Art Attack: Fourteen New Shows for the Last First Friday of 2020

What's up in galleries during the last First Friday of the year, in the thick of the holiday season? Just what you'd think: art, in all its sizes and varieties, for sale. Small-works shows and affordable art galore, not to mention a few shows that you view from outdoors, but where you can still purchase works that catch your eye, like that doggie in the window.

Give in to the season of art-to-buy. Here's where to get started, in person and/or online:
Noah Travis Phillips, "Light My Pyre"
LMP PDA, Lane Meyer Projects, 2528 Walnut Street
Through December 14
Noah Travis Phillips presents "Light My Pyre," a grid of visual semiotics that can be interpreted in countless ways, now in the window vitrine at Lane Meyer Projects through mid-December. As always, all works shown in the 24/7 display are for sale, and in this case, the artist will contribute 100 percent of sales to Wildlands Restoration Volunteers.
Lumonics Mind Spa, Light Intersection
Through January 30
In the spirit of the season, Understudy joins the rest of downtown Denver in mounting annual holiday lighting displays with its own burst of neon-bright color, provided by the light sculptures of the Lumonics Mind Spa. Created by the late husband-and-wife team of Mel and Dorothy Tanner, the series of works will be on view, fishbowl-style, through the end of January.
Holiday Art Market
Michael Warren Contemporary, 760 Santa Fe Drive
Through December 24
Whether you are a collector or just shopping for one, Michael Warren Contemporary’s art market, comprising high-profile works selling for $1,000 or less (and much of it under $500), is a great place to start looking this holiday season. The gallery is open daily, right up to Christmas Eve.
The BAAaaa Show: In & Around Boulder
Museum of Boulder, 2205 Broadway, Boulder
December 3 through February 1
Virtual Reception TBA
Members of the Boulder Art Association played a word game with the organization’s acronym — BAA — as the muse for The BAAaaa Show: In & Around Boulder at the Museum of Boulder. Each participant was invited to create two works for the exhibition: one depicting sheep and, for good measure, another inspired by the sights and pleasures of Boulder itself — hence the second half of the title. Check back for news of a December virtual reception, or just come visit, masked and ready.
Tilt West Journal: Art and Community
Volume Two Release, December 3
Denver cultural roundtable Tilt West is dropping the second volume of its companion journal, this one focusing on the theme of “Art and Community” through the eyes of creative people giving back in the metro area. There are two ways to enjoy the publication: digitally, at journal.tiltwest.org, on or after the publication date of December 3, or as a print edition, $30 (includes shipping and tax, order online here).
Biennial Student Show: Emerging Vision
Colorado Photographic Arts Center, 1070 Bannock Street
Through January 2
Virtual Opening Reception via Zoom: Friday, December 4, 5:30 p.m., register online in advance
CPAC honors up-and-coming photographers from across the nation in an exhibition curated by Nate Larson, Chair of Photography at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. New ideas and photographic media get kicked around in this exciting display, along with political, conceptual and documentary themes.
Little Contemporary: Small Works, From Big Artists
Circa Building, 1615 Platte Street
December 4 through January 29
Pop-up art windows are the rage, or at least one of the ways galleries and artists are getting around the hurdles of live art-viewing in the age of COVID. Here’s another to add to your list: Little Contemporary, curated by Brett Matarazzo, places small works by more than twenty Denver artists in the windows of the Circa Building, at the foot of the Highland Bridge on Platte Street, where the art can be accessed any time, day or night.

Josh Blue,The Zoom Call
Judith Grey, What we see
Heather Bartunek in the Treasure Chest
Pirate: Contemporary Art, 7130 West 16th Avenue, Lakewood
December 4 through December 20
Not only is Josh Blue a nationally known comic who cracks wise about everything (including living with cerebral palsy and the stereotyping of people with disabilities), but also an artist. Blue is guesting at Pirate’s last show of 2020, sharing the space with associate member/installationist Judith Grey and, in the Treasure Chest, painter Heather Bartunek.

Small Wonders
Edge Gallery Virtual Member Show
Edge will be closed throughout December, but its Small Wonders holiday show will be up online at a link to be shared December 4, where you’ll be able to buy directly from co-op artists. Don’t worry: Edge will be back with a spankin’ new invitational show, The Presence of Water, on January 1!
Michelle Lamb, Metalmorphosis
Claudia Roulier, After Midnight
Works by Susie Biehl
Rochelle Dammel, Into Nature, in the Annex
Core New Art Space, Art Hub, 6851 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood
December 4 through December 20
Artist Reception: Friday, December 11, 6 to 9 p.m.
Closing Reception: Friday, December 18, 6 to 9 p.m.
For its last show of the year, Core bundles three fun member shows by artists known for their work with found objects, painting and other media, with a display by landscape painter Rochelle Dammel, who is renting out the Annex space. If you’re not out and about, hit Core’s virtual member show store for last-minute shopping.
Bibelot 2020
Kanon Collective, Art Hub, 6851 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood
December 4 through January 2
Opening Reception: Friday, December 4, 6 to 9 p.m.
Bibelot, a French word meaning a small object of curiosity, beauty or rarity, perfectly describes the annual Bibelot small-works show mounted by Kanon Collective. The holiday-ready kitchen-sink selection of artworks no more than twelve inches wide is huge and affordable for the holidays, and opens on First Friday at the Art Hub in Lakewood, where some neighboring galleries are following the trend of holiday-season small-works shows. For the record, the show was juried by moi.

Small Works Exhibition
40 West Gallery, 1560 Teller Street, Lakewood
December 4 through December 19
Opening Reception: Friday, December 4, 6 to 9 p.m.
Along with other galleries in the 40 West ’hood, 40 West Gallery is going with small works for the holidays; every piece is a foot square or smaller, frame or mounting included. See it in person or virtually.
Dan Drossman, Silent Things
Garage at Bitfactory, 851 Santa Fe Drive
Friday, December 4, 6 to 9 p.m.
Saturday, December 5, noon to 4 p.m.
Artist Dan Drossman, fresh from New York City, draws inspiration from his own battle with chronic pain, resulting in a mixture of abstract, graffiti and cartooning in various media, including painting, drawing and collage.
Thirtieth Annual Holiday Miniatures Show
Abend Gallery, 1261 Delaware Street
December 5 through January 9
Show goes live online at 10 a.m. Saturday, December 5, or visit by appointment only at 303-355-0950
Abend brings back the annual Holiday Miniatures Show on a virtual platform, and it's a show stuffed full of tiny representational art pieces priced for gift-giving. Dozens of artists who work with the gallery are participating in the exhibition’s thirtieth year, contributing mini landscapes, still lifes, portraits, animal imagery and more. Sweets for the sweet.

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