t’s amazing that in the current art world — where it seems like everyone is searching for the next outrageous irony — good, old-fashioned representational painters are still going strong, as evidenced by Contemporary Realism, at the William Havu Gallery (1040 Cherokee Street, 303-893-2360). Come to think of it, that’s…
It’s hard to think of James McKinnell, whom everyone called Jim, without also thinking of his wife and artistic collaborator for more than fifty years, Nan McKinnell. Nonetheless, we are going to have to get used to the idea of one without the other, because on April 13, Jim died,…
Currently, there are three shows at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058) that have an after-dark character. In two of them, it’s because the galleries themselves have been shrouded in darkness, but in the third, which is well-lit, the nighttime feel has to do with the adults-only…
Although Denver has long been the largest city in Colorado, historically it was not the art-making center of the state. No, that distinction was held by Colorado Springs — even before the launch of the Broadmoor Academy in 1918, which transformed the town into a full-fledged art colony. That knowledge…
The young artist with the epic name of Jared David Paul Anderson is a one-man art movement. Not only is he a serious painter, as he demonstrates in Red, White and Black, now at the Assembly (766 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-5501), but he’s also the founder of an artists’ collective,…
The Center for Visual Art in LoDo is currently taking on the interesting — and risky — topic of “post-Chicano” art in the group exhibit Leaving Aztlán: Rethinking Contemporary Latino and Chicano Art. It’s interesting because many of the pieces in the show are great, risky because there’s an entire…
In the same way that the works at the Center for Visual Art may be described as post-Chicano (see review), three of the four artists in discourse & decadence at Studio Aiello (3563 Walnut Street, 303-297-8166) are doing what could be called “post-queer.” Addressing this particular topic is an act…
Cydney Payton, director of Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, has often said that one of the most important things an art show can do is to create controversy. The exhibit that’s there now, Will Boys Be Boys?, is not really controversial, but it does raise a lot of issues –…
Time flies, as the saying goes, but it’s still hard to believe that Space Gallery (765 Santa Fe Drive, 720-904-1088) is already celebrating five years in business. Apparently, though, it’s true: The current exhibit, Untold Riches, is being billed as the venue’s fifth-anniversary show. Organized by Space owner Michael Burnett,…
The landscape and the natural environment have long preoccupied artists. In a contemporary context, though, artists can’t simply record the scenery; they need to comment on it, transform it. Robischon Gallery is currently presenting a pair of solos featuring two Boulder artists whose reputations go way beyond the metro area…
Two contemporary abstraction artists, McKay Otto and Ethan Jantzer, have been given separate solos at + Gallery (2350 Lawrence Street, 303-296-0927). The two shows, Otto’s Every Place and Jantzer’s Bound, are very compatible, with both artists doing new work based on time-tested traditions in abstract art: expressionism and minimalism. Otto,…
The art world is constantly searching out fresh material, which is why there’s always interest in talented artists in their twenties. But another way to come across stuff that’s new is to rediscover artists who’ve been out of sight for a long time — people who are typically in their…
In the center spaces of the Sandy Carson Gallery (760 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-8585), director William Biety has installed Susan Stinsmuehlen-Amend: Mixed Media, a display of oddball, multi-part pieces made of offbeat materials. The show doesn’t really go with the Jeff Wenzel feature installed across the front of the gallery…
The Museo de las Américas has had a bumpy ride over the past few years, and surely many in the art community thought the small but significant institution was headed for the trash heap of Denver history. Luckily, that hasn’t happened, and the Museo looks as though it’s on the…
The members of Denver’s oldest artist cooperative, Spark Gallery (900 Santa Fe Drive, 720-889-2200), have had a hard time figuring out how to effectively use the 1,200-square-foot space that they moved into last year. Every show I’ve seen there has been awkwardly installed, because there’s not even one good wall…
From the moment I heard about it, during the last years of Mayor Wellington Webb’s administration, I thought the idea of constructing a jail on the site of the Rocky Mountain News building just off of West Colfax Avenue was ridiculous — and I said so on this page back…
When I heard about a controversy brewing over a ceramics show at the Lakewood Cultural Center (470 South Allison Parkway, 303-987-7876), I naturally assumed that the problem exhibit was American Stoneware & Crockery: 1880-1930, featuring the collection of noted ceramics authority Tom Turnquist. After all, that show was overflowing with…
Sculpture has long been one of the specialties of the William Havu Gallery. Typically, there’s a piece or two placed outside the front, plus there’s a sculpture garden in the back. Right now, there’s even more sculpture on display than normal, as the inside exhibition spaces have been outfitted with…
Carley Warren is the subject of the thoughtfully conceived and handsomely presented solo, Cribs, currently on display in the intimate indoor space at Artyard Sculpture Gallery (1251 South Pearl Street, 303-777-3219). Though the room is unbelievably small and modestly appointed, it almost always looks good — as it does now…
An astounding thing about Simon Zalkind, the director of the Singer Gallery at the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, is the way he turns the ridiculously modest facility into a place that’s guaranteed to have an important exhibition, as it does now. The show in question has the epic…
It’s so discouraging to be interested in architecture and live in Colorado. There’s very little top-drawer material here to begin with — surely not more than 1 percent of the built environment — and demolition seems to be relentlessly picking off the buildings in that elite 1 percent. About a…
Richard Serra is one of the few living artists who can accurately be described as a modern master. He is best known for his monumental sculptures, which are installed in public places all over the world. But Serra has also long created works on paper. A group of these makes…
