Filmmaker Guy Maddin says that watching a movie has more in common with a paranormal séance than meets the eye; he remembers the first time he realized that the French word for a movie screening is “séance,” which translates into “a sitting.” Both activities take place in the dark; both…
Like magic, Mago’s Magic Shoppe at 313 West 11th Avenue has suddenly become a must-see in the Golden Triangle, with its mix of magic supplies, oddities and art. We recently chatted with co-owner and resident magician Max Mago about where art fits into the realm of magic, how he got…
Jackie Barry is making her mark on Denver, with whimsical art appearing on everything from menu boards at Denver Bicycle Cafe to custom beer glasses at Our Mutual Friend Malt & Brew. A barista by day and artist by night, Barry came to Denver hoping to join the art community…
Conrad Kehn’s Playground Ensemble, known for sharing difficult music from a modern age, is reaching back into the twentieth century canon of contemporary music to present twelve-tone composer Arnold Shoenberg’s dark yet whimsical song cycle Pierrot Lunaire for tomorrow’s Classical Night at Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge. But Playground will further…
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. For a first on this First Friday, pop (pun intended) into Ryan…
In a showing of neighborly solidarity, the Denver Art Museum turned to Dean Sobel of the Clyfford Still Museum to bring rare, twentieth-century riches from Buffalo’s Albright-Knox Art Gallery to Denver. The resulting exhibit, Modern Masters: 20th Century Icons From the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, is the kind of show that…
As the arrival of spring melts away the remaining sludge of the February doldrums, comedy blooms anew in Denver this March. With visits from veteran standups, hilarious newcomers, and a chance to see the stars of two of TV’s funniest sketch comedy series in person, Denver has a vast and crowded field of entertainment options this month. While a lion’s share of March’s comedy offerings are imported, there’s also a promising new free local showcase starting up. The fact that so many of these events take place in concert venues like the Gothic and Paramount Theaters is a testament to the drawing power of the headlining acts we have in town this month, as well as to Denver’s boundless hunger for comedic entertainment.
The empty space at the Cherry Creek Shopping Center once occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue is slated to become a four-story Restoration Hardware gallery store, officially rebranding as “RH.” The 53,000 square- foot showroom will be four times the size of the current Restoration Hardware store and feature an atrium,…
“What do you know about Paul Robeson?” internationally renowned baritone Anthony Brown asked writer Andrew Flack a few years back. “I know a little, but show me your notes,” Flack responded. It was New Year’s Eve, and the two men began talking about Robeson’s life, his music, his political struggles…
David Kammerzell put aside his past career as a commercial artist and award-winning media designer at Starz Encore to return to his first love as a painter of retro-laced canvases inspired by the romance and graphics of another time. He calls them an “homage to commercial artists and art and…
Romantic Overgrowth, an interesting and unusual solo at Plus Gallery, showcases work done over the past few years by Melissa Furness, who teaches at the University of Colorado Denver. The show could be seen as a single installation, as Furness orchestrates the same elements throughout: paintings (both her own and…
Whether it’s food, beer, pot or art, Denver is all about showcasing what the Mile High City has to offer. And residents of the Rocky Mountain Warehouse Lofts, at 18th and Wazee streets, take the mission of supporting local artists seriously. They’ve not only decorated the upper hallways with local…
Broadway became the center of Denver’s art world Saturday night as Westword’s Artopia 2014 took over five venues in the heart of town. Artists ranging from Westword cover boy Andrew Novick to zombie portrait artist Stan Yan were on hand to show their work at City Hall and Vinyl, while…
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. Artist Natalia Musalem of NM Photography came to Denver because she wanted…
“Buffalo Bill first experienced the Wild West; then, he promoted it,” says Steve Friesen, head of the Buffalo Bill Museum, who has been working tirelessly to hang the new new exhibit Folk, Fine and Funky: Buffalo Bill in Art. The museum has divided the show into several themes: Buffalo Bill…
Artist House Tour Series featuring Eron Johnson
The creative mind behind Comix Brew, which will be Denver’s first free comics-only newspaper, reached his $3,000 Kickstarter goal yesterday and plans to publish the first issue in late April or early May. Lonnie Allen had been thinking about the idea for years, but decided to make it a reality…
Since its founding in 2012, Denver Comic Con (DCC) has become a powerful force; it attracted 61,000 attendees last year, making it the fifth-largest comic convention nationwide. But as in comic books, with power often comes turmoil. Yesterday morning, co-founder Charlie La Greca posted an open letter on a new…
In the last decades of the twentieth century, conceptualism was on the upswing in the wake of pop art and minimalism, both of which have big conceptual components. The cutting-edge work of the ’80s and ’90s was heavy with narrative, and artists often chose representational approaches to tell their stories…
Michael Paglia visits Robischon Gallery and Vertigo Art Space in this week’s review, taking in two group shows. The work at Robischon focuses on six artists and an artist pair, all of whom are working in some way that is related to conceptual abstraction. The show at Vertigo is a…
There have been rumors about trouble among the Denver Comic Con ranks. But today, DCC co-founder Charlie La Greca posted the following letter on a new Save Denver Comic Con website. Hello my name is Charlie La Greca. I am a cartoonist, lifelong comic fan, and lover of all things…
I used to have this recurring dream where I was walking along a strip mall in my grandparents’ neighborhood of Mayfair/Hale. I was always heading to La Bola, a Mexican restaurant we used to go to when I was a kid. I would walk up to the door in broad…
