Galleries: Fall Shows and Events at Havu, RedLine, Pattern Shop and Leon

Kick-start your Labor Day weekend and roll into September with visits to Denver galleries on First Friday and throughout the month. Here’s a peep at what’s new this weekend.
Emilio Lobato and Virgil Ortiz: Evolution
William Havu Gallery
Through October 8
First Friday reception: 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, September 2
Emilio Lobato and Virgil Ortiz show side-by-side — and in collaborative works — in this season opener at William Havu Gallery, blending Lobato’s mixed media and monotypes and a new batch of Ortiz’s clay sculptures. New Mexican painter Jeff Kahm is featured on the mezzanine.
Transforming Milk Into Milk
RedLine
September 2 through 25
Opening reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, September 2
RedLine offers one-stop variety for a happening on First Friday, beginning with a reception for Transforming Milk Into Milk, a national group show of contemporary works that take transformative leaps, curated by Derrick Velasquez  At the same time, the Black Cube Nomadic Museum enters the fray with Chad Person: Blow Up, an outdoor retrospective of the artist’s wry inflatables. And for good measure, departing RedLine resident George Perez will be shooting long-exposure photographs of volunteer subjects live as a way of saying “thanks and so long.” It’s a perfect end to summer at a Denver cultural treasure. Party on.
Pattern Makers
Pattern Shop Studio
September 2 through October 21
Opening reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, September 2
The venerable Pattern Shop Studio, an early pioneer in what’s now become the RiNo Arts District, celebrates its 25th anniversary with a play on words and delight for the eyes. Pattern Makers features patterned paintings and ceramic works by five Colorado artists — Susan Blake, Marty Jaquis, Jerry Johnson, Jonathan Kaplan and Annalee Schorr — in reference to the building’s past as an industrial pattern shop.
Creating Crumbling Cosmos: A Retrospective Screening of Films by Evan Mann
Leon Gallery
7 p.m. Friday, September 2
Leon fetes former RedLine resident Evan Mann with a free, one-night screening of works in experimental video. Mann’s many artistic disciplines converge in the shorts, many of which have been awarded in international arenas. Take a trip with Mann through pure-white vistas and natural backdrops; the show lasts about an hour, and Mann will answer questions after the curtains drop.

Want more? See the Westword event listings for current gallery and art museum exhibitions and openings in the metro area.