Colorado Clay 2006. Beginning some thirty years ago, Foothills Art Center in Golden established Colorado Clay as an annual juried exhibit highlighting ceramics. But this year, director Jenny Cook changed its format into a biennial. Colorado Clay 2006 is a good group show, but it is somewhat disappointing in comparison to past outings. This is the case because celebrity juror Michel Conroy chose too many goofy ceramics and too few functional pieces, and because curator Michael Chavez randomly scattered the pieces around instead of grouping the works of individual artists together. Among the standouts are the sculptural ewers by Paul Morris, Bebe Alexander's architectonic lidded bottles, the quirky and beautifully glazed figures by Caroline Douglas, and Jim Klingman's classic wheel-turned vessels. Others represented in the show include Katie Caron, Amy Chavez, Christine Owen, Julie McNair, MaryLynn Schumacher, Valerie and Jonathan Nicklow, Kazu Obu, David Beumée, Peggy Crago and Joyce Bikel. Through May 7 at Foothills Art Center, 809 15th Street, Golden, 303-279-3922. Reviewed April 6.
Finding Place, The Last Supper and 38 of 50. There's an unusual show called Finding Place: Life in Ritual on display in the main gallery at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Fort Collins. The exhibit not only incorporates dance, video and painting, but also interconnects and interprets them. Dancers Judy Bejarano and Lisa Morgan created movements based on everyday rituals while visual artists Kaidi Dunstan and John Giarrizzo did pieces based on the dancers. Conceptual artist randall sinner brought it all together by recording the dancers and the visual artists on video and in photos, thus interpreting the interpretations. On the mezzanine, sinner is the subject of a solo titled 38 of 50: CAPITOL EMBROIDERY. The show documents a performance piece sinner's done on the steps of 38 of 50 state capitol buildings, in which he embroiders ropes in the manner of state flags as a protest against the death penalty. The companion exhibit, Julie Green's The Last Supper, is made up of white plates decorated to depict the last-meal requests of inmates on death row. Finding Place through May 20, The Last Supper and 38 of 50, through May 13, all at the Museum of Contemporary Art, 201 South College Avenue, Fort Collins, 1-970-482-2787.
From Nordenskiold to Nusbaum. This impressive photo show, on view in the Western History/Genealogy gallery of the Denver Central Library, has the five-volume title of From Nordenskiold to Nusbaum: Archaeology, Photography and Tourism in the Early Years of Mesa Verde National Park. The show was jointly curated by Thomas Carr, archaeologist at the Colorado Historical Society, and Trina Purcell, curator of photography at the Denver Public Library. Carr and Purcell picked through the extensive collections of both the CHS and the DPL to select the pieces. The Nordenskiold part of the title refers to Gustaf Nordenskiold, a Swedish scientist and photographer who explored Mesa Verde in 1891; the Nusbaum part refers to Jesse Logan Nusbaum, who excavated the ruins and became the superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park in 1921. But there's more to it than photos by Nordenskiold and Nusbaum; pieces by William Henry Jackson, Thomas McKee, George Beam, Laura Gilpin and many others fill out the show. Through May 31 at the Western History/Genealogy gallery, Denver Central Library, 10 West 14th Avenue Parkway, 720-865-1821. Reviewed April 20.
Gwen Laine and Lorelei Schott. William Biety, exhibition director of the Sandy Carson Gallery, is great at putting together complementary shows. That's exactly what he's done in the pairing of Gwen Laine, featuring contemporary photo-based pieces, and Lorelei Schott, filled with nature-based abstract paintings. Both Laine and Schott are respected local artists who've shown their work in the area for years. In Laine's majestic photos, the artist layers images one over another by re-photographing it repeatedly until it is vaporous and the subject matter ambiguous. In a conceptually similar though thoroughly different practice, Schott buries her canvases in her backyard garden so that they are altered through natural processes. The natural stains and attached debris become the taking-off point for the painted compositions, the details of which -- flowers, leaves, etc. -- also refer to her garden. As usual, there's also a nice selection of artists from the gallery's stable displayed in the back. As an added treat, there's a mini-solo reprising last month's Frank Sampson show of magical realist works. All through May 12 at Sandy Carson Gallery, 760 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-8585. Reviewed April 27.
Mel Strawn: Coins & Medals +. Sandra Phillips Gallery has stumbled onto a niche in the art market: featuring the work of well-known Colorado artists from yesteryear. Last month it was Ruth Todd, who is in her nineties; now it's Mel Strawn, who, in his seventies, is quite a bit younger. Strawn moved to Denver in 1969 to succeed Vance Kirkland as the head of the art school at the University of Denver, a post he held until 1984. This show is not a retrospective of the artist's work; some early abstracts and several newer works are included. In addition to abstract-expressionist compositions, there are several paintings that include elements based on the shapes of coins and medals, as indicated in the show's title. Some are large mixed-media constructions that look like the kind of thing a general would wear, except much, much larger. Strawn takes large circular forms and suspends them from huge brackets hung with enormous ribbons. The shapes, which refer directly to real commemoratives, add an overriding pop flavor. Through May 18 at Sandra Phillips Gallery, 744 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-5969. Reviewed April 27.
Never Leaving Aztln. This exhibit, put together by Museo de las Américas director Patty Ortiz with suggestions from George Rivera, takes on issues relevant to Chicano art versus what's called post-Chicano art. The show is not the first volley in this war of opposing ideals. In 2005, the Center for Visual Art in LoDo mounted Leaving Aztlán, which was meant to highlight how post-Chicano art had superseded Chicano art because of its greater relevance. Never Leaving Aztlán was conceived as an answer to that show. But even though Chicano art plays a part in the Museo presentation, it's post-Chicano artists who carry the day, just like at the CVA. One of the most impressive things is "Carpa Stage," by Carlos Frésquez, Frank Zamora and Los Supersónicos. It's an enormous installation of a full-sized stage modeled on those from Mexican tent shows and includes an array of images based on Mexican, Catholic and American corporate sources. Other standouts are the four paintings by Quintín Gonzalez and the installation of a found crib with a kinetic monster-truck toy inside, by Lewis de Soto. Through May 21 at the Museo de las Américas, 861 Santa Fe Drive, 303-571-4401. Reviewed March 2.
see into liquid. This theme is centered on images of water. Occupying both the main floor and the mezzanine of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the secret to the exhibit's success is that it's a beautiful exhibit filled with beautiful things. There are marvelous drawings and prints, many elegant photos, and the three videos are fabulous -- and that's saying something. Director Cydney Payton came up with the idea for this show when she noticed that artists from all over the world were using water for inspiration. The most famous artist involved in the show is Robert Longo -- who is also the best represented -- but there are also other well-known names, including Catherine Opie and Richard Misrach. Rebecca Di Domenico is the only Colorado artist chosen, with most of the others hailing from either the east or west coast, or from different spots around the world. A show about water in landlocked Denver does have a geographic disconnect, but then again, who isn't familiar with the sea? Through May 28 at the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver, 1275 19th Street, 303-298-7554. Reviewed February 23.
