John Fudge, “Step Up to Big Pay," part of Spark Gallery's 40th Anniversary Show, Part One.
John Fudge
Spark Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive
Thursday, July 25, 7 to 9 p.m.
Free, RSVP encouraged at eventbrite.com
Artist co-ops have had a foothold in Denver for decades, as proven by the remarkable forty-year run of Spark Gallery, which is being celebrated this summer with a two-part gallery retrospective of past and present members. It’s the perfect setting for a discussion of where local co-ops have been and where they might be headed. Certainly, we’ve seen upheaval in the ranks in recent years, with several co-ops uprooted from the city because of rising rents, and this distinguished panel of critics and co-op veterans — Mark Brasuell, Mary Chandler, Andy Libertone, Margaret Neumann, Westword’s Michael Paglia, Kat Payge, Phillip Potter and moderator Sally Elliott — is going to have a lot to say.
Mechanical Voids
PlatteForum, 2400 Curtis Street
July 25 through September 7
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 25, 6 to 8 p.m.
Artist Jessica Forrestal transforms walls into complex, site-specific black-and-white schematics that navigate our pathways through the literal stuff of life: mass-produced products that in turn feed consumer culture and threaten the environment. See what happened when Forrestal teamed up with ArtLab youth interns at PlatteForum to take over the gallery walls. Mechanical Voids will also present a different side of mural painting during RiNo’s Crush Walls in September.
Megan Phillips and Emma Benschop, Lucid Dream
Doublespace, 144 West 12th Avenue
July 26 through August 6
Opening Reception: Friday, July 26, 6 to 9 p.m.
Doublespace’s pop-up series continues with an exhibition of ceramic works by Emma Benschop and Megan Phillips, in a mix of whimsicality and functionality. The space itself, the studio and gallery of ceramic artist Steven James Jackson Meyers and architectural designer Keenan Mehrens, is more or less the same: utilitarian and full of surprises. If you’re hanging in the Golden Triangle for Final Friday, drop on by.
Georgia Open Call Show
Georgia Art Space, 952 Mariposa Street
Opening Reception: Friday, July 26, 6 to 9 p.m.
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 1 to 5 p.m., through August 25, or by appointment
Georgia’s first open-call exhibition looks great on paper, and juror George P. Perez has selected a stellar spread of seventeen artists to transform Sommer Browning’s utilitarian gallery. It just goes to show that, these days, it’s an advantage to show your work in someone’s garage. See what’s up from an up-and-coming mix of creatives.
Bridges: Art Bridging Culture and Divide
Eldorado Springs Art Center, 8 Chesebro Way, Eldorado Springs
Friday, July 26, 6 to 10 p.m.
$13 at eventbrite.com
Bridges is a ticketed event and a group show, pairing work bridging cultures from regional and international artists with food-truck grub, live music by Native American hip-hoppers Po.10.Cee (Potency) from Taos and DJ Mr. Gettdowne in the lovely cliff-bound setting of Eldorado Springs. The party will be worth it, and the cost of admission goes to a good cause.
Robert Green, Looking for Water
Suzy Savoy, Beyond
Pirate: Contemporary Art, 7130 West 16th Avenue, Lakewood
July 26 through August 11
Opening Reception: Friday, July 26, 6 to 10 p.m.
Pirate pairs Robert Green, who will debut an installation of sculpture and photography, and artist alter-ego Suzy Savoy, whose three-dimensional wall works follow the path of human decay after death. Pirate always promises a good time!
Messages From the Galactic Flare
Underground Music Showcase, Odyssey Stage, Import Mechanics, 235 Broadway
Saturday, July 27, 1 p.m.
If you happen to be cruising UMS on Saturday, you’ll have a chance to see another side of PlatteForum’s mission during a one-hour performance by ArtLab interns on the music fest’s Odyssey Stage. Messages From the Galactic Flare encourages students to step outside themselves in a once-in-a-lifetime performance about the limitations of sex education, facilitated by PlatteForum’s Esther Hernandez and Amanda Flores. Stepping in to help are Steven Frost, Louis Trujillo, James Mullane, Elyssa Lewis and Rachel Mathews — and there will be drag.
Guy Martin, The Parallel State
Pattern Denver, 855 Wyandot Street
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 27, 7 to10 p.m.
How British photographer Guy Martin’s series The Parallel State, a study of the soap opera and film industry in Turkey, segued into a laser-directed, not-quite-real look at contemporary Turkey in general, might be a convoluted story, but the results are riveting. Martin brings a show and a daylong July 28 seminar — "Fact, Fiction and Metaphor: Contemporary Visual Storytelling" — to Pattern Denver; for workshop details, visit patterndenver.com.
Open Studio Tours and Art Sale/Garage Sale
Processus, 955 24th Street
Saturday, July 27, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday, August 2, 6 to 10 p.m.
Processus invites folks to have a peek at the member-driven studio/workplace, tempered by a sale of sculpture, etchings and photography by its founders, Viviane Le Courtois and Christopher R. Perez. The artist couple themselves will add a fascinating veneer to your visit, and there might be cookies. All art sales benefit Processus, and the event will repeat on August's First Friday in RiNo. Learn more about Processus online.
Dorothy DePaulo and Heidi Snyder, Nature: Up Close & Personal
Valkarie Gallery, 445 South Saulsbury Street, Lakewood
Through August 18
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 27, 5 to 8:30 p.m.
Nature, delicately drawn in colored pencil, is the subject of works by Dorothy DePaulo and Heidi Snyder, who offer close-range views of flora and fauna, rendered with a naturalist’s eye for detail.
Interested in having your event appear in this calendar? Send the details to [email protected]. For more events this weekend, find details in this week’s 21 Best Things to Do in Denver.
