New Beginning Before

Ray Young Chu became something of a legend around town a few years ago when he occupied the streets with fun and graffiti generated by the Yummies, a furry-costumed bunch who rapped and made murals at art events at such hot spots of yore as the Fabric Lab and Capsule...

December 29, 2011

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Ray Young Chu became something of a legend around town a few years ago when he occupied the streets with fun and graffiti generated by the Yummies, a furry-costumed bunch who rapped and made murals at art events at such hot spots of yore as the Fabric Lab and Capsule Gallery. But then he went off to find fame and fortune in California, sold some T-shirt designs to Urban Outfitters and alternated between alternative and underground graphic-arts careers. Chu grew up tagging in the streets with Denver graphics whiz Josh Wills of Super Ordinary Gallery, though, and he still has plenty of friends in town. So, when Josh and Tran Wills asked him to mount a show at their Super Ordinary garage venue, it quickly turned into a retrospective, with old and new works, as well as photographs and memorabilia of his good times in Denver.

That show, Beginning Before, a kind of diary of work and past history, opened December 3. "I'm not trying to say that my life is so interesting; instead, I want to tell an interesting story about how I went from high school to working at Rocky Flats," Chu explains. "I think it's a fun and funny story. This is my journey: I don't want to make any statement about it, just show where I'm at now, and how it started in Denver." In addition to a series of works arranged by period, Chu will have some old Yummies items for sale (and you never know, maybe a Yummie or two in the house)at the closing reception on December 30.

The show hangs through January 3 at Super Ordinary, 3126 Larimer Street; for information or appointments visit www.wearesuperordinary.com.
Dec. 3-Jan. 3, 2011

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