In an effort to showcase the broad character of Denver’s diverse populace, Westword’s own Ben Dayton is doing random interviews with random Denver residents about random topics, randomly. Today he joined Jen McGriff on a bench while she waited for the westbound 15 bus. What follows is their quick conversation…
Gregory Hayes: Re-Seeing New Works is an elegant and very grown-up solo on display at Rule Gallery (227 Broadway, 303-777-9537, www.rulegallery.com). It showcases the recent efforts by Hayes, an emerging artist who lives in New York, where he’s in grad school. But he also has a Colorado connection, having done…
Butchering a buffalo is bloody, smelly work. It takes strength, it takes time, and it draws flies by the hundreds. The Plains Indians did it as often as they could, following the herds, hunting them, breaking down the animals they killed and taking away the meat, the skin, the bones,…
We were all artists at one point. At least that’s Dr. Brandon Davison-Tracy’s theory: The pediatrician and abstract painter posits that, somewhere along the line, adults start to suppress the joy of creation. We stop doing it — but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t there, or that it wasn’t…
Around 300 art-lovers showed up Saturday at RedLine Gallery for a second anniversary bash on the theme of “This is Where We Live.” Other than fundraising, the event’s purpose was to provide an active interface between artists and the public; to that end, there were interactive installations by Jay Dion,…
Advertising agencies work tirelessly to come up with new ways to tell us the same thing over and over again: “Hey, buy our shit. Don’t you want to be happy?” Thankfully though, there are always a few ridiculous ads that cause us to take pause and appreciate the stupidity of…
Warm smiles and soft lighting, shifting pages covered in words set into rhythmic compositions. Friends drinking and listening together. This was the scene on Saturday evening at The Bad Shadow Affair, a poetry and prose reading series at Lost Lake Lounge. The series is a step in the right direction…
Unoccupied kids are like a persistent noise that you can’t find the source of: The din kind of hovers there just below consciousness, increasing in upward force like an inflating balloon held underwater. Or at least that’s what it’s like for me. In order to not go completely nuts, you…
RedLine in RiNo is so much more than a gallery — it’s a self-proclaimed “urban laboratory,” a resident art studio enclave and purveyor of art programs in the schools. And in all its capacities, it is forever reaching out to the community with strong leanings toward collaboration and education. RedLine…
Leave it to the youth of France to riot over something that has little or nothing to do with them. At least not for another 45 years, and chances are by that point the issue will be moot. After France’s proposed raising of the retirement age from 60 to 62,…
Everybody’s seen those lovely “Meth Will Change That” billboards dreamed up by the Colorado Meth Project, which depict scenarios so vile they’ll surely make you want to drop the dope or at least reach for a Handi Wipe. Now local comedians Adam Cayton-Holland and Greg Baumhauer have applied the concept…
Many people complain that street art detracts from a community and cite it as a main influence in rising crime rates and subsequent vandalism, but what happens when so-called vandalism actually benefits a neighborhood? Is it no longer crime? Could it actually be a good thing? The non-profit organization TED,…
The timing couldn’t be more perfect. Today’s installation of sculptor Mike Whiting’s touted public work Rhino at the intersection of Larimer and 24th streets at the gateway to the RiNo Arts District flawlessly dovetails with tonight’s opening reception for his solo show Primitives down the street at Plus Gallery. And…
Haven’t you always wanted to do this? I guess if you’re the artist, it’s okay. This photo of Donald Lipski sitting atop his sculpture The Yearling on the lawn of the Denver Central Library appears in The Facebook Show, Volume 1: Profile Portraits from the FB, currently at Detroit’s Museum…
It seems like we’re accustomed to a lot of different types of freelance positions, from writers to designers and even lawn care. Even still, it was a bit surprising to find out freelance computer programmers exist, too. Sure, it’s a thin line between running your own business and freelancing, but…
The Parents Television Council has got it out for Fox. It makes sense: The PTC is made up of easily offended people hiding their fear of seeing their values system challenged behind their children. Fox, from its “news” to its entertainment, has been since day one the sleaziest name in…
Artist Eric Drooker’s existentially spooky urban drawings and paintings often adorn the cover of The New Yorker or the pages of such graphic novels as Bloodsong and Illuminated Poems, the latter a collaboration with the late poet Allen Ginsberg, then a fellow denizen of New York’s Lower East Side. It…
You can’t escape your family. No matter how old and weak they get, no matter how far you run, they will always be there to humiliate you with their bizarre habits and their documentation of your participation in them. Now, happily for everyone but you, the internetz are here to…
If there’s one thing you can say for Dancing with the Stars, besides that it’s easily the campiest show in prime-time, it’s that the show has an excellent track record of showcasing Republicans being voluntarily ridiculous. Why, it was just last year that Tom DeLay was onstage looking like a…
We can all feel comfortable calling Mark Amerika, the artist pioneer in new media technology, at least half-Coloradan, since he lives in Boulder (a separate republic, perhaps, but Colorado all the same) half of the time. And we can all cheer for him as a local when Amerika’s latest ground-breaking…
Last weekend’s Harajuku Street Fashion Party at Hinterland aimed to educate while giving aficonados a chance to deck out in Japanese pop styles and have a good time. If you were there, you might have caught on. And then again, you might not have. Here’s a vague pathway through the…
Fall is a busy time of year in the art world, and it’s hard to believe how quickly the weather and the local exhibits are changing. In fact, this season’s fall openers are rapidly heading to their appointed closings. With that in mind, I’m catching up and recommending two shows…
