Right now there’s a major retrospective that examines the work of Mark Zamantakis, one of the state’s most significant ceramic artists. The exhibit, Zamantakis: From the Earth, is ensconced in the Victoria H. Myhren Gallery (2121 East Asbury Avenue, 303-871-2846) at the University of Denver. It was put together by…
Cydney Payton, director of Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, has been putting a lot of effort into expanding that plucky little institution, which occupies only limited space on a first floor and mezzanine at Sakura Square. Her plan to construct a from-the-ground-up building is unfolding, and the competition to select…
It’s always an inspired idea to do a show that pairs a teacher and a student, because the relationship provides a lot of food for aesthetic thought. But this connection, which is both personal and professional, is only one reason there’s plenty to ponder in the intriguing Luis Eades &…
I recently made my way to the fifth floor of the Denver Art Museum, and once again, I was struck by its spare and stunning beauty. The galleries on that floor, home to the Asian art collection, are bathed in golden light and filled with exquisite paintings, prints, sculptures, pottery,…
Bobbi Walker, director of Walker Fine Art (300 West 11th Avenue, 303-355-8955), has paired abstract sculptures by Colorado artist Jerry Wingren with abstract paintings by California artist Jung Choi in the handsome Silent Dialogue. Despite the fact that Wingren’s sculptures have very little in common with Choi’s paintings, the show…
The Sandy Carson Gallery has kept its position as the flagship venue of the Santa Fe Art District by using a simple formula: Present only high-quality art shows. And that’s precisely the case with the two wonderful offerings currently on tap. In the front half of the gallery is the…
A few months ago, Hugo Anderson opened the Emil Nelson Gallery at 1307 Bannock Street (303-534-0996), behind the Denver Art Museum and next door to the Camera Obscura Gallery. Despite its high-profile location, the gallery has kept a low profile — but the current show, herbert bayer remembered, is likely…
It’s hard to live in Colorado and, at the same time, to love architecture. The problem is twofold: There’s very little of the built environment that’s any good, and the few buildings that are good are constantly being threatened with demolition or insensitive remodeling. I was contemplating these ideas while…
Dutch Walla has been taking photos for over fifty years, beginning as a protegé of the late Denver photographer Otto Roach and eventually taking over the older man’s processing business, Roach Photography. Now, at the age of 75, Walla has turned the day-to-day operations of Roach Photography over to his…
There’s a handsome show called Winter Exhibit: Murphy, Garcia, Jackson, Lee playing at the glitzy Fresh Art Gallery, and it’s a signature outing in a number of ways. As usual, everything was hand-selected by director and gallery owner Jeanie King. Also as usual, all of the artists on display explore…
Variations on the theme of contemporary portraiture are brought together in Heads, now at Studio Aiello (3563 Walnut Street, 303-297-8166). The show highlights six artists, four of whom have their work shown in depth. Gallery co-directors Tyler Aiello and Monica Petty Aiello organized the exhibit in cooperation with private dealer…
It was at the end of the nineteenth century that the worldwide romance with the American West first got off the ground. This happened because, even as the earliest settlers were making their way here, the dramatic scenery of the region was attracting artists, particularly photographers and painters. These artists…
Right now, in the South Gallery of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center (30 West Dale Street, Colorado Springs, 1-719-634-5583), there is a very good show called Gene Kloss: Southwestern Printmaker. The large exhibit, which has been handsomely installed, showcases the artist’s famous etchings and drypoints. Kloss was born in…
In the 1970s, contemporary art fractured into a riot of diverse styles. The anything-goes situation in which we find ourselves today is the inevitable product of this explosion. Now that artists have had decades to work out the various logical extensions of this cornucopia of ideas, contemporary art encompasses a…
In the past couple of months, Bryan Andrews created dozens of large sculptures for his solo show, which is now playing at Cordell Taylor Gallery (see page 55). That would seem like a lot of work, but somehow Andrews had some spare time on his hands. How else to explain…
It would be accurate to call BLOOD: Lines & Connections, the fall-winter exhibit at Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, a bold effort. It would also not be too far wrong to call the show — or at least parts of it — outrageous, confrontational and over the top. MCA director…
This past spring, emerging artist Jared David Paul founded an exhibition space that he originally called the Santa Fe Arts Assembly. He has since shortened the name to the Assembly (766 Santa Fe Drive, 303-257-0145), because the original name, it turns out, misled people into thinking that the space was…
The season began only a scant six weeks ago, but already many of the first shows have closed — or soon will. It’s been a crowded calendar, with more than a hundred exhibits being presented simultaneously, a couple dozen of which are definitely worth seeing — pretty good odds when…
The Edge Gallery (3658 Navajo Street, 303-477-7173) is just coming off a recent bout with censorship. As reported in Westword (Off Limits, October 9), the Denver Civic Theatre requested that Edge remove a photo from its show hanging in the theater’s lobby. The photo depicts two men kissing, with the…
There’s something edifying about retrospectives. I guess it’s their epic scope. Collected in a single place is a representative sample of an artist’s entire professional lifetime. Stylistic phases are marked, as are the topics of interest that the artist embraced over the years. Yet despite these obvious virtues, retrospectives are…
The front spaces at Sandy Carson Gallery (760 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-8585) are fitted out with Frank Sampson paintings (see page 57), but in the back gallery and extending into the conference room is a separate solo, Virginia Folkestad: Isthmus/go-between. Since the early 1990s, Folkestad has used traditional home life…
Let me say this right off the bat: The fall-winter blockbuster at the Denver Art Museum, El Greco to Picasso from the Phillips Collection, is one of the best shows ever presented in our region. Not since the DAM’s Matisse show a few years ago has the city been graced…
