#11: Jerry De La Cruz Artist Jerry De La Cruz, who nows splits his time between studios in Denver and Miami, has been a force in the local Chicano art movement for more than forty years. His signature magic realism is all his own, sometimes tapping into cultural roots and…
Fantasy, as a genre, can feel pretty tired after a while. The same themes — prophesied heroes saving the world, ancient evil uniting reluctant warriors to a common cause — crop up again and again. The same mythology — elves and dragons, swords and sorcery, knights and kingdoms — is…
At the dramatic end of the first act of Matilda the Musical, the much-wronged little heroine shouts out her rage, pain and defiance in one charged sentence — and a murmur arises from the audience: “What did she say?” That’s right: It’s impossible to understand half the dialogue. Or the…
The minds of math and science geniuses have long fascinated the makers of crowd-pleasing narrative features — which is curious, since the complexities that fascinate those minds are antithetical to the feelings-first bounce of popular filmmaking. The movies, having settled into candied naturalism, already struggle to suggest interiority, even of…
James “Whitey” Bulger was more like a character from a seventeenth-century folktale than a late-twentieth-century criminal, the sort of figure who’d murder innocents on wooded roadways and then, with a shrug, toss their bloody bones to hungry wild dogs. In 1980s and early-’90s Boston, he headed a criminal syndicate known…
The annual Tour de Fat cycling rave-up in City Park is like the perfect storm of favorite Denver pastimes: Biking, beer, music and costumes mingle in harmony for one crazy day, to the delight of participants and onlookers alike. Photographer Ken Hamblin was at the Tour to Fat stop on…
Colorado Crush is almost here! The state’s biggest annual celebration of street art will fill RiNo this weekend, and artists are already working on murals in the area. Starting today, you can see them repainting the outdoor canvas along the alleyways from 25th to 32nd streets between Larimer and Walnut streets,…
You can find art all over town — not just on gallery walls. In this series, we’ll be looking at some of the local artists who serve up their work in coffeehouses and other non-gallery businesses around town. Aurora native Kery Allen filled up her high school schedule with art…
The Boulder International Fringe Festival has no permanent venue and presents twelve days of events featuring nearly three dozen productions and many more performers, staged all over Boulder. So how do viewers prepare for the Fringe binge that starts this week? “It really is kind of like geocaching,” says Alex…
Are we having fun yet? With all the great free entertainment in town, there’s no excuse for not enjoying yourself. This week you can keep your spirits high with free movies, good works and great comedy. Check the Westword calendar for more events, and leave us a comment if you…
When the dust finally settles on 2015, it may most likely be known as the year of Caitlyn Jenner. Amid months of rumor and speculation and a ratings-breaking Diane Sawyer interview, she left behind her role as a gold-medal clad Olympian and eventual put-upon straight man and step/father amid the…
For the twelve years John Moore was a theater critic for the Denver Post, the journalist kept finding himself wanting to do more within the creative community he was covering. Moore had become well-acquainted with the players in the scene and, as a result, he’d learned just how many of…
The main entry space at Mai Wyn Fine Art is just big enough to allow for a tidy solo, or as is happening now with Kinesis, an economical duet pairing paintings by Priscilla Fowler with sculptures by Jodie Roth Cooper. It closes tomorrow. Fowler has created spontaneously-done abstracts on Mylar…
Fall brings variety to Denver galleries: From abstract visions and incisive figurative worlds to contemporary folk pieces, there’s art for every taste this weekend. Here’s where to find it. New Works: Heather Patterson and Barbara Sorensen, with Mark Penner Howell, Patricia Finley and Mel Rea in the back gallery Walker…
“We have bears, we have mountain lions and guess what? We have Bigfoot,” says Michael Johnson, a founding member of Sasquatch Investigations of the Rockies who just opened the Bigfoot, Yowie and Yeti store. Johnson’s fascination with Bigfoot started 25 years ago. “I found some footprints out by Pikes Peak on a…
Nerd-core, geek-chic, pop-culture couture. Call is what you will. It is a real trend happening and we spotted someone doing it right this week. A prime example of stylish nerd-chic occurred when online entertainer, Audrey Madison, wore a R2D2 printed dress while browsing books at Capital Hill Books on Colfax…
The fun never stops in this city — even in the weeks after Labor Day. Want proof? This weekend, you can hang at a neighborhood music festival, ride your crazy little bike and hear about soul food. Check out the Westword calendar for a full list of events, and drop…
It used to be that the term “Western art” described work that depicted the scenery and lifestyle associated with the western states — typically, mountains, animals, birds and the people who live here. But in recent years, the definition has been expanded to include modern and contemporary art with Western…
The universe of action movies is a strange and magical place. Good guys never miss. Bad guys never hit (or when they do, it’s always a flesh wound with less effect than a hangnail). Explosions liquefy bystanders and bad guys, but merely leave the heroes smeared in soot and sweat…
This season Denver stages offer theatrical fare from our own back yard and across the nation on levels both intimate and brashly big-budget. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the best local openings this weekend. Colorado Theatre Festival Robert and Judi Newman Center for Theatre Education 1101 13th Street…
One of the most fascinating artifacts of the Hollywood marketing machine was the film novelization: book versions of some of your favorite movies that started coming out in the late 1970s and hit their peak popularity in the 1980s, that most nostalgic of cinematic decades. Before VCRs, these books were…
Imagine taking a trip to a beautiful, secluded yoga retreat in the mountains of Colorado. Picture walking through the lovely setting, heading to your comfortably rustic cabin room, meditating…and then lighting up a joint. Twisted Sister invites you to do just that at Align With Your Heart, a cannabis-friendly mountain yoga retreat…
