Up from the Underground

A mixed bag of local artists fall into the “underground” category these days — some are lowbrow; some are graffiti or tattoo artists; still others have found a way straddle the low- and highbrow worlds. But many of them have one thing in common: They got a leg up in the art community by showing affordable work at Indyink, the South Broadway screen-printing emporium and gallery that’s celebrating its tenth anniversary tonight with a retrospective show.

“It’s been a great launch pad,” says artist Max Kauffman, who’s been curating shows for Indyink and invited a few dozen more of the venue’s closest friends to participate in this one. “It was the first place I went to in Denver where I had the courage to ask about a show. I feel like it’s been instrumental in helping me, at least. It’s like a nexus point for a specific niche of arts community in Denver.”

Stop by Indyink, 84 South Broadway, tonight between 7 p.m. and midnight, and you can see (and buy) work by practically everyone who’s ever shown there over the past ten years; you can also pick up $10 T-shirts. And if you slip next door to Gildar Gallery, you can catch The Reptilian Brain in Autumn, a solo show by Kauffman (who will soon step down from his Indyink curating role), during a simultaneous reception. For more information, visit www.indyink.com or call 720-937-9722.

Here’s to the next ten years!

Sat., Aug. 18, 7 p.m.-midnight, 2012