Hidden Images. On the mezzanine of Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art is Hidden Images, which is dedicated to recent work by major contemporary Czech artist Adéla Matasová. The show is made up of a handful of things, including a group of conceptual installations that reconcile minimalism to movement. Three of the pieces in Hidden Images turn the concept of color-field painting on its head, because Matasová added a kinetic feature that gives the works changing surfaces and, therefore, changing imagery. To create them, she stretched silver-colored elastic fabric over large, rectangular frameworks; hidden underneath are mechanical features that push forms out from the back of the fabric, thus creating shifting shadow patterns. The pieces are gorgeous and extremely smart, making the show both captivating and provocative. The mezzanine at the MCA is ordinarily used for overflow from downstairs shows instead of as a separate exhibition venue, as it is for Hidden Images -- and clearly the latter is a better use for it. Through May 9 at Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art, 1275 19th Street, 303-298-7554. Reviewed March 11.
IGOR MOUKHIN. Camera Obscura Gallery is presenting an impressive solo, IGOR MOUKHIN: Contemporary Russian Photography, which examines the work of one of the former Soviet Union's most famous contemporary photographers. Moukhin gained prominence in the 1980s as part of a generation of underground artists who emerged in Moscow during the final years of Soviet rule. One series, started at that time, recorded crumbling Soviet monuments, while another comprised portraits of Russian artists, including those who fled to the West. There's no question, however, that the photographer's candid street shots, done both in his home town and in Paris, are what established his international reputation. The show at Camera Obscura includes many of his most famous images, including several of those street photos. Interestingly, this offering is one of two Moukhin exhibits being presented locally; the other is at the Hatton Gallery on the Colorado State University campus, where Moukhin is a visiting artist this term. Through May 2 at Camera Obscura Gallery, 1309 Bannock Street, 303-623-4059.
Kinetic Sculpture and Robot Show. For the fourth year in a row, Andenken Gallery has had young Denver sculptor Joe Riché organize a show that highlights the relationship between art and machines. Just like the previous three outings, this year's version is called the Kinetic Sculpture and Robot Show. Riché is the ideal choice for such an undertaking, not only because he's one of the city's top kinetic artists, but also because he's one of the original ringleaders of the Motoman Project, a mostly male troupe of performance artists who build sculptures only to blow them up, among other things. Riché included his own work in the show, as well as the work of another Motoman founder, Zach Smith. In past years, Riché limited the artists invited to his immediate circle of friends, but this time he's done some outreach, in the process snagging Robert Mangold, the dean of Colorado sculptors. Mangold is represented by one of his "PTTSAAES" sculptures, which, though not technically kinetic, does imply movement. The show opens on Friday, April 2, with a reception from 6 to 10 p.m. Through May 1 at Andenken Gallery, 2110 Market Street, 303-292-3281.
Malfunction Junction and Silent Sounds. The most talked-about new art spot in Denver is + Zeile/Judish Gallery, and shows such as Malfunction Junction, an installation by Susan Meyer, is only the latest reason why. Meyer, a Denver artist who's been doing installation art for years, addresses the ups and downs of life using the metaphor of a roller coaster. The piece, made specifically for this show, apes the form of a coaster's supporting trestles, using wood and the track bed (though there are no tracks) outlined in lightbulbs. The analogy is pretty simplistic, but Meyer's monumental installation is completely captivating nonetheless. Silent Sounds is an exhibit of mixed-media paintings by Seattle artist Stefan Knorr. These paintings, which are essentially updates on surrealism, are composed of assemblages of found imagery from the popular media. The disparate and broken images are unified by abstract passages of paint. The exhibits run through April 3. + Zeile/Judish Gallery, 2350 Lawrence Street, 303-296-2546. Reviewed March 11.
Over A Billion Served. The main winter exhibit at Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art is by Julie Segraves, executive director of Denver's Asian Art Coordinating Council, who brought together photos by eleven important conceptual artists now working in China. Conceptual photography is new in China, but so is photography itself, with the widespread availability of cameras dating back only to the 1980s. Segraves has divided the show into three parts: "Strangers in the Cities," which examines the effect of social change on the Chinese people; "Power Politics," which looks at the effect of the Chinese Communist Party; and "The McDonaldization of China," which is self-explanatory. This exhibit is absolutely awesome, and the photos in it are so unusual and so good that they will leave a lasting impression on anyone who sees them. Through May 9 at Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art, 1275 19th Street, 303-298-7554. Reviewed February 19.
