Space Cadets

Alternative spaces often feature the work of emerging artists, and that, of course, means their offerings are a mixed bag, and most often, the shows aren’t very good. But Spark, the oldest of the city’s artist-cooperatives is different with most of its members being artists with decades-long careers under their...

By Michael Paglia

July 24, 2008

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Alternative spaces often feature the work of emerging artists, and that, of course, means their offerings are a mixed bag, and most often, the shows aren’t very good. But Spark, the oldest of the city’s artist-cooperatives is different with most of its members being artists with decades-long careers under their belts. No surprise then to find two well-known artists unveiling their shows tonight.

The first is Madeline Dodge, who’s a painter. A decade ago, she was interested in doing figural abstracts, juggling a variety of recognizable images in her pieces. But in recent years, she’s been doing minimalist color field works on steel, sometimes flat sheets, and at other times panels that have been crimped into more elaborate shapes.

Dodge is joined by Roland Bernier, who’s been painting since the 1960s and who is one of the few artists in town to have ever been given a solo at the Denver Art Museum. In his early work, Bernier did abstracts that incorporated the letters of the alphabet but during the last ten years, he’s dropped the abstraction and let the letters, now strung together into words, take over. A good example of his latest work is “Tin”, which is pictured.

The atmosphere of the show, despite the venerable position of the artists involved, is relaxed and informal and as with all the co-ops, everyone is always welcome to come.

The reception takes place from 6 to 9 p.m. at Spark, 900 Santa Fe Drive. Call 720-889-2000 or visit www.sparkgallery.com.
July 24-Aug. 17, 2008

Michael Paglia is an art historian and writer whose columns have appeared in Westword since 1995; his essays on the visual arts have also been published in national periodicals including Art News, Architecture, Art Ltd., Modernism, Art & Auction and Sculpture Magazine. He taught art history at the University of Colorado Denver.

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