Denver, U.S.A. � July 13, 2010 

Four Seasons Hotel Denver, set to open this fall, will showcase nearly 1,200 original art works by contemporary Colorado artists, enhancing the Hotel's modern design concept. The unique collection will be on display throughout the 45-story building, creating a gallery-like setting that will rival a private art museum. 

�We are thrilled to support the local arts community and showcase amazing works created by artists from across the state of Colorado,� says Thierry Kennel, general manager of Four Seasons Hotel Denver, noting that 90 percent of the pieces on display are by local artists. 

The collection's 1,180 pieces showcase varying mediums, ranging from glass and stone to bronze, metal, oils, pastels, photography, giclée prints and more. Four Seasons Hotel Denver owners worked with interior design firm Bilkey Llinas Design of Palm Beach, Florida in conjunction with Denver-based LewisGraham Art Consultants on the selection of the art works. The majority of the art is displayed throughout the public spaces on floors one through three, with an extensive display in Edge Restaurant on the first floor. Another substantial display of art can be found in the 16th floor Presidential Suite. 

�The artwork was selected to complement the interior design, which is sleek and contemporary with an organic feel,� says Liz Graham, co-owner of LewisGraham Art Consultants. �The collection creates a gallery-like atmosphere throughout the Hotel, and shows the owners� commitment to original art, one that has a profound effect in an architecturally beautiful space.�

�The artwork is a statement. It is bold in colour, content and scale,� adds Denis Mulhern, design director for Bilkey Llinas and concept designer for Four Seasons Hotel Denver.

Some of the most prominent Colorado artists with works on display at Four Seasons Hotel Denver are highlighted below.

Will Clift is an artist based near Boulder who will have a total of four works in Four Seasons Hotel Denver. One piece will be behind the main reception desk in the lobby and two will be on either side of the entrance to the ballroom. In addition, one single series of work will be interspersed throughout nine floors of the residential units within the building. A "theme and variations" piece, each of the nine works differs in one or more ways from the pieces on the other floors, while maintaining a clear relationship that binds them together as a whole. 

Clift creates self-supporting wood sculptures that balance on a small pedestal, without relying on glue or nails. Each of his sculptures is composed of several curving pieces of wood that intersect through carefully carved slots, each part supporting the others in tension. Clift begins by noticing shapes that he is drawn to in the world around him, both natural and man-made. He sketches these forms on paper and refines them over and over again. "Once the form looks and feels right to me," he says, "I know exactly how it will balance as a sculpture. The shape and its balance are inseparable." Clift translates his drawing into three dimensions using one of several types of hardwoods� maple, black walnut, and wenge are among his favourites � which he works using both power tools and hand tools. He finishes each sculpture by finely sanding it, then applying either a natural oil or a labour-intensive coating of multiple layers of black lacquer. A completed sculpture may evoke the form that served as its inspiration, or may appear entirely abstract; in all cases Clift captures a sense of movement or gesture in his work, an unusual feat for a form that stands entirely still.

Wayne Salge is from Johnstown, and has three striking bronze horse sculptures on display. One large horse titled Gallatin will be on display in the main lobby lounge area. �Horses have always fascinated me, even from childhood,� says Salge. "I enjoy capturing their body language, emotions and attitudes in my abstracted style. Gallatin shows power and strength; Juniper, reaction to the unknown and self-protection; and Plano, independence, back off, leave me alone.� 

Doug Trujillo is a metal sculptor based in Denver who has three pieces of work on display in the lobby lounge area and the bar. �My current sculptural work is a continuation of a series that began in 2000, after I spent a year traveling through Central America. I was greatly influenced by all things I saw in the water. Fish, boats, people - they all have an almost hypnotic sense of movement while in the water, and I distinctly wanted to infuse that sense of motion into my sculpture. I began abstracting these shapes, leaving behind only the essence of movement, light and form,� says Trujillo. 

Jeffrey Keith is a Denver artist who works with oils on linen and on mylar. Keith�s works can be found on the first floor lobby lounge and dining area. �If art is a language we use to say that which cannot otherwise be said, my dialect is a language of colour,� says Keith. 

Ana Maria Hernando is a Denver painter represented by the Robischon Gallery, who works with flower imagery on paper, panel and canvas. Her work will be on display in the pre-function meeting space on the second floor. Her pieces are titled The Other Mexican Sunflower and Flor de Un Dulce Verano (Flower from a Sweet Summer). Hernando�s works are triptych works: each piece being created of acrylic, inks, oil and varnish on paper with collaged designs and cutouts, on paper printed with embroidery patterns over panel. Says Hernando, �Flowers are my inspiration. They are sensual, delicate, quiet and beautiful�the utmost expression of the plant. They seduce me and compel me to move the brush.� 

Tania Dibbs of Aspen creates large mixed media pieces. One piece titled Spaces Between will be featured in the restaurant. � The Spaces Between is an original oil painting inspired by nature. I consider it to be an abstract landscape where the eye can choose to see what it wants, be it a pond, rain falling on water, a dark and distant land, or the void between them all. The large scale of the piece begs the viewer to step inside and envision themselves in whatever element of nature the work evokes,� says Dibbs. 

Trine Bumiller is a Denver artist also represented by the Robischon Gallery in downtown Denver, who creates large sculptural pieces with abstract shapes that represent movement, light and form. Her creation, Winterval, will be on display in the grand staircase between levels one and two. The pieces are abstracted images of trees in winter, deep dark red against an earthy green background. �Interspersed and interrupting the image are circles of white - light, snow, or something else, undefined,� describes Bumiller. �I use oils and layer the paint with at least 40 transparent glazes, slowly building up the colour to a deep rich state, while trying to retain luminosity. The colour pools and coalesces and creates myriad accidental combinations, reminiscent of the course of nature itself. The different panels separate the image into slightly different sections, suggesting the programmed way in which we view nature. It also echoes the growth pattern of trees, reaching up and out as they mature. I wanted to create something mysterious and earthy, mechanical and measured, a painting that transcends landscape and opens a door into a world beyond.� 

Lewis McInnis has a piece in the Cottonwood Ballroom pre-function space. Says McInnis, �I combine traditional artists' materials with modern tools of photography and computers to create abstract and semi-abstract paintings, that are, primarily, landscapes. These paintings are combinations of inner and outer landscapes that I hope will resonate with those who view the work. Not all of these explorations create a place and time that is universal but are often private visions, particular to me and my experiences.� 

Bob Maes has mixed-media works with acrylic, pencil and copper on display in the third-floor Spa. �The work I produce is a process of working and experimenting with large colour fields, mediums and textures for the creation of space and depth, giving my paintings a sculptural feel,� says Maes.