POLI VESTURE. Susan Goldstein is one of the best experimental fine-art photographers in the region, and her annual solo at the Edge Gallery, POLI VESTURE: Photographic Images From a Catholic Statue Factory, proves it. Poli Vesture was a factory in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, that produced religious statuary from the early 1900s to the mid-1990s, when it folded. While visiting her friend Ellen Seeling in 1990, Goldstein first discovered the place, and she returned repeatedly to photograph it. Seeling died in 2003, and Goldstein has dedicated POLI VESTURE to her. The photos, done in carbon pigment prints by master printer Ron Landucci, are still-life scenes of statues, or pieces of statues, made by Poli Vesture. The found imagery of crucifixes, the Madonna, saints and their heads and hands, have a decidedly ethereal feel, especially since they've been so dramatically lit. Although the POLI VESTURE photos are clearly within Goldstein's well-established style, they're pretty different, too. Through April 18 at Edge Gallery, 3658 Navajo Street, 303-477-7173.
True Grit and Louise Bourgeois. There are two significant shows at the Metro State Center for the Visual Arts, both of which explore the topic of women in the arts. The first is a traveling exhibit, True Grit: Seven Visionaries Before Feminism, which examines the work of a group of modernists who gained prominence in the 1950s and '60s. The seven artists, all of whom are world-famous, are Louise Nevelson, Jay DeFeo, Lee Bonticou, Nancy Grossman, Claire Falkenstein, Nancy Spero and Louise Bourgeois. Though all launched their careers before the rise of feminism, the movement has been very good for their ever-growing reputations; if their names are familiar today, it's because feminists in the art world have championed their work for decades. The second show is Louise Bourgeois: Selections From the Collection of Ginny Williams, a Bourgeois solo organized by CVA director Kathy Andrews. Denver collector Williams has one of the largest Bourgeois collections anywhere, and this is a rare opportunity to see some of it. Through April 24 at the Center for the Visual Arts, 1723 Wazee Street, 303-294-5207.
Vance Kirkland. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the late Vance Kirkland's birth. In honor of the centennial, the Colorado History Museum has mounted a salute to the legendary Colorado artist with the epic title of Vance Kirkland: A Colorado Painter's Life, Early Works and Beyond. Though there are some remarkable early Kirklands in the show, notably a full-sized pencil sketch for a WPA-era mural, the exhibit includes lots more than that. First, there is the work of nearly twenty of Kirkland's friends and colleagues -- among the modern artists in the state from the mid-twentieth century -- and even some contemporary art. Second, interspersed throughout is a design show surveying furniture, pottery and other decorative arts from 1900 to the 1960s. This over-the-top approach can only mean one thing: Hugh Grant, director of the Kirkland Museum, orchestrated it. Grant was a co-curator of the show, and nearly all the art and artifacts in it were selected personally by him and loaned to the CHM from the Kirkland's fabulous collection. Through April 4 at the Colorado History Museum, 1300 Broadway, 303-866-3682. Reviewed December 25, 2003.
Wet Paint. Though this is being billed as a group show, Wet Paint at the William Havu Gallery is actually a combination of three strong and expansive solos. In the front space, and in the nooks and crannies around it, are Jeffrey Keith's recent all-over abstractions that loosely refer to geometric abstraction. In the window space and around the base of the staircase are abstracts that are densely populated with John Himmelfarb's drawn elements, some of them cartoonish. And finally, in the space in the middle and under the mezzanine are Michael Rubin's out-of-this-world neo-abstract-expressionist monochrome paintings. All three artists' paintings are closely related stylistically, but each has a distinctly different approach, so there's no mistaking who's who. Because the three artists live and work in different big cities, with Keith here in Denver, Himmelfarb in Chicago, and Rubin in New York, Wet Paint proves that classic contemporary abstraction is still relevant. Through April 10 at the William Havu Gallery, 1040 Cherokee Street, 303-893-2360. Reviewed March 18.