See also: Now Showing -- artists Viviane Le Courtois and Charlie Boots
Mark SinkIt seems like photographer Mark Sink, who long ago hung out with Andy Warhol at the Factory, knows everyone in our local fine-arts circles, but he crosses lines without a thought, hobnobbing with the town's art mavens as easily as he actively supports young artists and galleries in garages. Sink is a galvanizer who never finds an idea too big to chase down: Denver's massive Month of Photography, which he organizes every other year, is a case in point. And let's not forget his work -- lately, gorgeous collodion wet-plate prints in the early analog tradition -- which is just simply beautiful.
What do you think of recent developments in your field, and the current scene?
I am excited with the growth of the Month of Photography.
The pendulum is swinging back, with interest coming back in analog photography. Kids born in 1990, at the end of analog photography, are now adults and are returning to it. Schools that tore out darkrooms in the 1990s are now putting them back in.
The iPhone used as a professional art-making tool. iPhone used as a professional photojournalist tool. The increasing development of ultra-sensitive camera chips. It is changing the way a photographer uses light.
What could be done to improve the scene?
We desperately need a large photography and new-media exhibition center. More art media. More critical review. More money for fine-art education and practice in public schools.
Who/what has inspired you most in your career?
I am a left-handed dyslectic, so I was always behind and slow, So I am grateful to the rare teachers who saw something in me that others did not. They saved my life.
Who/what will you be watching for this arts season?
I am always interested in the young new curators and galleries. Gildar, GroundSwell, Blackbook, Leon, The Station.
Visit Mark Sink's website for more information.
Continue reading for our interview with Kristen Sink.
Kristen Hatgi SinkKristen Sink is both Mark Sink's partner and a photographer of stature on her own, creating beautiful staged images of flower-and-gauze-strewn ladies, creative window displays, children's portraits and more.
What do you think of recent developments in your field, and the current scene?
I think right now is a really exciting time for Denver. We have new artisan coffee shops like Black Eye and Crema, where I find my self constantly meeting and bumping into artist friends. I love the can-do attitude here and sense of real camaraderie. If people have ideas, they just do it. Our friend Taylor Boylston just started an art gallery in her garage. The first opening was such a wonderful success. My friend Brandy, who has started Fig and Yarrow out of a small apartment, is selling her artisan handmade products to every continent in the world aside from Antarctica. She just got a production space. Yay! There are so many examples of people doing really amazing things here. I am so excited to see what happens. I think the world is starting to take notice of Denver.
I am also excited for the new generation of ten-year-olds shooting tons of pictures and posting them to Instagram, and a pinning a whole giant world of art and design to Pinterest. They will have taken a thousand times more pictures, and been exposed to so many more images by the time they go to college, than any adults now.
What could be done to improve the scene?
I like the idea of more critical review.
Who/what has inspired you most in your career?
My husband, Mark Sink, inspires me every day. His Big Picture and Month of Photography are both such wonderful examples of community, art and spotlights for Denver. He has so many ideas all the time; sometimes I borrow the ideas he does not have time for. I think sometimes it's hard to make art, and even harder to make good art. I think very few people make great art, and the people who do, I can only assume think about and make art every day. So I get really inspired by people who are creating all the time.
Who/what will you be watching for this arts season?
I like how artists Laura Shill, Adam Milner and David Zimmer are making 2-D and 3-D photo multimedia works come together in one space. I like the idea of being a photographer, sculptor, designer, painter and cook to create a whole world of art.
See more of Kristen Hatgi Sink's work online.
Come back to Show and Tell tomorrow for our interviews with art museum director Adam Lerner and gallery director Adam Gildar.
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