Art Attack: More Month of Video, John Fielder's Photos, and Art and Music From Visible Planets

This weekend promises to be hot, and that's true for art events around town, too. Some of John Fielder’s Colorado Collection, now under the stewardship of History Colorado, will be shared with the public at a new show; Month of Video gets fast and furious with receptions and talks; and art and music mix in a gallery show opening at Bitfactory that will morph into a hip-hop concert at Herman’s next month.

Be in the know — learn more below:
Month of Video: Wire Taps
The Storeroom, 2119 East 17th Avenue
Artist Reception: Thursday, July 20, 6 to 9 p.m.
The Denver Month of Video exhibition Wire Taps is free to view from the sidewalk 24/7 at the Storeroom window gallery through July 31, but you can view the multi-channel installation and meet the artist, Phillip Stearns, at this reception. Maybe you’ll also learn more about Signal Culture, the artist residency that recently moved to Colorado. Stearns created the works on view as one of its residents.

Taste of Mexico Pop-Up Art Gallery
1417 Larimer Street, Larimer Square
Thursday, July 20, and Friday, July 21, 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, July 22, noon to 9 p.m., and Sunday, July 23, noon to 5 p.m.
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 20, 5 to 9 p.m.; RSVP at Eventbrite
While folks are wandering Larimer Square celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the Denver Sister City relationship with Cuernavaca, Mexico, and savoring Taste of Mexico events, art-seekers can step out of the crowd and view the Taste of Mexico Pop-Up Art Gallery, presented by the Magpie Arts Collection. Curated by Moe Gram, the show spotlights local artists Cal Duran, Victor Escobedo and Diego Flores-Arroyo, with a spread of works inspired by shared lore and roots in a price range of $50 to $500. On Saturday, time your visit to meet the artists and catch a panel discussion facilitated by mural artist Karma Leigh from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Annual Supporting Members Show
Spark Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive
Thursday, July 20, through August 13
Artists’ Reception:  Saturday, July 22, noon to 5 p.m.
Last Look: Sunday, August 13, 1 to 4 p.m.
Spark attracts a good number of supporting members, who each receive a spot on the wall during an annual group exhibition for a one-time annual fee. Twenty artists are eligible for this show, promising new faces and a wide variety of styles and mediums to peruse.
Month of Video: Reception/Curator Talk: ActionHere/BeingThere
Understudy, 890 C 14th Street
Reception/Curator Talk with Quinn Dukes, Friday, July 21, 6 to 9 p.m.
Hear from Quinn Dukes, the Brooklyn-based multimedia performance artist and activist who curated Understudy’s MOV show, ActionHere/BeingThere. An advocate for performance-based art, Dukes is sought after internationally as a performer, curator and a voice of the multimedia avant-garde, ensuring that the video work running at Understudy is state-of-the-art: political, intersectional, engaged and visually fascinating.
Visible Planets Art Show
Bitfactory Gallery, 851 Santa Fe Drive
Friday, July 21, through August 10
Opening Reception: Friday, July 21, 6 to 9 p.m.
Artists’ Reception/First Friday: Friday, August 4
Visible Planets Concert: Saturday, August 5, 8 p.m. to midnight, Herman’s Hideaway, 1578 South Broadway; tickets $35 in advance here, or $40 at the door
Denver artist Dan Drossman came to Bitfactory’s Bill Thomason pitching a brainstorm: He wanted to bring Visible Planets, a collection of hip-hop rappers who also made art, to the gallery for an art show. But that’s not all. Drossman also hoped he could find a stage where they might perform, and from there, it all came together, with help from his New York acquaintance, Angel Del Villar II, aka the MC Homeboy Sandman, and friends. The exhibition begins this weekend, with work by Sandman, Aesop Rock (who earned a BFA from the School for the Arts at Boston University), Deca, Blu, Quelle Chris, Kid Acne and Isaac Sawyer. They’ll be in town for the official reception on August 4 and on August 5, when they’ll all perform at Herman’s Hideaway, with the exception of Aesop Rock. It’s a dream come true for Drossman; perhaps it can be the same for you.
Joy Redstone and Bev Ruiz, Radiance
Sync Gallery, 931 Santa Fe Drive
Friday, July 21, through August 13
Opening Reception: Friday, July 21, 6 to 9 p.m.
Joy Redstone and Bev Ruiz riff on the theme of radiance at Sync Gallery, with Redstone turning over a new leaf to show photography, while Ruiz’s joyful abstract paintings are meant to radiate her inner glow.
REVEALED: John Fielder’s Favorite Place
History Colorado Center, 1200 Broadway
Opening Reception: Friday, July 21, 5 to 7 p.m.
Opens to the public on July 22
In January, renowned Colorado photographer John Fielder turned over the stewardship of more than 6,000 works from the last fifty years focused on the varied landscapes of our beautiful state to History Colorado. Of course, now that they’ve been digitized and properly catalogued, a special selection of the images is being put on display for REVEALED: John Fielder’s Favorite Place, a breathtaking exhibition centered around the artist’s most beloved secret Colorado setting. Will you recognize it?
Collective Misnomer: Making Taste 4
Buntport Theater, 717 Lipan Street
Saturday, July 22, 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Collective Misnomer, an on-and-off ongoing experimental video art screening series overseen by Adán De La Garza and Jenna Maurice, the organizers of Denver Month of Video, gets its own screening slot during MOV. For Making Taste 4, they’ve rounded up video work that they liked but that never seemed to fit into a theme they were presenting at Collective Misnomer events. This eclectic and funny docket sticks to animation.
Ted Larsen Book Signing
Robischon Gallery, 1740 Wazee Street
Saturday, July 22, 3 to 5 p.m.
Robischon Gallery artist Ted Larsen, whose work is currently on view at the venue, is releasing Ted Larsen: Works 2007-2023, a hefty monograph sporting 75 colored plates depicting his minimal sculptures made using salvaged and other alternative materials. An essay by critic David Pagel adds to its weight, metaphorically speaking. The $60 tome will be available to purchase at the event; to pre-order a copy, contact [email protected], or call 303-298-7788.

Astral Provisions
Artist Proof Collective: 760 Umatilla Street
Saturday, July 22, 2 to 10 p.m.
The print shop Artist Proof Collective is throwing an in-house art show and party with food trucks, vendors and live screen printing to introduce the business to the public. The art promises to be cool and cosmic.
Reimagining the Ordinary: Through the Eyes of Paul Rousso
Clayton Lane Fine Arts, 120 Clayton Lane
Saturday, July 22, 6:30 to 9 p.m.
Paul Rousso rumples and collages plasticized found paper and other materials — money, advertisements, food packaging, newspapers, acrylic sheets, polystyrene and magazine pages — in a style he calls “Flat Depth.” The result is shiny, luxuriously rumpled and as pop as it gets. Clayton Lane Fine Arts will now represent Rousso in Denver and is hosting an opening to introduce his work to our little town.

Del Harrow, Nori Pao, Martha Russo and Bobby Silverman, NSEW (North, South, East, West)
Patton-Malott Gallery, Anderson Ranch, 5263 Owl Creek Road, Snowmass Village
Tuesday, July 25, through September 8
Opening Reception: Tuesday, July 25, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.; free, RSVP here.
It’s summer, and if you find yourself near Snowmass Village, drop in at the Anderson Ranch Art Center to see NSEW (North, South, East, West), an exhibition by four ceramic artists — Del Harrow, Nori Pao, Martha Russo and Bobby Silverman — each working with clay or porcelain in his or her own singular direction.

Chant Cooperative, ritual
Town Hall Collaborative, Santa Fe Drive
Tuesday, July 25, through August 18
Opening Reception: Tuesday, July 25, 5 to 9 p.m.
In ritual, the eleven-member gestalt-like Chant Cooperative explores life’s rites and traditions and how they gather us together, through the lens of magick as an instrument of benevolent transformation. The artwork hangs through mid-August, but at the opening, DJ Montez, 4Digit, Brotherhood of Machines and others will drive the idea home in thematic performances. You really have to be there to feel it.
Month of Video: Traverse Curatorial Talk
Union Hall Gallery, The Coloradan, 1750 Wewatta Street, Suite 144
Wednesday, July 26, 6 to 7 p.m.
Union Hall curator Esther Hz, who curated Santiago Echeverry, Chrissy Espinoza, Annette Isham and MOV co-founder Jenna Maurice into the MOV video exhibition Traverse, will share her ideas about the show, including how each artist fits the thematic mold of going on a journey and communing with the passing landscape. A Q&A will follow the talk.