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Best Environmental Show

Kevin O'Connell

Natural resources are a major concern in the West. Water in particular can be scarce, and its actual and implied absence was the theme of Kevin O'Connell: Memories of Water. One of the region's most notable contemporary photographers, O'Connell is best known for his moody and often tiny photos of the plains, but in this show, he displayed monumental color photos pointing out that the plains were once a sea bottom. Thus, as dry as they are now, they still carry with them the memory of the water in the evenness of their topography. O'Connell's lens goes spontaneously to the horizon, just as it would if he were at sea. Despite the implicit political content of O'Connell's photos, they are mostly striking for their elegant minimalism.

Best Solo by an International Art Star

1959

Courtesy Clyfford Still Museum Facebook page

The late abstract expressionist Clyfford Still was an irascible character — even going so far as to formally announce in 1951 that he was withdrawing from the art world. And he mostly did just that, refusing to exhibit his paintings for the rest of his life. A rare exception was the solo he put together himself for the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, in 1959. Interestingly, Still included both his full-blown abstracts and his earlier surrealist compositions in that show. Since the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver owns nearly everything that was in that initial show, it made sense for museum director Dean Sobel to re-create it, and that's what he did with 1959: The Albright-Knox Art Gallery Exhibition Recreated. It was spectacular, conveying what Still was thinking when he was at the height of his powers.

Best Solo by a Regional Art Star

Raymond Jonson

Taos and Santa Fe were very cosmopolitan places from an art standpoint in the 1920s and '30s, and many of the artists who lived there or visited were well aware of recent developments in vanguard art overseas — developments such as abstraction. One of these artists, Raymond Jonson, went on to become one of the most significant abstractionists in the West. This fact was showcased in Raymond Jonson at Z Art Department, a densely installed show that focused on his later work; it was chock-full of colorful treasures, most of them revealing Jonson's commitment to hard-edged forms assembled into constructivist compositions. Z has highlighted a number of early modernists in the West, including Colorado's Herbert Bayer. The Jonson paintings have a definite relationship to Bayer's, which is no surprise, as they were working at the same time in adjacent states.

Best Solo by a Rock Star

Myopia

If the twentieth century was a time for celebrity artists (Picasso, Dalí and Warhol), then the 21st century is turning out to be a time for celebrities as artists (think Bowie, Björk and Franco). Myopia, still on view at MCA Denver, showcases forty years of work by Mark Mothersbaugh, a founder of the legendary new-wave group DEVO. But this is a different proposition altogether: Unlike other celebs who would be artists, Mothersbaugh was an artist before, during and after his rock-star years. Organized by MCA director Adam Lerner and laid out by Ben Griswold, Myopia is breathtaking in the incredible volume of works on view and their invariably high quality. Maybe that's why Lerner believes Mothersbaugh is one of the greatest creative forces of our time.

Best Parting Shot by a Curator

At the Mirror

Courtesy Denver Art Museum

In 1973, budding curator Ron Otsuka took the helm of the Denver Art Museum's Asian Art department and immediately began working, through the solicitation of gifts, to bolster those parts of the collection that were strong and to shore up the weaker parts. Otsuka retired at the end of last year, but during his tenure, he brought the level of the collection way up. For his swan song, Otsuka organized At the Mirror: Reflections of Japan in 20th Century Prints, and nearly every one of the seventy prints included in the show was one that had come in during Otsuka's time at the museum. Japanese art was an important influence on modernism in the West, but in At the Mirror, Otsuka presented the opposite view, which was how Western modernism impacted Japan. It was a worthy farewell, as it revealed both his first-rate scholarship and his interest in plowing fresh curatorial ground.

Best Highbrow/Lowbrow Mash-Up

Matt O'Neill

In many ways, Matt O'Neill is Denver's original pop surrealist (not to mention perennial art bad boy), having played with the now-hip sensibility since way before it was cool. In honor of his notable place in that scene, Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center director Blake Milteer, along with curator Joy Armstrong, mounted Matt O'Neill: Thrift Store Sublime. The show sampled O'Neill's well-known works, including his creepy hybrids of yearbook photos and Picasso portraits. There was also a wall covered in small, complex sendups of cocktail-napkin doodles done in India ink masquerading as ballpoint. Particularly compelling were O'Neill's parodies of abstractions done in dusty retro shades, one of which, "Town Without Pity," was subsequently donated by the artist to the CSFAC's permanent collection. It's currently on display on the center's main level.

Best Indoor Display of Outside Art

Outside in 303

Marco Briones

Driving or walking around Denver, it's hard not to notice that the Latino graffiti scene is strong — as it has been for decades. Less well known is that some street kids with spray cans turn into artists. This was the inspiration for Outside in 303 at the Museo de las Americas. To mount the mini-blockbuster, museum director Maruca Salazar enlisted the help of Denver Art Museum curator Gwen Chanzit, and together they chose seven artists, highlighted by the mentor of the group, Jack Avila, who came up with a spectacular mural. Avila was joined by Josiah Lopez, Victoriano Rivera, Javier Fidelis Flores, Gabriel Salazar, Josh Rogers (aka Kans 89) and Mario Zoots, who is one of Denver's hottest emerging artists.

Best Display of Abstraction's Feminist Side

Harmony Hammond

Courtesy RedLine Contemporary Art Center

In the early years of feminist art, abstraction was seen as being part of the patriarchy and was therefore rejected by many women. The trouble with that idea was that in reality, many women were creating abstracts, including the lesbian feminist activist and artist who was the subject of Harmony Hammond: Becoming/Unbecoming Monochrome. This magisterial show was clearly the high point of a year's worth of exhibits on the theme of women in the arts at RedLine. Put together by guest curator and queer theorist Tirza True Latimer, the show focused on work Hammond had done in the '70s based on American Indian baskets, as well as related — and stunning — recent paintings, many of them the size of billboards. In the language of the movement, Hammond liberated abstraction from its domination by men.

Best Display of Abstraction's Feminine Side

Directions in Abstraction

Mark Brasuell was a member of Edge for more than two decades before defecting last year to rival co-op Spark. Before he decamped, however, he gave over his Edge solo slot to a group show that he curated. It included four of Colorado's most noteworthy abstract artists, all of whom happen to be women: Sue Simon, known for her science-based abstractions, which often include formulas and equations; Terry Maker, who embraces the use of unusual materials, in this case sawed stacks of painted canvas; Ania Gola-Kumor, a painter working in an abstract-expressionist vocabulary; and Virginia Maitland, a master of color-field abstraction. It's interesting that Brasuell would select these particular artists, as their varied approaches are admittedly distinct — but he established the roster based solely on his admiration of and respect for each.

Best Display of Abstraction's Feminine Side

Directions in Abstraction

Mark Brasuell was a member of Edge for more than two decades before defecting last year to rival co-op Spark. Before he decamped, however, he gave over his Edge solo slot to a group show that he curated. It included four of Colorado's most noteworthy abstract artists, all of whom happen to be women: Sue Simon, known for her science-based abstractions, which often include formulas and equations; Terry Maker, who embraces the use of unusual materials, in this case sawed stacks of painted canvas; Ania Gola-Kumor, a painter working in an abstract-expressionist vocabulary; and Virginia Maitland, a master of color-field abstraction. It's interesting that Brasuell would select these particular artists, as their varied approaches are admittedly distinct — but he established the roster based solely on his admiration of and respect for each.

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