In just two years, Ice Cube Gallery (3320 Walnut Street, 303-292-1822, www.icecubegallery.com) has become one of the top co-ops in the city, owing to both its impressive facility and its high-quality offerings. Currently on display are two solos showcasing a pair of co-op members.
On the north side of the main exhibition room is Theresa Anderson: Private Listening Devices, made up of a series of interconnected installations. For her show, Anderson has combined a handful of her signature representational paintings and a raft of preparatory studies, along with torn magazine pages, thrift-shop lamps, beat-up chairs, an old television set, kitschy knickknacks and other materials. Taken together, they have an insane, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink feel. For Anderson, these vignettes are meant to express her creative process, and she likens them to "period rooms" that are meant to document her interests. Also included is a series of digital images that are stills from a video of a performance in front of a sports facility near Parker, but the video itself is not part of the show.
In the southern half of the gallery is Jennifer Jeannelle: Receptive, made up of an enormous multi-part bas-relief (detail pictured) and a series of studies for it. The pieces are constructed from large individual panels covered with wax that has been embedded with computer components and with thousands of extruded horn shapes in clay applied to the surfaces. The clay elements are arranged in circular shapes that suggest plants and flowers. Some are finished in light colors while others are done in dark tones, which Jeannelle says represent growth and decay, respectively. One subtle aspect of the piece are the strings that connect some of the panels. This combination of images conflates science and nature. Jeannelle has been doing monumental work of this type for several years — this one measures over thirty feet long — and it would look great in a large public space; eventually, she hopes to place it in one.
Both shows close on June 18.
