Art Attack: Fourteen Ways to See Great Art in Denver This Weekend

It’s another major weekend for art in Denver, with big shows opening at Union Hall, the Center for Visual Art and History Colorado, as well as an overflow of new co-op exhibitions. There are also some major post-quarantine revivals, including The Yard in Colorado Springs, that have come back to life with new interactive work.

Here's what's going on:

Hello, Goodbye
Pop-Up Gallery Hours: Through Sunday, July 30 through August 1, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily
Space Annex, 95 South Cherokee Street
Mai Wyn Schantz, disheartened by the pandemic and the separate hardships of her roles as an artist and mother, closed her gallery, Mai Wyn Fine Art, in March 2020. During her time as a gallery owner, Schantz pulled together an excellent and diverse bunch of house artists, mounting exciting and creative exhibitions for seven great years. Mai Wyn Fine Art isn’t coming back, but a showcase of new work by sixteen of those artists (including Schantz) has popped up at the Space Annex for a last hurrah. Catch this while you can.
They Rage, Matter Is Minimum
Through August 28
Union Hall Denver, The Coloradan, 1750 Wewatta Street, Suite 144
RSVP for timed-entry reservations online, under “Current Exhibition”
Coming off the spectacular event of MaryV’s Loving You, a personal documentation of queer transgender life, Union Hall dives back into body politics and feminism in BIPOC and nonbinary communities with Matter Is Minimum, an examination of anger inspired by Audre Lorde and her 1981 speech “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism” and other women working in a similar vein. The interdisciplinary project of facilitator Shammai Mading and photographer Summer Taylor, who collectively call themselves They Rage, Matter Is Minimum collects photos and audio of BIPOC women and nonbinary people in Denver talking anger from personal perspectives. Events scheduled during the run include a panel discussion and a poetry showcase in August; learn more online.
Take Two Member Show
Steven Morrell, Embrace, in Gallery East
D’art Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive
Through August 22
D’art celebrates its second anniversary with a big, diverse member show of works by seventeen artists, old and new. What does it take for a young co-op to survive in Denver’s constantly changing neighborhoods? Take a look at D’art for some clues.
Armor
Hexus Collective, Magick Hospital, in the 965 Gallery
Center for Visual Art MSUD, 965 Santa Fe Drive
Through October 16
Metro State University’s Center for Visual Art steels itself for a new school year rife with the challenges of returning to IRL learning after two semesters conducted mostly on Zoom. The show Armor focuses on the physical, spiritual and metaphorical attributes of body armor and other protective objects. Nine artists — including Coloradans Sammy Seung-min Lee, Jaime Molina, Jennifer Pettus, the team of Frankie Toan and Steven Frost, and Ravi Zupa, as well as Erika Diamond of North Carolina, Merritt Johnson of Alaska and Skylar Jackson of Illinois — provide personal takes on the meaning of protection.

Armando Geneyro, Brick and Soul
History Colorado Center, 1200 Broadway
Through July 30, 2022
A huge puzzle piece in the exploration of History Colorado’s Building Denver exhibit opened this week: photographer Armando Geneyro’s Brick and Soul, a gritty, loving portrait of Denver barrio life documenting everything from lowriders and car culture to dancing (and protesting!) in the streets from the perspective of someone who lives what he photographs. Brick and Soul remains on view for a year on the museum’s fourth-floor mezzanine.
Su Kaiden Cho, Numinous performances
Understudy, 890 C 14th Street
Saturday, July 31, 3 and 5 p.m.
As Su Kaiden Cho’s show and performance Numinous draws to an end at Understudy, you have one more chance to see the artist vacuum-seal himself in a vinyl bag hanging from the ceiling. Do not try this at home.
Mike Graves
Art Can, 2500 Larimer Street
Fridays and Saturdays, Through August 10, 4 to 9 p.m.
The Ramble Hotel in LoDo has resurrected its portable shipping-container street gallery Art Can at 25th and Larimer streets, which kicks off with a show by Denver muralist Mike Graves. There are regular hours on Friday and Saturday evenings, but artists can opt to set their own schedules of times when you can catch them at work in the Can. If you’re on the prowl during regular hours, there’s an extra perk: You can also order a canned cocktail and such treats as miso butterscotch popcorn, spiced nuts and mini drunken cookies from Death & Co’s walk-up window on 25th street.

Julie Jablonski, We Were Here
Leah Fernandez, Sublimation
Ginny Campbell, Transition, in the Treasure Chest
Pirate: Contemporary Art, 7130 East 16th Avenue, Lakewood
Through August 15
Pirate showcases a collection of small works celebrating the diary of life revealed in everyday objects by member Julie Jablonski, the strange portraits of associate Leah Fernandez and Treasure Chest guest Ginny Campbell.
John Horner: Plague Series
Sarah Tenney: Harbinger
Alexandra Lorrae: It Comes at Night
Sue Crosby Doyle: Re-Entry
Edge Gallery, Art Hub, 6851 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood
Through August 15
Pandemic comebacks and other personal stories are told in this four-artist bonanza: Jack Horner’s Plague Series, subtitled “61 Abstractions in a Time of Pandemic"; Sarah Tenney’s Harbinger, a series considering the artist’s family history; Alexandra Lorrae’s It Comes at Night, documenting a nighttime Pandora’s box of personal anxieties; and Sue Crosby Doyle’s visual sentences created during the past year for an online class.
Chris Hudson, Ambiguously Defined
Danid Karim, Perception, Inspiration, Beauty
Core New Art Space, Art Hub, 6851 West Colfax Avenue, Lakewood
Through August 15
New at Core, beginning Friday: Chris Hudson plays with negative space and abstraction, while Danid Karim honors the beauty of nature, people and still life with representational works.
Louis Recchia, New Works
Foolproof Contemporary Art, 3240 Larimer Street
Through August 29
Denver favorite Louis Recchia cleans his slate and installs all-new works at Foolproof to kick off August.
July Fifth Friday Art Show
Gallerski Studio, 3639 York Street
Saturday, July 31, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
$1, RSVP in advance at Eventbrite
Longtime artist and arts booster Eric Matelski pulls some oldies, including paintings of musicians created live during concerts, out of storage and into his house and garage galleries for a two-day run that culminates on Satursay, July 31. Also on the walls: cityscapes, TV-themed work and urban scenery. And don’t forget to hang out in the garden for chatting and snacking.
AK Westerman and Chris Hoehle, Of Which We Are Made
Valkarie Gallery, 445 South Saulsbury Street, Lakewood
Through August 22
Opening Reception: Saturday, July 31, 5 to 8:30 p.m.
Painter AK Westerman and wood-turner Chris Hoehle team up for a shared showing of dreamy fantasies and sculptural wood wall pieces at Valkarie. As usual, there are side shows, such as guest-artist exhibitions by Dorothy DePaulo and Leo Franco, which both end Sunday, and ongoing member works on view through the end of August.
Annette Isham, Venus: A Space to Hold
The Yard, 1010 North Logan Avenue, Colorado Springs
Begins August 1
Opening Reception and Screening: Friday, August 6, 7 to 10 p.m.
The Yard, the Colorado Springs front-yard gallery run by artists Jessica Langley and Ben Kinsley, is hitting the gas again on live events with the introduction of a couple of video-based works. The first, Denver artist Annette Isham’s interactive video installation Venus: A Space to Hold, which begins its run on August 1, requires use of the Popwalk augmented-reality app for viewing as you navigate through the yard. Dates for video screenings will be announced via email and social media. Follow the Yard's Instagram for updates, or contact the organizers through IG to be added to the mailing list.

Interested in having your event appear in this calendar? Send the details to [email protected].