Editor’s note: Artist Charlie Boots is part of the inaugural pair of PAIR residents at Denver’s Powerhaüs Studio. As part of his residency, he and his fashion-designing counterpart will be reporting from the real world via Show and Tell, as they learn the ropes from studio mentors Mona Lucero, Lauri…
At this station, you’ll want to keep your eyes down — because Scott Parsons’s “Ha-no-oo Star Calender” lies beneath your feet. We looked up Parsons, so that we could talk with the artist about the vision behind this piece. See also: – RTD art: Scott Donahue at the Alameda station…
Next stop, Alameda. Scott Donahue says he designed “Hand Up” to express ideas about history and multi-cultural issues. He recently took a few minutes to talk about this sculpture that enlivens the Alameda light-rail station. See also: – RTD art: Brian Swanson’s chess pieces at the 16th and Stout streets…
If you thought the fall was prime time in the art world, think again. This summer has seen an unprecedented exhibition season in the Denver area, and, as might be expected, the big players are predominating. None is bigger than the Denver Art Museum, currently featuring the third in a…
Michael Paglia visits Robischon Gallery in this week’s review, taking in four separate shows focusing on conceptual abstraction. There are three solos featuring works from Jae Ko, Lisa Stefanelli, and Andrew Millner. The group show contains pieces by Ted Larsen, Peter Millett and Don Voisine. Continue reading for photos from…
The conquest of Colorado’s 14ers is a culture with cult-like, rite-of-passage properties — inside the state, at least. Ask someone outside of Colorado if they’ve ever heard of people obsessed with climbing every peak over 14,000 feet, though, and they may think you’re suffering from oxygen deprivation. See also: -…
Four years ago historians of bad behavior got a rare glimpse into Denver street life and drug culture of the 1950s-1990s with the posthumous publication of Vato Maldito: My Life of Crime, by John “Bubbles” Gallegos, a local heister and heroin fiend. Now underground filmmaker and provocateur Raoul Vehill, who…
Artist Theresa Anderson is also a writer, so it’s no surprise that when she journals, she documents the development of ideas both personal and artistic. Using found objects, Xerox transfers, various art mediums and even a needle and thread, Anderson sketches her way into finished works, all between the pages…
We chatted with Emanuel Martinez a few weeks ago about his murals that brighten the streets of Denver. This time around, we’re talking with him about his sculpture “Mestizaje,” which stands tall at the Tenth and Osage light-rail station. See also: – RTD art: Brian Swanson’s chess pieces at the…
Taylor Gonda co-hosts and produces the Denver-based podcast These Things Matter, which features writers, filmmakers, musicians, academics, comedians, and Taylor’s mom engaging in wonky discussions about their guests’ beloved pop-cultural obsessions, which range from Superman to Wu-Tang Clan. Gonda and her co-host, local snarkmeister Kevin O’Brien, shared a victory when These Things Matter was named best podcast at the Westword Denver Web Awards. Each episode opens with a clip of the John Cusack soliloquy from High Fidelity that inspired both the podcast’s title and the intensely personal nature of the minutiae-dissecting conversations contained in each episode. Gonda also produces Adam Cayton-Holland’s podcast, My Dining Room Table. This week, Westword caught up with Gonda –who endearingly came to the interview prepared with tidy, careful notes– to talk about her favorite books and the shared mission statement of These Things Matter and Westword Book Club.
Want to eat lunch with a king and queen? Brian Swanson’s piece, “King and Queen,” makes that possible at the light-rail station 16th and Stout streets. Swanson wanted the public to be able to dine with life-size chess pieces and he took time to talk to Westword about his piece…
Editor’s note: Artist Charlie Boots is part of the inaugural pair of PAIR residents at Denver’s Powerhaüs Studio. As part of his residency, he and his fashion-designing counterpart will be reporting from the real world via Show and Tell, as they learn the ropes from studio mentors Mona Lucero, Lauri…
For Gutter Kids, Ben Chavez’s latest art-minded production through his company Chubby Robot, the curator, party thrower and MC once again looked into his past. Inspired by the Garbage Pail Kids trading cards he once collected, the self-proclaimed “80s baby” reached out to his friends in the local creative community…
At the heart of the RTD system, the Civic Center bus station, is a shiny mural that represents friendship, business deals, introductions and Douglas Kornfeld’s inspiration for the piece: reunions. Kornfeld’s “Welcome!” transforms as you get closer to the work, and he took a few minutes to talk about its…
A little bit Warhol and a little bit outlaw, Dunn the Signtologist (aka Dan Ericson) uses street signs as his canvases, painting graffiti-style portraits on their angular and reflective surfaces. How he gets the signs in the first place is better not discussed, and the underground aura of this work…
Galleries seem to be opening at a breakneck pace lately, with Mai Wyn Fine Art on Santa Fe Drive being the latest. The new venue combines a handsome exhibition space with a studio for owner — and painter — Mai Wyn Schantz. Occupying the former home of the Sandra Phillips…
Back in 2001, Mark Ruppert came up with the idea of creating a competition that would challenge the world’s best filmmakers to make a three-minute film in only two days, and in the process answer this question: “Would films made in only 48 hours even be watchable?” The result was…
For Copper Mountain’s all-things-axe-related Guitar Town festival running August 9 through 11, Colorado artists participating in the companion Art Guitars Silent Auction really go the extra mile. Utilizing damaged guitars donated by Guitar Center, thirteen artists were given free rein to paint, disassemble and rework the instruments into works of…
The dog days of summer are upon us. Luckily, we geeks have nothing to worry about, because August is full of opportunities to beat the heat and have some nerd-friendly fun at the same time. From gaming conventions and classic geek films to the world’s nerdiest county fair, August offers…
We brake for art! Our next stop on the light-rail line brought us to Gregory Gove’s “Connected,” a mural at the Yale light-rail station. Gove found his inspiration for the piece while watching the ebb and flow of people in their daily lives. He imagined what they were thinking, and…
If you spot the public art piece at the Louisiana-Pearl station and think, “This would make an amazing necklace” — then Ira Sherman’s work is done. Sherman says he wanted to create a piece made for movement with intricate mechanics, a piece not just interesting to look at but to…
Human blood is an unusual artistic medium. Who better, then, to explore the possibilities of blood work than Andrew Novick, a man whose name is synonymous with weird art — from his time in the infamous Warlock Pinchers band to his work with Peeps. In Blood Lustre, Novick utilizes the…
