Conceptualist Susan Meyer, who teaches art at the University of Denver, is the subject of the provocatively titled Plato’s Retreat at Plus Gallery. What makes the title provocative is that it’s a reference to a well-known heterosexual swingers’ club that existed in New York in the late 1970s and early…
Unit E was named the Best New DIY Gallery in the Best of Denver 2012 — but two liquor-law enforcement agents thought that the Unit E crew had gone a little far in doing it themselves. And so they busted the place on Friday night, just hours after Mayor Michael…
The election is a time for taking sides — on issues, on candidates, on which of the watching parties has the best drink specials. But this year’s election joined a few sides along the way. (This is where you can go ahead and imagine is winking at you.) Continue reading…
When Samuel Schimek of the all-local I Heart Denver store in the Denver Pavilions sets out to do something, it more often than not seems to have a built-in public-service component. That’s definitely true of his first I Heart Denver webisode, which he personally wrote, directed and funded, with help…
Denver’s Dangerous Theatre lives up to its name, staging edgy and sometimes kinky theater of the sort we don’t often see in this town. And the current show, Jonathan Vick’s murky psychodrama Comfort in the Arms of the Damned, offers proof of that. But DDT’s guiding force, Winnie Wenglewick, wants…
While the thriving arts districts within Denver city limits will be rocking tonight as Denver Arts Week kicks off with Know Your Arts First Friday, one of the newest kids on the block, the 40 West Arts District, will be touting the local artists of…Lakewood, our suburban neighbor to the…
Think back on last night — or even better, last weekend. How did you spend your Halloween? Was it wild? Wonderful? Just weird? Chances are you probably invoked a bit of all three holiday spirits during your costumed festivities, and maybe you attracted some attention along the way. These people…
Pirate gallery’s annual Día de los Muertos celebration has been bringing family altars and candlelight processions to downtown and northside streets for close to thirty years. It’s one of several Day of the Dead celebrations taking place in Denver this weekend, which will merge Dead events with the very lively…
The distinction between recognizable imagery and abstract imagery is one of the key dialectics that has run through the modern and contemporary art worlds for the past 150 years. It’s not the only one — others include linear versus formal, narrative versus non-narrative, and on and on — it’s just…
In this week’s review, Michael Paglia visits the Kirkland Museum and the William Havu Gallery, both of which are offering solo shows in which the artists handle abstract subject matter. The exhibits deal with the distinction between recognizable imagery and abstract imagery. Continue reading for photos from both shows. See…
Denver Arts Week starts November 2 with a Know Your Arts First Friday. All week, we’re previewing events that might fall within the parameters of Denver Arts Week, but aren’t exclusive to its confines. Today’s First Friday pick, Fancy Tiger Clothing’s Civilized Living, is a monthly trunk show focusing on…
Every year since 1986, Denver has recognized creative individuals and organizations that make an artful impact on the community with the Mayor’s Awards for Excellence in the Arts. The 2012 winners were just announced, and for the first time, they were split into three new categories: Youth Arts, Entrepreneurial Arts…
Denver Arts Week, which kicks off Friday with a special Know Your Arts First Friday, is really a big magnifying glass: Denver boasts a vibrant First Friday tradition every month of the year; this annual event just turns on the spotlight. As with any First Friday, the real trick is…
On Saturday night, a horde of dancers, musicians and performance artists took over the spaces of Prism Glass Works, an entrepreneurial hatching ground associated with the atelier-for-hire Club Workshop. Part of a “12-step program” leading up to next year’s Biennial of the Americas, it was intended as an opportunity for…
Last month’s DIY Blacktop Festival in the Denver Theatre District was no fluke — it marked the first step of Recuperatio|12: A series of twelve interdisciplinary events organized by the School of Critical Engagement. The twelve-month program will eventually align with next year’s Biennial of the Americas, exploring modes of…
A recent stroll through the popular teen retail store Hot Topic got me all geared up for Halloween. Seeing the skeleton jewelry, the fake blood-splattered wedding veils and tiaras and the slashed-up fake body parts gave me a warm feeling in my heart. Then I scoped the female costumes and…
Get to the art of the matter tonight, at a free panel discussion — complete with refreshments and a DJ — in support of the Urban Arts Fund. This graffiti-prevention program of Arts & Venues Denver produces unique opportunities for young people to participate in diversionary art and leadership programs…
During the twentieth century, one new public building was constructed in the greater Civic Center area for each decade. But it’s been a very different story in the current century: By my count, eight new landmarks have been built in the mere twelve years since 2000. Some, like History Colorado,…
The 2012 Mayor’s Design Awards, announced last night, celebrate a range of notable projects across six categories: I Wanna Live Here!, Oh, Pioneers!, Use It Or Lose It!, Eye-Catcher!, The City’s Gotta Eat! and Goin’ Rogue! This year’s winners include restaurants, breweries and livable properties, as well as such cultural…
Though Dia de los Muertos is officially November 2, this Saturday’s Day of the Dead Artist Trading Card Workshop should provide some good preparation. From 12:30 to 4 p.m., galleries in the Navajo Street Art District are inviting artists of all kinds to create miniature pieces of work in the…
At 11 a.m. today, a small group of dignitaries led by Mayor Michael Hancock will gather at the McNichols Building at the edge of Denver’s Civic Center (just named a national landmark) to cut the ribbon on the classical structure’s new lease on life. Built in 1910 as a Carnegie…
Davy Rothbart is famous for his love of detritus. Ten years ago, he launched FOUND Magazine, an exuberant, low-fi celebration of things left behind: love letters, Post-It notes, journal entries, birthday cards, shopping lists and other strangely revealing minutiae of human existence. FOUND’s pages are hilarious and heartbreaking; often, they’re…
