Seven Art Shows to See in Denver This Weekend

New shows this week explore aspects of Indigenous and Chicano cultures and identity, artworks rejected because of controversial subject matter, and the ongoing battle between women and misogynists. Still others are just meant to entertain you.

Here are seven to see:

Dana Claxton, Headdress
East Window Patio Gallery, 4550 Broadway, Boulder (outdoors on west side of building)
Viewable 24/7 through April 26 (lights on from 10 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily)
Artist Dana Claxton, a member of the Wood Mountain Lakota First Nations in Saskatchewan, excavates the significance of Indigenous handwork as a powerful symbol of identity for Headdress, a series of photographic portraits now on view in East Window’s Patio Gallery. The photos depict five women, including Claxton, adorned in exquisite beadwork from personal and inter-tribal collections to make bold cultural statements. East Window’s Patio Gallery can be viewed at any time — no appointment necessary — though the lights go out at 11:30 p.m. nightly.

Code-X: Contemporary Chicanx Codices
Vicki Myhren Gallery, 2121 East Asbury Avenue, University of Denver Campus
January 9 through February 23
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 9, 5 to 7 p.m.
The University of Denver’s Vicki Myhren Gallery joins the recent regional trend of Chicano art exhibitions to start the year with Code-X: Contemporary Chicanx Codices, a show that focuses on the modernization of the Codex, a cultural map of Mesoamerican symbology that was largely destroyed by Spanish invaders, as interpreted by sixteen Chicanx artists. Curated by Rafael Fajardo, a professor of Emergent Digital Practices at DU, the collection of analog and digital paintings, prints, comic books, zines and video games spans centuries in telling the updated story of Mestizo culture.
Icons for a New West
Gallery 1261, 1261 Delaware Street
January 9 through January 28
Opening Reception: Thursday, January 9, 6 to 8 p.m.
Gallery 1261 puts its representational curation to work on themes of the American West just in time for the arrival of the 119th National Western Stock Show this week. Curated by regional art consultant/writer Rose Fredrick, Icons for a New West zones in on contemporary portrayals of the West, loaded up by a deep stable of artists who update the lore with paintings extolling the landscape, wildlife, modern cowboys at work and other modern twists.
Dis/Embodied Power
Stephanie Spindler, RAM: Rage Against Misogyny
Pirate: Contemporary Art, 7130 West 16th Avenue, Lakewood
January 10 through January 26
Opening Reception: Friday, January 10, 6 to 10 p.m.
Pirate gets edgy with two in-your-face political shows opening this week. Dis/Embodied Power, a group exhibition billed as a “curatorial experiment” by Pirate associate Kimberly Faber, showcases thirty works by seven noteworthy artists who’ve experienced rejections by galleries due to controversial subject matter. Nineteen of the thirty have never been shown in public; six more are making their Denver debut. What doesn’t make the cut in the art world at large? As an example, Danielle SeeWalker’s mixed-media work "G Is for Genocide” caused her removal from Vail’s Art in Public Places program just last May. You might be surprised, but what’s proper or improper for viewing all boils down to one’s point of view, as this show clearly demonstrates. Meanwhile, Stephanie Spindler’s RAM: Rage Against Misogyny is first and foremost an installation where Spindler critiques social and cultural stereotypes under the guise of an activist character, M’Powers. Beyond the opening, Spindler will be at Pirate to activate and/or discuss the work during gallery hours on Saturdays and Sundays, January 12 through 26.
D’art 360: Marc McClish, Chromascapes
D’art Gallery West: Natalie Brey, Drought Resistant
D’art Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive
January 10 through January 26
Opening Reception: Friday, January 10, 6 to 9 p.m.
Two Friday-night receptions introduce new shows at D’art Gallery: Chromascapes, a series of large-format, limited-edition, long-exposure landscapes — reduced to a sandwich of horizon lines in pure, contrasting colors — by photographer Marc McClish in the D’art 360 space, and Drought Resistant, earthy landscape paintings in oils and cold wax by Natalie Brey in D’art Gallery West.
Inception: Educators Showcase
Firehouse Art Center, 667 4th Avenue, Longmont
January 10 through January 26
Opening Reception: Friday, January 10, 6 to 8 p.m.
Thirteen teaching artists hope to lure new students with Inception, a showcase of their own work as an example of the variety of disciplines they have to offer as educators. That ranges widely, and classes comprise the arts of sewing, animation, ceramics, paper-making, drawing, printmaking and more. See the show first, then consider the possibilities and sign up here.
John Aaron, Hiding in Plein Sight
East Simpson Coffee Co., 201 East Simpson Street, Lafayette
Through February 15
Opening Reception: Friday, January 10, 5 to 7 p.m.
Story Be Told Imagination Workshops: Wednesdays, through February 12, 3 to 5 p.m.; $50 per session
 An artist-on-the-street-corner and aficionado of Boulder’s architectural heritage, John Aaron has his own quirky style of artistry, drawing landmark homes, creating place-oriented coloring books like Color Me Boulder, sculpted ceramic plates, dog and cat portraits, posters with a psychedelic edge — and whatever else crosses his mind. A variety of Aaron’s artwork is on view now at the East Simpson Coffee Co. in Lafayette, where, in addition to Friday’s reception, the artist is hosting a series of Story Be Told Imagination Workshops throughout the show’s run. Each week, he’ll discuss a different aspect of telling a tale visually.