Art never sleeps. This weekend in Denver galleries, welcome a couple of new curatorial experiments, an anniversary show, an artistic travelogue and even a highbrow arts-and-crafts workshop. Keep reading and check ’em out.
Tony Ortega: Fotos de Habana Vieja
Dayton Memorial Library, Regis University, 3333 Regis Boulevard, D-20
Through February 28
Opening Reception: Wednesday, February 14, 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Fireplace Lounge
Denver artist Tony Ortega is best known for his colorful paintings, drawings and prints depicting scenes from everyday Latino life or commenting on the Latino-American culture clash. But Ortega’s current show at Regis University, where he teaches, focuses on photography and, specifically, on beautiful shots taken during his visit last spring to Havana, Cuba, which capture the city’s retro imagery and modern people.
SYNChronocity and Blue
Sync Gallery, 931 Santa Fe Drive
February 15 through March 10
Opening Reception: Friday, February 16, 6 to 9 p.m.
Sync goes two ways at its February opening by showcasing members and non-members in a pair of new exhibits: SYNChronocity, an opportunity for emerging artists to hang work in an established gallery, juried by painter and K Contemporary gallerist Doug Kacena, and Blue, a member show that’s all about the title hue. Together they comprise a whole lot of art, as well as some of that peaceful, bluish feeling.
SupaStore Human Custom Sunglasses Workshop
Dikeou Pop-Up, 312 East Colfax Avenue
Thursday, February 15, 6 to 8 p.m.
SupaStore Human, Sarah Staton’s temporary Denver retail installation offering artist-generated works at the Dikeou Pop-Up space, continues through February. But halfway through the month, you can participate in a hands-on custom sunglasses workshop inspired by the artist-made shades on the shelves. The two-hour make-and-take is free, and materials, including a pair of sunglasses, will be provided. Visit Dikeou’s website for details.
Sarah Bowling and Mario Zoots: Point of Friction
Dateline, 3004 Larimer Street
February 16 through March 31
Opening Reception: Friday, February 16, 6 to 11 p.m.
Dateline celebrates its fourth anniversary with the powerhouse duo of Sarah Bowling and Mario Zoots, both working on the mixed-message characteristics of human friction, which in its many guises can turn up the direction of a relationship — or burn it up. Bowling juxtaposes unlike materials in sculptures blending the industrial and the voluptuous, while Zoots explores the underworld of personal darkness in canvases spray-painted black and shot with moments of lightness. Come celebrate how lucky we are to still have a gallery like Dateline in Denver.
Chromatic
Alto Gallery, 4345 West 41st Avenue
February 16 through March 17
Opening Reception: Friday, February 16, 6 to 10 p.m.
Denver artists and longtime friends Andrew Hoffman and Max Kauffman have formed a curation team of two that they call Shorts, in the hope that they can “bring art to you as comfortable as you might put on a pair of shorts. Nice and cozy.” Chromatic, a group show of works rendered in singular or reduced palettes, is the first of what they hope will be an ongoing nomadic series of exhibits. There will be live music and refreshments at the reception.
Brian Cavanaugh: Small Change
Vinnie Alfonso: Domestic Beasts
Pirate: Contemporary Art, 7130 West 16th Avenue, Lakewood
February 16 through March 4
Opening Reception: Friday, February 16, 6 to 10 p.m.
Pirate gives space this week to Brian Cavanaugh, whose Small Change installation repurposes common objects into a year’s worth of fantastical kinetic sculptures in the main gallery, and Vinni Alfonso, who delves into the primal versus the domesticated in human nature in the associates' space with Domestic Beasts. If you miss the opening, there will be a second reception on First Friday on March.
Sad Magic | Daniel Granitto
Collective SML | k, 430 Santa Fe Drive
February 16 through March 30
Opening Reception: Friday, February 16, 6 to 10 p.m.
Denver art incubator Odessa, the ongoing project of arts boosters Corianne Wells and Kristopher Michael Wright, kicks off a new yearlong curatorial series, a first for the team, with Sad Magic | New Works by Daniel Granitto at artist Sammy Lee’s Collective SML | k, at the lower end of the Art District on Santa Fe. Granitto paints hazy, color-rich landscapes, sometimes with human figures lost in the grand outdoors. Odessa will mount six shows in all at the space throughout 2018.
See Westword’s calendar listings for more art events and openings.