival Materials and Personal Artifacts

In addition to Still’s paintings and works on paper, the exhibition presents a range of archival photographs, letters, notes, and personal objects. By incorporating these elements, Reynolds constructs a multi-dimensional experience, showcasing the human presence behind the artwork. These archival materials provide insight into Still’s life, creative processes, and the emotional states that influenced his work.

## Katherine Simóne Reynolds: Curator and Artist

Reynolds is an acclaimed artist, curator, and scholar whose work critically engages with the emotional and geographical landscapes of Blackness in the American Midwest. Her interdisciplinary art practice spans photo-based works, film, choreography, sculpture, and writing. In *Held Impermanence*, Reynolds brings her deep understanding of emotional dialects and physicality to the curation process, encouraging visitors to consider how they gaze upon Still’s works through the lens of time, loss, and resilience.

## The Clyfford Still Museum

The Clyfford Still Museum, renowned for its architectural design and singular focus on Still’s work, houses an astonishing 3,125 pieces—about 93% of the artist’s total output. By safeguarding Still’s legacy, the museum offers an unparalleled opportunity for visitors to experience the evolution of a single artist’s practice across a lifetime. *Held Impermanence* aligns with the museum’s mission by presenting Still’s art not just as objects to be admired but as living works that carry and endure the passage of time.

## A Unique Viewing Experience

Through Reynolds’s curation, *Held Impermanence* fosters an immersive and contemplative atmosphere. Visitors are encouraged to engage physically and emotionally with the artworks, recognizing the ways in which paintings change, just as people do. By illuminating the tensions between preservation and deterioration, the exhibition prompts a deeper awareness of art’s impermanence and our shared human experience of time and memory.

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For more information about *Held Impermanence* and the Clyfford Still Museum, visit [clyffordstillmuseum.org](https://bit.ly/4bHr8xc).