Collections/Selections I

Edge Gallery

A A A Comments By Michael Paglia Thursday, May 17 2007

A month or so ago, I received a call from John Davenport, a noted local photographer and a boardmember of the Colorado Photographic Arts Center. He was annoyed because although CPAC had organized one show and co-organized another among the exhibits that had received Best of Denver awards in March, neither of the brief citations I wrote mentioned the group's name. My bad.

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303-477-7173

3658 Navajo Street

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But I've got a legitimate excuse for the lapse: Out of site, out of mind. You see, CPAC used to be a venue with an actual location, and now it's a support group that plays the vagabond, mounting shows here and there, as it is currently doing at Edge Gallery (3658 Navajo Street, 303-477-7173). Even more difficult for CPAC to overcome was the retirement of Skip and Liz Kohloff, who'd kept the organization going for the past few decades.

The show at Edge is Collections/Selections I, and it features portraits -- and character studies -- from CPAC's impressive permanent collection. Since CPAC's founding, in 1963, it has collected more than 500 pieces for its holdings. Collections/Selections I was put together by a committee made up of Marti Foxhoven, Emanuel Karamaroudis, Loay Boggess and Gwen Laine. The show is installed in the center space at Edge, then continues in the back Associates' Gallery.

The quartet of curators chose photos from a variety of genres, including formal studio portraits, such as Bernie Faingold's "Martin Luther King"; street scenes, such as "Four Girls in a Train Window," by Edward Miller (pictured); and even glamour shots, notably Ken Hayman's backstage pictures "Untitled (Audrey Hepburn)" and "Elizabeth Taylor." Though Hayman's photographs are seen in some depth in Collections/Selections I, there is no information on him or anybody else in the show. Other photographers with work on view include Bernard Mendoza, Imogen Cunningham, Horst Schafer and a host of others.

It's good to see CPAC still going after losing its gallery and its heart and soul (Skip and Liz, respectively), but maybe when it's time to do a sequel, they'll do some documentation about who and what we're looking at. CPAC's Collections/Selections I at Edge closes on May 20.