#31: Gary Isaacs Photographer Gary Isaacs, whose work has appeared in Westword’s pages over the years, qualifies as a Denver legend: Known for his gritty street portraits and ethereal photographic dreamscapes, Isaacs follows his muse down Colfax Avenue and into the dark hearts of local musicians and urban characters. “I’ve…
Month of Photography 2015 powers on this weekend, with new shows opening in Curtis Park and around town. Meanwhile, Denver favorite Ravi Zupa, an old-world master in twenty-first-century skin, will introduce his fifth exhibition at Black Book Gallery. Analog: Alternative Processes and the Evocative Range of Photography Mike Wright Gallery…
#32: Rupert Jenkins Colorado Photographic Arts Center director Rupert Jenkins arrived in Denver from San Francisco in 2005 with an extensive resume in arts administration and curatorship, bringing an international flair to the respected Denver photography gallery and classroom. But Jenkins didn’t simply settle in at CPAC: He envisions a…
Book it! This week’s literary events include looks at both the best and worst of the natural world, as well as another book filled with beautiful photographs showing how micro-loans can change the lives of the poorest of the poor. The Wilderness Act at 50: A Celebration of Colorado Wilderness…
Photographs are our journal of life, manipulated through a myriad of personal lenses and rendered by technology and technique. They capture moments and unfold fantastical vignettes, retell history, bring us to tears and leave us breathless with beauty. That’s why we have a Month of Photography — to celebrate artists…
#33: Stan Yan Denver native Stan Yan started out a stockbroker and ended up a cartoonist. Self-taught as an artist, he not only found his calling in the pages of comic books but helped to found the Squid Works comics cooperative, a community of artists with similar goals. More recently,…
#34: Conor King Conor King is a photographer, first and foremost, but he’s so much more than that: He’s also part of the structure that keeps Colorado’s photography community developing, with his work at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center and previously at RedLine, where he served as an artist resident…
Get ready to focus on photography: Month of Photography 2015 is developing right now, with its biennial onslaught of spring shows. Here are three MoP exhibitions to get you started. 1) Donna Rae Altieri, 50 Years in Your Face Ironton Studios & Gallery February 27 through April 4 Opening reception:…
#35: Nathan Hall Composer Nathan Hall is a sonic explorer; more than notes on page, his works encompass multidisciplinary leaps over miles of experiential ideas and human stories, spanning the musical gap between the traditional and the boldly new. His works have been performed by groups as diverse as the…
Winter got you down? There’s no better escape from reality than a big song-and-dance musical that will keep you humming well after the last bows. Here are three new musicals to keep your weekend sunny, despite of all that new snow on the ground. Big Fish: The Musical Aurora Fox…
#36: Zach Reini Like many of Denver’s young artists, Zach Reini isn’t confined to a single discipline or medium — the former RedLine resident and 2012 graduate of Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design also swings with Denver’s DIY underground and is making things happen at Leisure, a new studio…
Nostalgic mixed-drink enthusiasts found shelter from the storm — and lots of festive balloons — on Saturday night at the Fire and Ice Prom, a Prom Dress Exchange fundraiser hosted by the Ladies United for the Preservation of Endangered Cocktails in the swanky surroundings of Syntax Physic Opera. Here’s a…
Artopia 2015 curator and Guerilla Garden street artist Jolt will be walking the floor tomorrow night at City Hall, surveying the fruits of his hard work because, he says, it’s his job: “I will be enjoying it all from the standpoint of being a curator, moving throughout the show and…
Being Eric Dallimore isn’t an easy job. The Westword MasterMind earned his award in 2014 for doing double-duty as a thoughtful installationist using natural and found materials in his work and a gallerist at Leon, a gallery that not only mounts well-curated art exhibitions but also hosts intimate concerts, art…
Artopia curator Jolt of Guerilla Garden is bringing a whole posse of local street artists to City Hall for Artopia 2015 on Saturday, February 21, where they’ll transform the venue with a show of art in action. But at least one of those artists — photographer, arts booster and Denver…
When Westword’s first 100 Colorado Creatives series came to an end last February, it was a little like losing a very artsy best friend. And there were still so many unsung creative types doing great things around this state that we decided to start on a second round of Q&As…
As an arts journalist in the town I call home, I hear a lot from local artists — some of them sharing their thoughts through their art, some of them on social media, some at events around town. And my questions in the ongoing 100 Colorado Creatives blog series always…
Last week three Denver artists were each surprised to be gifted with a yellow packet of fresh twenty-dollar bills — $500 in all — that were delivered with a handful of candy and a big message. Their tardy Santa Claus is the anonymous Yes Ma’am Projects, which each year awards…
#37: Molly Bounds Young Denver artist Molly Bounds, aka Moldy Bong, straddles the worlds of DIY homemade comix and fine art, making deadpan and unironic drawings that work just as well splashed in colors across a wall in a mural as they do carefully inked in black and white for…
Bike enthusiasts gathered Sunday at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds to take a spin through aisles of fancy wheels and cycling accessories at the Colorado Custom and Vintage Bicycle Expo and Swap Meet, looking for new rides and old gold. Brandon Marshall was there; keep reading for his photos of the…
Paint the town read! This week’s literary picks include two offbeat books about history and a supreme foodie memoir introduced over a five-course wine dinner. Keep reading for the delicious details. Joel Christian Gill, Strange Fruit, Volume I: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History Tattered Cover LoDo 7 p.m. Wednesday, February 18…
This week’s openings include recent work from Colorado legend Clark Richert and a former student, an emerging artist solo in a living room, and a curatorial takeover at David B. Smith Gallery. You don’t have to wait until First Friday to see new art; keep reading for the details. Matthew…
