Visual Arts

“Robert Adams was teaching English at Colorado College in the early 1960s when he met Myron Wood, who taught him the basics of photography,” Westword art critic Michael Paglia writes in a preview of the upcoming Adams show at the Denver Art Museum. “But instead of taking the traditional approach…

Artist Penney Bidwell knows the carnival life isn’t always a circus. She ought to — Bidwell comes from carny stock, and their memories and lore left her with a different view. And it’s not as though we haven’t all lived through a creepy-clown shiver or two in our collective lifetime,…

After receiving $13 million to design Denver International Airport’s new south terminal hotel and commuter rail station, world-famous Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava abruptly quit the project because it lacked sufficient funding. Rumors about his exit had been flying around for weeks, but it became official earlier this month when Santiago’s…

It only took five minutes on stage for Nick Nunns to realize that he loved the idea of Ignite Denver. Actually, since his performance only lasted five minutes total, it took less than that. “It’s a blast,” says Nunns. “After I got over being nervous, I loved it.” Ignite Denver…

Was it just the summer before last that Santiago Calatrava brought his genius for form to Denver International Airport with design proposals for a dramatic bridge, a theatrical train station and a sculptural hotel, all in his signature white-on-white style? Yes, it was (“Taking Off,” August 5, 2010). I’ve met…

The International Film Series grew a little this year. To inaugurate new secondary digs in the University of Colorado’s state-of-the-art Visual Arts Center, director Pablo Kjolseth chose to fill the VAC’s auditorium seats with a documentary series that runs concurrently with regular IFS screening at Muenzinger Auditorium. Part of his…

Fifty years ago this week, a modest black-and-white movie about pool sharks and the people who back them, love them or break their thumbs had its world premiere in Washington, D.C. The initial critical reception was mixed, but over time, The Hustler would be recognized as a classic, a startling…

If you think Third Friday is an invention of the Art District on Santa Fe, think again. You can give them credit, perhaps, and Santa Fe will be aglow with happenings tonight. But that doesn’t explain the profusion of excellent shows opening tonight in other gallery districts all over town…

If most of the artists in Denver could make a living off their artwork, the staff of Denver’s restaurants and bars would be getting a big makeover. But sustaining the homeless through art is the idea behind RedLine’s Reach Studio. Tonight, pieces from the project will be on display at…

We told you about the yarn bombs across Boulder B-Cycle stations. Now, R-U-Engaged, who was planning on turning the large-scale yarn art into blankets for charity, can’t find the brightly colored cozies. It is like they just disappeared into the night. “Having stuff disappear is the nature of yarn-bombing so…

He mostly gave up art eight years ago to take over the family business, the Zephyr Lounge in Aurora, so the decision to feature Myron Melnick’s work at the Singer Gallery was an interesting choice, writes Westword art critic Michael Paglia in this week’s review…

It was another great night for Denver’s Silhouettes on America’s Got Talent, as all three judges seemed to agree that America should vote for our favorite shadow dancers. Beset by technical difficulties, the group was forced to perform last. And we can’t help but agree with judge Piers Morgan, who…

As you may have noticed from the incessant product placement in ads and media, Star Wars: The Complete Saga hits shelves on Blu-Ray this week. The nine-disc set ($139.99) includes both the awesome, genre-changing original three movies and the putrid, hope-demolishing follow-up prequel trilogy. But it also comes with forty…

Simon Zalkind, director of the Singer Gallery at the Mizel Arts and Culture Center, often looks to major local artists as a source for significant solo shows. Typically, these include work done over a broad sweep of time, which allows viewers to gain insight into the artist’s oeuvre. Examples are…

Last month, upon reporting the news that seven of the 28 skaters on the Team USA roster for the first-ever Roller Derby World Cup in Toronto are from Colorado, we wondered aloud if the World Cup was shaping up to be an international incident concluding with a red, white, and…

Launch: Community Through Skateboarding and the proposed Launch Creative Center in Fort Collins are ready to drop in, thanks to money raised at the All Hands On Deck art show and a fully-funded Kickstarter campaign that concluded last week, surpassing its fundraising goal by more than $1,000 for a total…

There is really no way to forget 9/11 on its tenth anniversary, but there are ways to acknowledge it and maybe move on, some small act that we can do. What remains important is people — people communing with other people, shoulder-to-shoulder, possibly in some sort of creative civic project…

When three kegs of Pacifico beer showed up at Delton Demarest’s doorstep, he was excited. But unlike most people, he had hoped they’d be empty. Instead, says the Denver artist, “they were unexpectedly full.” Still, Demarest was able to paint the outsides of the kegs in just a few days…

Did you know that you could build things out of LEGOs for a living? We didn’t either, which is why we caught up with local builder Duane Hess to talk about his unlikely career. It’s probably one of the coolest jobs we’ve ever heard of, and while it certainly takes…