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It’s a banner week for art in Denver, headlined by the September 18 opening of Marilyn Minter: Pretty/Dirty at MCA Denver. But there’s so much more — layers and layers of it — as galleries and local artists celebrate image and process with challenging installations and variations of mixed media. Here’s a sampler of what’s going on — and up — this weekend.
Stratum: New Works by Naomi Scheck and Peter Yumi
Helikon Gallery & Studios
September 18 through October 17
Opening reception: 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, September 18
At Helikon, Denver artists Naomi Scheck and Peter Yumi juxtapose individual bodies of densely layered mixed-media work. While Scheck’s are contemplative, Yumi’s are explosive. His installations of large-scale, confetti-scattered rectangular collage paintings are inspired by Brazil’s working-class samba culture and the music of Bezerra da Silva who, Yumi explains in his statement, “sings about the Brazilian anti-hero the Malandro…a recurring figure in Brazilian culture, an anti-hero who lives by his wits, on the edge of the law. I use the Malandro in my work to explore many of the same issues that Bezerra da Silva sings about in his songs: his struggles with poverty and recording samba music (art) with limited means (handheld tape recorders).” Also on view: Works by Justin Ankenbauer.
Regina V. Benson: Water Marks
Ray Tomasso: Memories of an Ancient Sea
Ice Cube Gallery
Through October 10
Opening reception: 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, September 18
Regina Benson and Ray Tomasso share the spacious galleries at Ice Cube for what will be one of the last exhibitions to grace that co-op space, since artists are being pushed out by rising rents. Benson, who set Ice Cube on fire last fall with an installation of flame-evoking fabric panels, now turns to the subject of water, creating a new installation around a textile-based centerpiece of floating jellyfish. Yes, wow. Tomasso also references the ocean in large-scale cast-paper works.
Jennifer Pettus: Second Acts
Dania Pettus: Chemigrams and a Printer
Edge Gallery
September 18 through October 4
Opening reception: 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, September 18
Jennifer Pettus tells new stories by bringing together a collection of both fresh and previously-shown fiber-based works, while Dania Pettus explores the possibilities of the chemigram: a cameraless photographic image created by painting on light-sensitive paper in the darkroom. In Pettus’s case, she then scans and prints the final images.
Carbon: Group Art Show
Sally Centigrade Art Gallery
September 18 through November 14
Opening reception: 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, September 18
Sally Centrigrade has fun this fall with artists both local and global, each of whom decorated the same base — a small-scale wooden diamond shape — with pop, surreal and street imagery. Meet some of the artists at the reception; also on view are prints by Eric Joyner, Camilla d’Errico and Tara McPherson, among others.
Solace: New Works By Amber Cobb
Gildar Gallery
September 19 through October 24
Opening reception: 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday, September 19
Amber Cobb gets a solo at Gildar Gallery that’s designed to show how far the artist has come from casting mattresses in concrete, already a formidable process in itself. In Cobb’s visual realm, things are getting rubbery, gooey and more grotesque — and we can’t wait to see more.
Want more? See the Westword events listings for current gallery and art museum exhibitions and openings in the metro area.
