Gallery Sketches: Four New Shows in Denver April 8-10

Rising stars and established mentors in the regional arts world will be on display this weekend at local galleries, and if you’re into tattoos — and who isn’t? — there’s a show for that, too.
Theresa Anderson and Dayana Ruiz: Plus Two
Dateline Gallery and Phillip J. Steele Gallery
April 8 through 29
Opening and Performance: 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 8
Teacher/mentor Theresa Anderson and new Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design grad Dayana Ruiz will prove that you can be in two places at once at a joint April 8 opening-night performance happening simultaneously at Dateline in RiNo and RMCAD’s Philip J. Steele Gallery in Lakewood. On top of a physical exhibit of work inspired by quantum mechanics by both artists, the performance aspects will collide in space as they are cross-projected from one gallery to the other. "What drew the piece into performance art was the relationship between quantum entanglement and human interactions and communication, seeing how two people interpret the same information with and without pre-existing knowledge brings into questions how particles behave,” says Ruiz of the collaboration. The performance portion will begin at 6 p.m. tonight.
Nexus
Abend Gallery
April 8 through May 7
Opening reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 8
The crossover from tattoo art to fine art powers the new exhibit Nexus at Abend, which blends work inspired by tattoo art from both directions — by artists picking up on social and visual trends and tattooists picking up paintbrushes to reinterpret the imagery they create on their natural canvas of human skin. Co-curated with crossover artist David Gluck, a master of the genre, the show runs through May 7.

Jaime Molina: Superstitio
Right to Roam: Franky & Annie Scaglione
45th Annual Jefferson Foundation High School Art Exhibition
Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities
April 8 through May 8
Opening reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, April 8
The Arvada Center salutes the Jeffco schools with a trio of month-long exhibits honoring work by art students, teachers and one special alum, much-in-demand muralist and fine artist Jaime Molina, who created a site-specific mural for the show. Molina, whose first gallery exhibit as a Bear Creek High School student was at the Arvada Center, and Jeffco instructors Franky and Annie Scaglione will return for an artist talk at 11 a.m. Saturday, April 23.
Denizen IV and Stuff on Walls
Helikon Gallery
April 9 through May 19
Opening reception: 6 to 10 p.m. Saturday, April 9
Oodles of artists will have work on the walls at Helikon in two shows — Helikon’s annual Denizen exhibit showcasing the studio/gallery venue’s numerous residents and Stuff on Walls, a pop-up exhibit by emerging local artists, curated by SoW founder Curtis Tucker — opening simultaneously on April 9. Get in on the ground floor of the careers of more than 25 rising artists and see what’s happening at this group art-fest.

Want more? See the Westword event listings for current gallery and art museum exhibitions and openings in the metro area.