Reading the Canvas

Books and painting share equal space in the heart of Arts at Denver gallery owner Paula Colette Conley, and the venue’s current exhibit, Cover Art, is the direct result of those twin affections: a series of paintings inspired by literature. “I truly do love books just as much as I…

He’s Laughing at You

Making a list of David Cross’s enemies might be easier than making a list of his friends. Never afraid to ruffle feathers or start feuds, the notoriously ribald comic has lobbed bombs at everyone from Larry the Cable Guy to Inside the Actors Studio host James Lipton, not to mention…

Visual Crossroads

One of the city’s great cultural treasures, the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art is the brainchild of founder Hugh Grant, who started it a few years ago to display the work of one of the state’s greatest modern artists, Vance Kirkland. But Grant quickly expanded its mandate to…

Theater Pick

In A Murder One Less, a quantum-physics-inspired piece, a man (Brandon Kruhm) sits on a bench, naked to the waist, contemplating his hands, his body tattooed with words you can’t quite make out. An Eleanor Rigby-ish young woman (Julie Rada, who also wrote the script) enters; two suitcases dangle from…

Film for Film’s Sake

Years ago, there was this thing called repertory cinema, where you could see a different second-run film every day, which, once upon a time, people really wanted to do – in a real theater. A shared experience! In Denver, you’d sometimes hit places like the Flick in Larimer Square and…

Swim With the Fishes

“It’s one of the coolest things to do in Denver right now,” exclaims dive guide Shane Taylor. He may be right. In landlocked Colorado, the Downtown Aquarium’s scuba and snorkel activity is a way for ocean lovers to don their wetsuits without the debauchery of a Cancun vacation. Taylor gives…

A Wynne for Z Art Department

The sluggish economy has affected the bottom line for art galleries, just as it has other businesses, but you wouldn’t know it from looking. In recent months, exhibits as good as, if not better than, ever have been unveiled one after another. And with the fall season now underway, you’d…

Now Showing

Currents. Traditional American Indian art is a well-established genre, and many Native American artists still practice the old forms of weaving, pottery-making, metalwork and basket-making. But there are also contemporary artists among the tribes, and this latter group is the focus of Currents: Native American Forces in Contemporary Art. The…

Now Playing

Dial ‘M’ for Murder. Frederick Knott’s Dial ‘M’ for Murder is one of those stylish, intricately plotted murder plays, though not a whodunit. We know early on that the villain is onetime tennis pro Tony, who wants his wife, Margot, murdered; we watch as he hires the man to do…

Rashomon at Starz

The title of 1950’s Rashomon is invoked whenever a filmmaker depicts the same event from multiple, often contradictory points of view. But despite having contributed a term to the cinematic lexicon, the movie itself is far from an academic exercise. Many of director Akira Kurosawa’s pictures boast epic running times:…

The Informant!

As evidenced by The Informant!, it’s a hell of a tricky thing turning real-life pulp into floss sugar. The story of Archer Daniels Midland biochemist-exec-turned-crooked-federal-snitch Mark Whitacre is a tragicomedy. Journalist Kurt Eichenwald spent five years trailing the bipolar fuckup, and his 2000 book, The Informant, is so densely, richly…

Spaced Out

“When I was a kid in the ’60s and ’70s, popular culture focused on the future,” remembers filmmaker Cory McAbee. “We had just landed on the moon. David Bowie and Elton John dressed like future people and sang about space. Star Trek and 2001: A Space Odyssey were new and…

A Glass Half Full

It’s five o’clock somewhere, as the saying goes. And starting today and running through next Sunday, that place is the Mile High City. Welcome to Denver Beer Fest, ten days of beer tastings, beer dinners, beer-themed events, brewery tours and general beeriness — all designed to complement the Great American…

Bolero Ties

It’s not always easy to get people thinking and talking about helping the planet, which is why the University of Denver’s Newman Center is hosting Bolero Colorado, a ten-day series of performances, talks and tours. “We’re really passionate about how important it is for us to address environmental issues, sustainability…

Shut Up and Eat

What do we all have in common? We like to eat. Food crosses every line, sociopolitical or otherwise, uniting the disparate over gently salted slices of fresh-picked tomato, good beer and your mama’s lasagna. Or whatever rocks your tastebuds. So it makes perfect sense for us at this fair rag…

On Your Marks

If you ski, you know the drill: The minute the days begin to grow shorter and a chill begins to frost the evenings, you can think of nothing else, even if you’re rational enough to understand that it takes a while for snow to accumulate on the hills. That’s why…

Sing Her Praises

“My squeezebox was my mom’s IUD. I popped out wearing it,” claims veteran comic and accordionist Judy Tenuta. “Then I became the petite Aphrodite of the Accordion. I would lock myself in the closet to play “Lady of Spain” until Elvis appeared to me and said, “Hey, pretty mama, you…

Flick Pick

The title of 1950’s Rashomon is invoked whenever a filmmaker depicts the same event from multiple, often contradictory points of view. But despite having contributed a term to the cinematic lexicon, the movie itself is far from an academic exercise. Many of director Akira Kurosawa’s pictures boast epic running times:…

Culture Club

At last year’s inaugural Firebird Festival: A Taste of Russia, attendees “really felt the soul of Russia,” says event organizer Alexandra Prizeman. Which isn’t at all surprising, considering the care Prizeman took. “I really strive to present everything Russian,” she says, “and when I think Russian, I think of everything…

Glory Days

Just a week after his latest book, Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, hit the new-release racks, Jon Krakauer, the prodigal son of Boulder’s climbing scene and the country’s premier mountaineering journalist, is returning to Colorado. Since publishing Into the Wild, Krakauer has focused his storytelling talents…

Wild, Wild West

If you grew up ’round these parts, then you know how Colorado history was shaped by its mountain men. Which is why the Tesoro Foundation’s annual 1830s Rendezvous and Spanish Colonial Market is “not the type of event you would find anywhere else,” says spokesman Wayne Lindsey. “You have twenty-some…

That ’70s Show

In 1971, John Lennon gave us “Imagine” and sang of a world with “no need for greed or hunger,” which is the same vision that powers tonight’s 9th annual HomeAid Colorado Fashion Show: Flashback to the ’70s. The mission of HomeAid Colorado is to build homes for temporarily homeless men,…