Art Beat

Theres a rumor that has been spreading through the art world for months: that one of the states most accomplished artists, Bill Stockman, is set to pull up stakes in the fall and move to, of all places, Philthy-delphia. Now, I was born in Philly, and I can tell you…

Art Factory

Ironton Studios & Gallery, which opened in April, is a hard place to find — unless, of course, you work in the freight-hauling trade or some other light-industrial pursuit that might bring you to the corner of 36th Street and Chestnut Place. Actually, it’s not far from Coors Field, but…

Art Beat

Two interesting shows are now located back-to-back at the Edge Gallery. In the front space is Quaternion, an exhibition of new paintings and drawings by Kimberlee Sullivan; in the middle space is a very strange display of sand paintings by Roger Beltrami titled Echoes From the Canyon. Sullivans pieces have…

Deep in the Woods

Among the pleasures of Golden’s Foothills Art Center — other than the wonderful old church and parish house it occupies — are several shows that are a part of its regular schedule. One of these, the North American Sculpture Exhibition, or NASE, can be counted on to be one of…

Art Beat

Its no understatement to say that without Phil Bender there would be no Pirate co-op. One of the founders of the group in 1980, Benders the only one to stick around. And stick is a good word to use, since hes the glue that held the place together during difficult…

Home on the Range

There’s a lot of gossip in the local art world. Some of the rumors don’t make sense, which usually means they’re not true. But I’m privy to one group of gabbers who wind up being correct most of the time. It’s hard to pinpoint the source of this collective commentary…

Art Beat

Mark Lunning is better known as an artisan — a master printer — than he is as an artist. But at the same time that hes been working with some of the best artists around at Open Press, his fine printing shop in Broadway Terrace, hes also been making his…

Across the Board

The show’s title implies that the art history we were taught in school — in which every stylistic phase appears in a neat chronological order — has fallen by the wayside. Now anything goes, as tight representational imagery is hung side by side with non-objective compositions, abstract sculptures are paired…

Art Beat

Potenza, Italy, is one of Denvers many sister cities around the world. But unlike some of the others, Potenza makes sense as a civic sibling, because a lot of Denvers nineteenth-century Italian immigrants came from there. In fact, the Potenza Lodge social club was founded here in 1899 and was…

Through the Lens

Some major changes are being wrought at the Denver Art Museum. No, I’m not referring to the new wing that’s set to go up sometime in the near future. Rather, I’m talking about the shifting staff in the Modern and Contemporary department. In this game of curatorial musical chairs, there’s…

Art Beat

Pirate is teeming with good shows right now, and the varied directions of the exhibiting artists are astounding. In the main space, co-op members Richard Colvin and Katherine Temple present collaborative installations in Re-Echo. In many of their pieces, the two artists play with the difference between reality and illusion…

Totally Abstract

For the last five years or so, the fine-art world has seen a major revival of interest in abstraction in its innumerable stylistic permutations. Abstraction in painting and sculpture came into its own in the first few years of the twentieth century. Its audience among artists and collectors was small…

Art Beat

The Philip J. Steele Gallery in the lobby of the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design is currently showing Andy Warhol: Endangered Species, a group of ten silkscreen prints commissioned in 1983 by New York’s Ronald Feldman Gallery. The year is significant because 1983 is just before Warhol broke…

Variety Shows

Under the guidance of Cydney Payton, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art has become a center for shows in which women artists figure prominently. Muscle: Power of the View, in the West Gallery, is the latest example. It will be followed by Elbows and Tea Leaves: Front Range Women in…

Art Beat

The word is out: ILK on Santa Fe Drive has become a place to see some of the best little art shows in town, and the two exhibits on display right now, Christina Piña: New Paintings, and Bill Brazzell: Constructs, will do nothing but enhance that positive buzz. The first…

The Art of Politics

The process by which an architect will be chosen to design the Denver Art Museum’s new freestanding wing is coming along nicely. A couple of weeks ago, the City Selection Committee, a mixed bag of politicos and others appointed by Mayor Wellington Webb, narrowed the list of eighteen architectural firms…

Art Beat

It was only this past January that Angela Rios, a former account coordinator for MCI, opened the funky little Morph Gallery in the Golden Triangle. The intimate space, which is made up of three small rooms in a tidy red brick rowhouse, is currently featuring New Show, a group effort…

Against the Grain

Denver and its suburbs are in a building boom that has been dubbed “supergrowth,” and the negative effect in terms of lost historic buildings is reaching a critical mass. It’s undeniable: Denver’s established character is being erased. From an aesthetic standpoint, the problem is twofold. First, the vast majority of…

Art Beat

At the end of March, the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts held its annual meeting in Denver, attracting more than 3,000 of the most distinguished ceramic artists and teachers from around the country. In response, local galleries, museums and art centers staged a veritable ceramic arts festival…

Hot Shots

The Colorado Photographic Arts Center has its offices and exhibition space in the Highland neighborhood in a rehabbed garage it shares with the Carol Keller Gallery. At first, Keller occupied the main rooms — converted mechanics’ bays — and the CPAC was in the smaller rooms that had been offices…

Art Beat

Some might suggest that John McEnroe’s American Standard at the partly face-lifted ILK on Santa Fe Drive is simply a late entry to the ceramics bee still going on in the wake of the National Council for Education in the Ceramic Arts meetings held in town last month. He uses…

Art Beat

Exhibition director Jason Thomas keeps up the pace at the Market Street Gallery@Guiry’s by putting up one great show after another. Right now he’s highlighting two talented artists who create sculptural installations that incorporate ceramics. On the left is Strands Pathways Gravity, featuring wall-hung and floor-bound sculptures by Denver’s Martha…