Ann Hamilton and Jae Ko et al. For Ann Hamilton: Selected Works, the initial enfilade of spaces at Robischon Gallery is taken over by works on paper by this noted conceptualist. The first group is from her "visite" series, the name of which is taken from the term "carte de visite," a nineteenth-century calling card featuring albumen-print portraits. Hamilton has appropriated these, joining them to prints that also have pieces of cloth adhered using the chine-collé technique. There's a calligraphic character to the circles at the top center of each. Circles are even more important to Hamilton's "ciliary" works, which have a circular shape and also involve the joining of cloth to paper. In the next set of spaces is Jae Ko: Force of Nature, a showcase of works by this well-known Korean-American artist, who uses rolls of paper, inks and glues as her materials. The show includes three phases of the artist's work, with the title piece being the showstopper. In the back space is a group show that includes the work of Linda Fleming, Derrick Velasquez, Ted Larsen and Judy Pfaff, an early mentor of Hamilton's. Through January 3 at Robischon Gallery, 1740 Wazee Street, 303-298-7788, robischongallery.com. Reviewed December 4.
Blurred Lines. The Sandra Phillips Gallery is a cozy space, making it a challenge to put on a group show, especially one made up of artists who work in large formats. But that's exactly what's on tap there now with Blurred Lines, which brings together large abstract paintings by three separate artists — Ania Gola-Kumor, Sandra Kaplan and Barbara Groh. Broadly speaking, these artists have at least one commonality: Each creates paintings that are expressively done and non-objective in subject matter. But the similarities end there, which might explain the vagueness of the show's title. First up is Gola-Kumor, represented by her signature taste for bold colors and her characteristic all-over compositions. Then there's Kaplan, who creates work inspired by outer space (previewed this past year at the Fulginiti Pavilion) in which vaporous fields are overlaid by skeins of lines done in a muted palette of black and gray. Finally, there are Groh's paintings, in which dense grounds of saturated color are the predominating feature — at times the only feature. Through December 31 at Sandra Phillips Gallery, 420 West 12th Avenue, 303-573-5969, thesandraphillipsgallery.
Jill Hadley Hooper.Jill Hadley Hooper: Interiors includes a series of large paintings depicting domestic objects such as furniture. The subjects were inspired by Hooper's childhood home in southeast Denver, where her widowed mother lived until recently. The paintings themselves are both elegant and somber, each focused on a single piece of furniture. In "Nature Morte, 2," a depiction of a table with ghostly images of plates covering the top, there's the sense that we're looking at Hooper's memories of past events. Talk about ghostly: How about "White Chair," an armchair draped in a sheet, or "Eclipse," a wall mirror reflecting nothing? The paintings have a distinctive look,which is the product of Hooper's interesting method. She begins by cutting either cardboard or Styrofoam into the shapes that she wants and covers one side of the cut-out with oil-based inks, then transfers the inked shape to the panel, in the manner of a contact print. These shapes are often unique to their place in the composition, though in some the same shape is used over and over. Through December 30 at Goodwin Fine Art, 1255 Delaware Street, 303-573-1255, goodwinfineart.com. Reviewed December 11.
Judy Chicago. Curator Simon Zalkind and exhibition designer Ben Griswold have put together Surveying Judy Chicago: 1970-2014 as the closing act in a year-long program at RedLine dedicated to celebrating the accomplishments of women artists. Chicago burst onto the radar of American art back in the 1970s when she coordinated an acknowledged masterpiece, "The Dinner Party." This piece was meant to recast the history of women and, at the same time, bend the course of contemporary art in a new direction — and it did. "The Dinner Party" isn't included at RedLine, but there are a number of pieces related to it — notably, an impressive set of 39 presentation drawings laying out the full iconography of all the final plates. There are also a few of the test plates in porcelain, decorated with china paint. The central space at RedLine is dominated by these works, and it's undeniably the high point of this or any Chicago survey. Thus, even in its absence, "The Dinner Party" is the centerpiece of the exhibit. The show also includes a couple of later mural-sized works that are worth noting. Through December 27 at RedLine, 2350 Arapahoe Street, 303-296-4448, redlineart.org. Reviewed December 4.
