Arts & Entertainment

Sketches

Brief reviews of current shows

By Michael Paglia 

The American Landscape and Carny. Rule Gallery has typically presented single solos since landing in its new space several months ago, but this time, there are two different shows in that long and narrow sales room. The two work well together, though, as both are made up of photographs about America. One exhibit, The American Landscape, highlights dramatic color photos of the natural scenery of the West by Michael Eastman, an internationally famous photographer who lives in St. Louis. Eastman is not exclusively known for his landscapes; he also does interiors and other subjects — including Rodin's sculptures, his photos of which were recently published in a book illustrating a new translation of poet Rainer Maria Rilke's writings about them. The other show, Carny: Americana on the Midway, which is accompanied by a book, is made up of C-prints by Virginia Lee Hunter, a Los Angeles artist. As could be surmised by the title, Hunter's subjects are the denizens of the midway, but she does not take the Diane Arbus-y freak-show approach to her models; instead, she exploits the surrounding beauty of the carnival itself. Through September 1 at Rule Gallery, 227 Broadway, 303-777-9473.

Clyfford Still Unveiled. A master and pioneer of mid-twentieth-century abstract expressionism, painter Clyfford Still was something of an eccentric in the artist-as-egomaniac stripe. His antisocial behavior led to a situation where 94 percent of his artworks remained together after he died — a staggeringly complete chronicle of his oeuvre that is now owned by the City of Denver. As a planned Clyfford Still Museum won't be completed until 2010, the institution's founding director, Dean Sobel, decided to preview a baker's dozen of Still's creations at the Denver Art Museum. Sobel uses the very small show to lay out most of the artist's career and stylistic development. Still worked his way from regionalism to surrealism, then wound up developing abstract expressionism with one of the greatest abstract paintings imaginable, "1944 N No. 1" — and the rest is art history. Though too small to be considered a blockbuster, this exhibit is nonetheless an extremely important one that shouldn't be missed unless you aren't interested in art at all. Through September 30 at the Denver Art Museum, 100 West 14th Avenue Parkway, 720-865-5000. Reviewed July 26.

Co-Design. Colorado has an impressive art history filled with groundbreaking photos, stunning ceramics and compelling prints and paintings, but some art forms have long been missing in action, and the first one that comes to mind is design. Maybe it's because so few things were manufactured here, but whatever the case, there is little tradition for either industrial or domestic design here. But Paul Hardt, owner of P Design Gallery, a combination furniture and accessories boutique with an attached exhibition space, thinks that's started to change. Noticing all the cutting-edge design going on in the area, and wanting to highlight local talent after a series of shows that were mostly devoted to international designers, Hardt invited keyboard theorist Jaime Kopke of designklub.blogspot.com to curate a group exhibit of locally conceived chairs, tables and other everyday objects. Pieces by DoubleButter and by INV/ALT design, two Denver-based but internationally known firms, dominate. The work of these established outfits is supplemented with pieces by design students who are having their debut in this exhibit. Through August 25 at P Design Gallery, 2590 Walnut Street, 720-259-2516.

The Eclectic Eye. To inaugurate the recently unveiled expansion of the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, director Michael De Marsche wanted to show off his new ability to accommodate temporary shows — something that wasn't feasible in the original building. So De Marsche brought in The Eclectic Eye: Pop and Illusion, highlighting the collection of the Frederick R. Weisman Foundation in Los Angeles. The foundation owns important works by many of the biggest names active in vanguard art during the last half-century. The pieces were purchased by the late Weisman, a zillionaire collector who started getting into contemporary art in the 1950s and who continued to snap things up until his death in 1994. This show, which began touring in 2005, features pieces by Andy Warhol, Robert Rosenquist, Keith Haring, Claus Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein, Duane Hanson, David Hockney, Sigmar Polke and other art-world luminaries. Through October 28 at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 West Dale Street, Colorado Springs, 1-719-634-5581.

Fang Lijun: Heads. China is definitely on the ascendancy internationally. Not only does the teeming economic powerhouse produce all the junk that can be found in a suburban Wal-Mart, but it's also turning out important artists who have taken the contemporary scene in the U.S. and Europe by storm. Adam Lerner, director of the Lab in Belmar, the infant museum and think tank in Lakewood, likes to follow every trend, and so he asked Tom Whitten to curate a show dedicated to Chinese contemporary artist Fang Lijun. Fang, who is best known as a painter, is represented by a monumental multi-panel painting, but the tour de force is an installation of tiny sculpted heads — 15,000 of them! The simplified heads have been cast in bronze and covered in gold leaf and mounted on thin steel rods. The relatively heavy bronze placed on top of the flexible steel causes the pieces to sway in the air currents produced when visitors walk through. There are also life-sized heads depicting figures from China's current cultural boom. Through August 26, Laboratory of Art and Ideas in Belmar, 404 South Upham Street, Lakewood, 303-934-1777. Reviewed August 9.

The Illusionist, et al. The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art is presenting four shows for its summer season. In the main space are two solos that function as a duet. On one side is The Illusionist, made up of figurative paintings by Lani Irwin that are enigmatic and have a tight and stilted quality; on the other side are the paintings in Inscrutable Intent, by Alan Feltus, which are also figurative. Irwin and Feltus live together in Italy, and their paintings have something of a scuola romana flavor. Town and Country is a Mary Ehrin installation on display in the back gallery. Ehrin conjures up a dreamy and luxurious boudoir using found furniture, paint and notions like fringe. Ehrin, best known for her conceptual feather paintings of a few years ago, has in the last couple of years turned to creating environments with a feminine feel. Upstairs, Denver photo artist David Zimmer is being treated to a ten-year retrospective of his quirky work in Ether. Zimmer is a master of combining antique-looking equipment with high-tech elements, like the glass domes over DVD screens. Through September 1 at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th Street, Boulder, 303-443-2122.

Landscapes of Colorado. Ann Daley, a curator at the Denver Art Museum, has been at the forefront of the divide between old-fashioned and newfangled in terms of Western art. In spring of 2006, Daley was contacted by Fresco Fine Art Publications and asked to select artists for inclusion in a book about Colorado landscape art. The book led to a major two-part show, Landscapes of Colorado, that includes the same roster of artists but with different pieces than those that were published. The ball was then passed, and the resulting exhibit was jointly organized by the Center for Visual Art and Robischon Gallery. The sweeping show includes way more than a hundred pieces by Daniel Sprick, Chuck Forsman, Don Stinson, Tracy and Sushe Felix, David Sharpe, Eric Paddock and many others. In addition, there's Natural Order, featuring Karen Kitchel's recent paintings, and a special memorial section dedicated to Jim Colbert, both at Robischon. Through August 25 at the Center for Visual Art, 1734 Wazee Street, 303-294-5207; through September 1 at Robischon Gallery, 1740 Wazee Street, 303-298-7788. Reviewed August 16.

Masters in Clay. Among the specialty niches that Sandra Phillips Gallery on Santa Fe Drive has found is Colorado ceramics. For several years now, the gallery has showcased contemporary pieces by some of the best clay artists around, but with this show, Carson has gone a step further. In addition to young talents, the gallery has added works by some acknowledged masters in the field. Paul Soldner, for example, is represented by pieces loaned by the American Ceramics Museum in California. Soldner was a protegé of Peter Voulkos and, like his mentor, a pioneer in abstract-expressionist ceramics. Soldner, now in his eighties, spent decades working in a studio in Basalt during the summers. Other key Colorado ceramicists featured here include the great Maynard Tischler and the remarkable Martha Daniels. Tischler does a variety of original forms, including sculptural vessels, while Daniels specializes in brightly colored abstracted figures. Filling out the roster are pieces by other noted Colorado artists including Carroll Hansen, Julie McNair, Amy Chavez, Bebe Alexander and Katie Caron. Though October 6 at Sandra Phillips Gallery, 744 Santa Fe Drive, 573-5969.