Gallery Sketches: Four New shows in Denver and Boulder for January 8-10

It’s a new year, and time to celebrate new work: From fresh reinterpretations of classic schools of art to tattoo imagery and a hands-on way to celebrate modern environmentalism, there’s plenty to choose from in 2016.
Tear, Cut & Paste: The Art of Collage
Art Gym Denver
Through February 14, 2016
Artist Talks: 3 to 5 p.m. January 16, January 23 and February 6
If you haven’t been to the Art Gym, this new show is reason renough to drop by and see the studio facility/cafe, which offers workspace, tools, gallery space and a commissary kitchen for hire to member artists and artisans alike. Through mid-February, the Gym is hosting a tasty group collage show, featuring works that stretch the medium by Lili Francuz, Michael Gadlin, Cynthia Joye, Sandra Kaplan, Suchitra Mattai, Janice McDonald and Peter Yumi. Hear from Kaplan, McDonald and Mattai on selected Friday afternoons during the run of the exhibit.

Joey Cocciardi: The Sunday Painter 
Gildar Gallery
January 9 through February 20
Opening reception: 6 p.m. Saturday, January 9
Gildar Gallery welcomes New York artist Joey Cocciardi for The Sunday Painter, a documentation of performative works in the Colorado wilderness. To create the images, Cocciardi re-envisioned the nineteenth-century plein air process of American Hudson River School landscape painters by strapping a crate and canvas to his body as he hiked through the woods, then setting up his easel in just the right spot. See the result at Gildar through February 20.

Joel Long, Neurowave Maze
madelife
2000 21st Street, Boulder
January 9 through February 28
Opening reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, January 9
Boulder tattoo artist Joel Long, who’s known for his full-body tattoo works (or “suits”) inspired by traditional Japanese body imagery, renders his fantastic visions of tigers and eagles in watercolor to scrolls and paper surfaces for Neurowave Maze. Catch Long’s intersection of body decoration and fine art through the end of February at madelife.

Indra’s Net, a community art collaboration
Ironton Gallery
Noon to 6 p.m. Sunday, January 10
Ironton’s last hurrah as a gallery is more of a community performance than a formal show: Hosted by Ironton co-founder and partner Debra Goldman and environmental activist Paddy McClelland, Indra’s Net is an invitation to the public to participate in the creation of a weaving formed from recycled scraps of clothing and fabric provided by the participants — meaning you — to symbolize the importance of embracing environmental initiatives as a community. The finished piece, resembling a fishing net, will be donated to Wall of Women, a Colorado-based anti-fracking organization, which will place the net in locations around the state. Participants of all ages and genders are welcome to join in throughout the afternoon, and refreshments will be served. Adios, Ironton!

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