A little over a decade ago, Denver International Airport opened to the public and unveiled its multimillion-dollar collection of public art. Only a handful of pieces that were commissioned have stood up well to changing tastes. One work that looks as good as ever — and has been a hit…
In May 2005, Denver voters approved the financing for a new multi-part Justice Center complex with a municipal courthouse and a jail to be built in the greater Civic Center area. I thought that particular spot, being right next door to the United States Mint, was such an odd choice…
The Civic Center area is the cultural hub of Denver, and last week the city announced that the Clyfford Still Museum would join the other attractions there. The Still Museum, which has not yet been designed, will be located south of West 13th Avenue on the east side of Bannock…
In the late 1960s and through the 1970s, there arose what has come to be called the “art of identity.” This genre was — and is — art by members of identifiable groups trying to explicate their specific and peculiar struggles for social justice and equality. To call something “art…
In the western half of Spark Gallery (900 Santa Fe Drive, 720-889-2200) is ADVENTURES, a solo of strange sculptures by Lydia Brokaw-Nelson. Some are fairly interesting — such as the one of a log with its bark removed in a continuous piece — but others, including the dress made of…
Cydney Payton, director of Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, is very adept at keeping all the balls in the air. I really don’t know how she does it without going stark raving mad, but I admire her for it. With only a skeleton staff at the museum, she practically runs…
Sandy Sardella’s swank Pismo Fine Art Glass (2770 East Second Avenue, 303-333-2879) in Cherry Creek North is unique among Denver galleries because of its specialty. With an exhibition space as nice as any around, Sardella is able to give glass artists the same opportunity for proper exhibitions as is ordinarily…
Every year, the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture presents a thematically linked interdisciplinary program. This year the topic is twentieth-century scientific genius Albert Einstein, and the program, titled “Einstein: The Creative Cosmos,” includes lectures, concerts, educational workshops, plays and the exhibit Infinite in All Directions, which is on display…
Frank T. Martinez is an emerging self-taught artist who first appeared on the scene in a + Gallery solo back in 2004. At the time, his paintings were abstract and sort of roughly done; his principal compositional device was circular motifs created by transfers off the painted rims of jars…
Colorado has never been much of a place for sculpture; the three-dimensional medium has always come in a distant second behind painting in the state’s art history. Anyone interested in the art scene could readily reel off a long list of interesting painters — scores of them, in fact –…
The entire set of Upper Galleries at the Arvada Center (6901 Wadsworth Boulevard, 720-898-7200) are given over to Testify, a solo featuring recent pieces by Colorado artist Riva Sweetrocket. Arvada Center curator and director of exhibitions Jerry Gilmore got to know Sweetrocket when the now-defunct Studio Aiello represented both. I…
On a snowy morning a couple of weeks ago, the powers-that-be at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center announced that Denver’s David Owen Tryba Architects will build an addition on an adjacent spot immediately to the east of the beloved landmark. This will be no mean feat: The elegant modernist…
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center recently announced that a new wing by Denver’s David Owen Tryba Architects is to be appended to the magnificent John Gaw Meem building (see story, page 43). That same day, the institution also announced the acquisition of more than fifty pieces by Seattle glass…
Using plants and flowers as source material for artwork is definitely an old-timey pursuit whose roots (pardon the pun) go back to the dawn of the Greco-Roman era. Here we are in the 21st century, and many contemporary painters — not just realists — still draw inspiration from the ubiquitous…
There are lots of galleries on Santa Fe, but surely everyone will agree that the Space Gallery (765 Santa Fe Drive, 720-904-1088) really stands out. Scottish-born owner Michael Burnett has made it happen by relentlessly putting on interesting shows. The current exhibit, HIDDEN NARRATIVE, fills the bill. In it, Burnett…
During the ’20s and ’30s, artists in Colorado and New Mexico began doing abstractions based on landscape paintings. They took the formal components of a mountain, mesa or rock formation, then simplified the compositions into non-realistic versions of the scene. With the rise of pure abstraction in the post-war period,…
The Denver Office of Cultural Affairs is facing some changes. On January 3, Denise Montgomery spent her last day as the agency’s director; she’s leaving to head up the marketing department of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. When Montgomery was picked for the cabinet-level post in 2003, she…
Over the past ten years, the city’s galleries, art centers and museums have done a number of exhibits charting out the region’s art history — a scholarly and aesthetic pursuit that’s still in its infancy. Most of these shows have spotlighted vintage paintings and, to a lesser extent, prints and…
The Sliding Door Gallery (3563 Walnut Street, 720-979-4448) is a newish co-op that was launched this past summer. The members include a number of former Pirates and Edge-sters, along with a smattering of others who are new to the local art biz. There are eighteen members in all, with openings…
Ten years ago, David Zimmer was one of the hottest young kids on Denver’s alternative scene. He presented impressive shows at Artyard and Pirate that immediately established his name for photography and sculpture. His ready success was clearly indicated when the Denver Art Museum included one of his installations combining…
In addition to the Lauri Lynnxe Murphy and Andy Miller solos (see page 40) displayed in the front and middle sections of + Gallery (2350 Lawrence Street, 303-296-0927), there’s a small exhibit with the epic title of Selections From the Western Edition of New American Paintings installed in the back…
The Singer Gallery never ceases to amaze me. Credit for this must be given to Simon Zalkind, the gallery’s able director. Despite a modest budget and even more modest facilities at the Mizel Center for Arts and Culture, Zalkind invariably comes through with some of the best exhibits in the…
