The Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado, has opened a new exhibition titled "Still in Sound," which pairs abstract paintings by Clyfford Still with original sonic interpretations by contemporary sound artists. Co-curated by Bailey Placzek, the museum's curator of collections, and British multidisciplinary artist Ben Coleman, the exhibition features works by artists Maria Chávez, Maya Dunietz, Kalyn Heffernan, Matana Roberts, and Michael Schumacher. Each artist selected a Still painting and composed a sound piece in response, with the compositions playing in shuffled order to create a non-linear, immersive experience. A digital guide offers full recordings, and Denver artist Phillip David Stearns designed an interactive component based on Still's pastel drawings. The exhibition runs through February 2027.
The exhibition matters because it reimagines how visitors engage with abstract visual art, using sound to translate and deepen the experience of Still's work. By inviting artists from different sonic practices to interpret specific paintings, the museum expands the boundaries of traditional exhibition-making and encourages multisensory, individualized encounters with art. The show also coincides with the museum's 15th anniversary, marked by a concurrent exhibition unveiling new paintings monthly, reinforcing the institution's ongoing commitment to innovative programming and access to Still's vast archive.