Artbeat

Brief sketches of what's happening in the Denver art scene.

A A A Comments By Michael Paglia Thursday, Jul 26 2001

Jeanie King's Fresh Art Gallery (208 South Broadway, 720-570-2255) is pretty crowded right now, filled to the max with The Colorists, a show featuring abstract paintings and sculptures by a quartet of Denver artists. The floors of the two small rooms that make up Fresh Art are littered with sculptures, and the walls are lined with paintings.

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A group of "Stones," by Judith Cohn, consists of roughly spherical floor sculptures which the artist frequently exhibits as multi-part installations. They are ceramic with expressionistic decorations in glazes. And there's a trio of Cohn sculptures made of stacked ceramic forms that also sit on the floor.

It's surprising to see Edge-force Mark Brasuell's paintings in a commercial gallery, because he's long eschewed being represented by one -- and he'd shouted his decision from the rooftops. "Well, I thought it was time," Brasuell says. The show includes several of his neo-abstract-expressionist paintings, done with spray paint that's mostly been painted out. One of these, "Ruddy Posterior Superior With Monograph," is seen above. The colors Brasuell uses are remarkable both for their vibrancy and for their intensity.

The show is filled out with the awkwardly composed and heavily painted organic abstractions by Lorey Hobbs, and the scribbled neo-expressionist compositions by Yasmin Terry -- a couple of which are pretty good.

The Colorists is too crowded, though, and honestly, the place always feels cramped, and King knows it. That's why she scouting around for a larger space. The show closes on Saturday.