Burning Man Preview at ReelWorks, Breckenridge International Festival of Arts and More

In Denver,  a slow art weekend isn’t really slow at all. The calendar includes a chic pop-up at Rule, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy at BMoCA (say no more), the debut of spacious new digs for the BRDG Project and a Burning Man test run at ReelWorks, and that’s not all.

Find out how weeds can conquer capitalism, where to see cool art in the mountains and so much more:

Jason DeMarte: Tangential
Rule Gallery, 808 Santa Fe Drive
Wednesday, August 9, through August 12
Cocktail Reception: Friday, August 11, 5 to 7 p.m., RSVP at info@rulegallery.com
On its way to Rule Gallery Marfa, Jason DeMarte: Tangential will make a pop-up stopover at Denver’s Rule outpost for a quick preview of his latest work. DeMarte is known for his meticulously posed and photographed vignettes of artificial flora and fauna strewn with candy, Froot Loops and confetti. At first look, these works imitate the romantic nineteenth-century canvases of the Hudson River School painters and their followers, but look closer, and you’ll find pop commentary on ersatz commercial culture.

Lauri Lynnxe Murphy: Entwined
Present Box, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMOCA), 1750 13th Street, Boulder
Thursday, August 10, through September 4
Opening Reception: Thursday, August 10, 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, whose practice often collaborates with nature, expands on her studies of convolvulus arvensis (aka bindweed) – one of the most tenacious weeds in the garden – for the installation Entwined in BMoCA’s Present Box lobby display space. You could say she’s celebrating bindweed’s ability to infiltrate our socially correct manicured lawns protected by chemical pesticides and fertilizers as a metaphor for the power of nature taking back its territory. Murphy will continue to add collected vines and plants to the braided living work that hangs in BMoCA’s gallery windows. 

Preface
BRDG Project, 3300 Tejon Street
Friday, August 11, through August 25
Grand Opening Reception: Friday, August 11, 6 to 10 p.m.
The BRDG Project is back in its own space on Tejon Street in Highland and is ready for its close-up with Preface, a grand-opening group show comprising work by 25 gallery favorites. The 8,000-square-foot space encompasses three gallery spaces, artist studios, a performance/rehearsal space, a stage, classrooms and an art store. Along with art exhibitions, it will host third-Saturday art markets and Friday night open studios.

Jude Barton, A Complex Rest
931 Gallery, 931 Santa Fe Drive
Friday, August 11, through September 10
Opening Reception: Friday, August 11, 5 to 10 p.m.
The 931 Gallery dedicates the walls in both galleries to painter Jude Barton, a member of Denver’s close-knit group of artists who contemporize modernism. Barton’s work celebrates architectural structure and geometric forms, which are the basis of her pleasing compositions.

Breckenridge International Festival of Arts
Friday, August 11, through August 20
Mary Robinson: Open Studio Days
Fridays through Sundays, August 11 through August 19, times vary, Robert Whyte House, 121 South Ridge Street, Breckenridge, free.
Camille Hoffman: Soft Gaze
Friday, August 11, through September 4, Moonstone, Illinois Creek and Iowa Hill trails, Breckenridge.
Artist Talk: Friday, August 11, 11 a.m., Moonstone Trail, free, RSVP here, other details here.
Sharon Louden: Barriers to Entry
Through September 3
Artist Talk: Thursday, August 17, 6 p.m., Old Masonic Hall, 136 South Main Street, Breckenridge, free, RSVP here.
Glowtown: Youth Workshop With Sharon Louden
Saturday, August 19, and Sunday, August 20, 1:30 to 3 p.m., South Branch Library, 103 South Harris Street, Breckenridge, $15 here.
BIFA 2023 will be in full swing this summer, coming alive with music, dance, circus performance and other delights, but we’re here to talk art. Specifically, Camille Hoffman’s Soft Gaze, an installation inspired by Hoffman’s own Visayan Philippine heritage that references the plundering of gold both there and in Colorado. Hoffman draped trees along three trails with reclaimed metals, forming golden eye masks used by the Visayan culture in burial rituals.

Meanwhile, Breck Create artist-in-residence Mary Robinson has been engaging the community in creating Invitation, a site-specific outdoor/indoor installation woven together from repurposed fabric, paper and plastic. Visitors can help during the range of open-studio days during BIFA. And Sharon Louden’s visually fascinating Barriers to Entry has been open all summer; the artist will give a talk and lead a children’s workshop during BIFA.

2023 Sculpture in the Park
Benson Sculpture Garden, 2908 Aspen Drive, Loveland
Patron Party: Friday, August 11, 3 to 8 p.m., 21+, $75 here
39th annual Sculpture in the Park (Public Show and Sale): Saturday, August 12, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, August 13, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., $10 here
Sculpture in the Park returns to Loveland’s Benson Sculpture Garden for another art extravaganza beginning Friday night with a ticketed Patron Party and continuing through the weekend for the general public. More than 2,000 sculptures, from monumental to fireplace-mantel-sized, by 160 local, national and international sculptors will be on display and available for purchase throughout the garden.

Awakening and Spritzerland Art Car Fundraiser
ReelWorks Denver, 1399 35th Street
Saturday, August 12, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Tickets: $20 at Ticketsauce
Whether you’re a Burner yourself or just curious about Black Rock culture, you can help some technologically gifted artists bring their creations to Burning Man 2023. Awakening is a massive, interactive, three-part contraption conceived and fabricated by the local team of Ryan Elmendorf and Nick Geurts. It comprises a pair of steel-framed hands and a giant head that hides a camera obscura experience inside, while the Spritzerland Art Car is designed to handle the desert landscape of the playa while also being cute. Both will be demonstrated amid music and vendor shopping at ReelWorks on Saturday. The $20 entry fee will benefit both causes and get them on the road.

Kristina Davies, Summoned to the Surface
Lab on Santa Fe, 840 Santa Fe Drive
Saturday, August 12, through September 23
Opening Reception: Friday, August 12, 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Live Performance Art Night: Saturday, September 16, 8 to 9:30 p.m., $12-$18 here
Body-conscious abstract and figural painter Kristina Davies takes over the Lab on Santa Fe this weekend with a broad show that blends paintings with sculptural fiber works. Come to the reception this weekend or come for a performance night on September 16, when Davies, JC Maheu and Josh Berkowitz will get risky in an artful way.

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