Ten Things for Art Lovers to See and Do This Weekend in Denver

As galleries slide into the holiday season, look for a Santa’s sleigh full of small works and affordable art shows. There are a few of those this weekend, along with a posthumous review of a Colorado classic’s career, a DIY light-sculpture workshop and other diversions. Up, up and away!

Wonderland
Space Gallery, 400 Santa Fe Drive
November 15 through January 5
Opening Reception: Thursday, November 15, 6 to 8 p.m.
Space Gallery closes out the year with a fine threesome: Karine Léger, who collages balanced shapes into her spare acrylic paintings; airy abstractionist Karen Scharer; and sculptor Jeff Glode Wise, whose works often includes wood and bronze in counterpoint. Drop by on opening night for a look, plus a spread of enticing catered bites.

John Fudge: Double Take
Rule Gallery, 530 Santa Fe Drive
November 16 through December 29
Opening Reception: Friday, November 16, 6 to 9 p.m.
Like Margaret Neumann, whose retrospective What Lies Between is now on display at RedLine, John Fudge emerged as part of the ’60s Boulder art scene that also produced Drop City, Criss Cross and Spark Gallery, Denver’s oldest co-op. Fudge died in 1999, leaving behind a legacy of pop-based and wildly surreal paintings that one could only call out-of-this-world. Rule Gallery, which represents artwork from the estate, has put together a second-look survey of Fudge’s unconventional work from across the years, and it’s bound to be a delightful walk down memory lane. The artist’s wife, Jane Fudge, a critic and former contemporary-art curator at the Denver Art Museum, will be in the house for the opening, which is sure to be a gathering with a little Denver star power.

Laura Moretz, In the Hands of Grace
ATC DEN, 3420 Larimer Street
November 16 through January 31
Opening Reception: Friday, November 16, 7 to 9 p.m.
RSVP at eventbrite.com
Laura Moretz (aka Laura Krudener) will claim the walls of her art and event space ATC Den for In the Hands of Grace, an exhibition of her own work to top off 2018. Moretz says she’s reclaiming her maiden name in homage to her artist/activist grandmother Maude Elizabeth Leonard Moretz, which is reflected in new paintings that marry her paint-pouring action-painting style with new techniques she’s developed painting in large-scale. Accordingly, one of the eighteen works in the show is twelve feet wide. Groove along at the reception with DJ Simonne Says over complimentary beer and wine or an art-inspired cocktail.

Unhiddenartist.com Pop-Up
50 West Second Avenue
Friday and Saturday, November 16 to 17, 6 to 9 p.m.
The artist trio of Jen Starling (Jen Herling), Michelle Carnes and D Mi Tree (Dmitri Valone) is ready to head out on the road as Unhidden Artist, mounting pop-up shows in other cities that include not only their artworks, but those of guest artists living in the host town. They’ll mark their debut with the inaugural Unhiddenartist.com Pop-Up, with Denver artist Peter Yumi guesting. See what surprises the foursome has in store for two nights only, and then it’s on to the next whistle-stop.

Chris Bristow, No Place
Lane Meyer Projects, 2528 Walnut Street
November 16 through December 12
Opening Reception: Friday, November 16, 6 to 9 p.m.
Chris Bristow’s No Place depicts a structural world envisioned only through memories, resulting in a dream tableau of imperfect interiors devoid of life, leading to impossible destinations. Think Alfred E. Neuman’s poiuyt crossed with architectural drawings, and give these paintings a few moments of your time.

Kym Bloom and Elizabeth Mahler Licence, Everything in Between
Kanon Collective, 766 Santa Fe Drive
Through December 2
Artist Reception: Friday, November 16, 5 to 9 p.m.
Kanon Collective is reaching the end of the line in its longtime Santa Fe Drive gallery and will be on the hunt for for a new space, but not before at least a couple of shows. One of them, Everything in Between, opens this weekend, showcasing the work of Kanon owners Kym Bloom, who will be showing her mixed-media photo- transfer images of landmarks from her travels, and Elizabeth Mahler, who weighs in with experimental archival photographic pigment prints. The annual Bibelot small works show will fill out the year in December, but it’s not too soon to start saying goodbye.

Louis Recchia with Koko Bayer, in the main gallery
John Davenport, in the associate space
Pirate Contemporary Art, 7130 West 16th Avenue, Lakewood
November 16 through December 2
Opening Reception, Friday, November 26, 6 to 10 p.m.
Louis Recchia’s trademark colorful scenes always make for a fun and affordable show. This year he’ll share his slot in Pirate’s main gallery with wheat-paster and piñata artist Koko Bayer as his guest. Photographer John Davenport will hold forth with new work in the associate space.

Lumonics School of Light Art Workshops
Lumonics, 800 East 73 Avenue, Unit 11
Four Saturdays, November 17 through December 15 (no class November 24), 9 a.m. to noon or 2 to 5 p.m.
$240, plus $65 materials fee
If you’re a fan of Lumonics, the light-art studio of nonagenarian Dorothy Tanner, now’s your chance to make a glowing sculpture of your own: The Lumonics School of Light Art is open for business, with its next four-session workshop starting November 17 and running through December 5. Classes are limited to four students, so register while you can; if you miss the boat this time, another workshop begins on January 5.

In This Particular Ghost Town: Josh Davy and Zachary Reece
Valkarie Gallery, 445 South Saulsbury Street, Lakewood
Through December 9
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 17, 5 to 10 p.m.
Josh Davy, known best for his nuts-and-bolts robot assemblages, will place them in environments of clay structures and real fossils, in collaboration with Zachary Reece, who adds his pointillistic portraits to In This Particular Ghost Town, a show about the shifting sands of time and place.
Muses of Mount Helikon VI and Tiny Treasures
Helikon Gallery & Studios, 3675 Wynkoop Street
November 17 through December 21
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 17, 6 to 10 p.m.
Helikon surges into the holiday season and its sixth year on the block with the annual Muses show, a national group invitational of works by talented illustrators, and Tiny Treasures, a fun holiday small-works show that translates into pure affordability. Find a miniature gift for your quirky BFF!

Interested in having your event appear in this calendar? Send the details to [email protected]. For more events this weekend, see our 21 Best Things to Do in Denver.