Gallerist David B. Smith says he’s shown work by Brazilian artist Bruno Novelli, aka Bruno 9li (nove is “nine” in Portuguese), in the past, but Materia Radiante, which opens today at Smith’s eponymous gallery, is the artist’s first full solo in Denver. And what a solo it is: Inspired by Novelli’s explorations along the Amazon and in the coastal rainforests near Santa Catarina and São Paulo, the work pops with vibrating colors — even literally, in the case of a series of GIFs that will be screened on televisions in the gallery’s Project Room.
“Using those natural images he saw, he’s presenting organic relationships in a digitized, geometric aesthetic,” Smith explains.
While in Denver, Novelli will also translate this type of imagery into a public mural as part of the city’s Urban Arts Fund graffiti-prevention project; with help from local street-art pros Pedro Barrios, Jaime Molina and Caleb Hahne, he’ll be working on a stretch of wall along the Platte River Greenway near Confluence Park.
Materia Radiante runs through September 13 at David B. Smith Gallery, 1543 A Wazee Street. Admission is free; get more info at davidbsmithgallery.com or call 303-893-4234.
Tuesdays-Saturdays. Starts: Aug. 14. Continues through Sept. 13, 2014
