It was in the early 1980s that many of Denver’s alternative art spaces first came into being. Spark and then Pirate were founded, and within a few years, Edge and Core and other, more minor locales appeared. At first these spaces were little more than friends-only clubs. But soon their…
We may or may not have seen the last of the snow this year, but signs of renewal–such a part of the ritual of spring–are visible everywhere. Blossoming along with all of those tulips is the city’s local alternative-art scene, where a veritable nosegay of important events are helping ease…
Painters Jack Balas and Wes Hempel are fixtures on Denver’s art scene despite residing in what might be called the Outer Mongolia of the Front Range–the sleepy northern Colorado town of Berthoud. To a great extent, their in-town fame is the product of the enthusiastic support they’ve received from an…
It’s been anything goes in the art world since the 1980s, and the upside of that scattershot approach to culture is that there’s something for everyone in the local galleries. The current spring shows range from sophisticated contemporary expressions to solid traditional offerings–and nearly everything in between. At the cutting-edge…
Among the many mindless prejudices that enjoy wide acceptance in the art world, several stand out. One is the notion that physical and emotional struggles are good for artistic development–the concept of the “starving artist.” This persistent romantic myth takes a real toll on artists even today, despite the fact…
The lot of the contemporary Chinese artist can’t be an easy one. To begin with, there are the inevitable comparisons of their work with all of the other Chinese art of the last few thousand years–a pesky history that constitutes the oldest, and therefore the longest, continuous thread in the…
Texas artist Luis Jimenez is a familiar figure in the Denver art world. His works have been shown here over the last couple of decades, and in 1994 he was awarded a city commission for a monumental public sculpture, “Denver Mustang.” This piece, which has yet to be completed, will…
When ceramic artist Maynard Tischler arrived in Denver from back East in 1966 to interview for a job in the art department at the University of Denver, he came away with a mixed reaction. Though he liked the sunshine out west, he wasn’t so thrilled to learn that the university’s…
That an art collection even exists at the University of Colorado in Boulder became known to the general public only thirteen years ago. And the circumstances for the revelation couldn’t have been more embarrassing: a newspaper report that CU’s multi-million-dollar art collection had been allowed to “rot” through neglect and…
Dale Chisman has long been known as an artist’s artist. For proof, look to the fact that several well-known local artists are among the collectors who’ve snapped up Chisman originals from his new show at 1/1 Gallery. Chisman is principally known for his paintings, but for more than three decades,…
There’s an old joke about the University of Colorado in Boulder: A visitor to the beautiful Italian-style campus asks a student how to find the art building, and the student replies, “It’s the ugly one.” Ah, the contradictions of the art world. Another unfortunate confluence of art and architecture can…
Is it the bright clear light, the product of endless chains of cloudless days? Or is it perhaps the rugged scenery? Maybe it’s the history, mystery and charm of the ancient indigenous peoples. Whatever the reason, New Mexico has attracted accomplished painters for more than a century. And for most…
It was in the fall of 1995 that Robert Motherwell, the great New York School artist who died in 1991, gained a special place in the hearts and minds of Denver art lovers. That’s when the Denver Art Museum worked out a special deal with the Dedalus Foundation, which controls…
The Denver Art Museum has undertaken one extensive remodeling job after another in the last few years. And the efforts have gone a long way toward increasing available space within the masterful if quirky building, the work of Italian modern master Gio Ponti and his Denver collaborator, the able James…
Denver exhibition-goers will have to go to great lengths–or should that be heights?–to see the city’s latest ad-hoc art gallery. It’s located in a couple of hallways on the twelfth floor of a downtown high-rise, just off the lobby of the OZ Architecture firm. Now showing in the penthouse suite:…
It was a research project with the drama of a detective story. And just as Sherlock Holmes unraveled mysteries–using a method reliant on fanatical attention to detail–so too did the organizers of Cheyenne Dog Soldiers, which currently fills the main-floor galleries at the Colorado History Museum. The genesis for this…
Artists have taken many routes to fame. Salvador Dali struck a chord with unforgettable images such as melting clocks. And like Picasso and Andy Warhol, two other truly famous artists, Dali led a flamboyant life that served to enhance his reputation as a cutting-edge artist. Then there’s Christo. To say…
1993 was a terrible year for the local art world. First the galleries started closing–Joan Robey, Alpha, Hassel Haeseler and Payton-Rule. Then the artists started dying–Wes Kennedy, Edward Marecak and David Rigsby. In the years since, both Kennedy and Marecak have been the subject of several fine surveys and memorial…
Clay is a material that occupies a special–or should that be peculiar?–place in the world of the visual arts. It is most often employed in the making of utilitarian objects such as cups, mugs and vases and is therefore relegated to the underworld of the decorative arts–the much-maligned craft tradition…
In the last few years, two groups have emerged in Denver, each intent on establishing a museum of contemporary art as an alternative to the Denver Art Museum. For a long time the two groups were unknown to each other. (If only the Ocean Journey crowd had been so circumspect.)…
Cherry Creek has been in the news lately–and not just because of that dreadful “We have a whole district” advertising campaign. Even more prominent than that awkward attempt at self-promotion has been the hoopla surrounding the destruction of an ancient elm tree to make way for a duplex in Cherry…
Since the impressionists invented modernism nearly 150 years ago, relentless innovation has been the buzzword in contemporary painting. Newer has been better since at least the late nineteenth century, at which point new art trends started coming along one after another. Impressionism was eclipsed by post-impressionism, then by neo-impressionism, then…
