Gallery Sketches: Four First Friday Shows Tonight in Denver and Boulder

Month of Printmaking: Mo’Print 2016 exhibits come into their own tonight, with lots of First Friday openings celebrating local artists and print techniques. Beyond that, this month’s citywide artwalk shows off old favorites, national stars, lovers of the natural world and emerging newcomers alike.
Sushe Felix and Tracy Felix: Land Rhythms
William Havu Gallery
March 4 through April 23
Opening reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 4
It’s hard not to love the side-by-side stylized works of Denver artist couple Sushe and Tracy Felix, whose respective influences of Santa Fe modernism and the American regionalism are perfectly attuned. This show — a party of color and perfect composition — is one to simply walk through and enjoy. In recognition of Mo’Print 2016, an exhibition by Denver master printmaker Mark Lunning hangs out on the mezzanine.
Julio Alejandro: The Sounds Of Earth
Dateline
March 4 through 31
Opening reception: 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, March 4
Artist Julio Alejandro gets a solo, The Sounds of the Earth, at 2016 Westword MasterMind Jeromie Dorrance’s Dateline Gallery in RiNo, giving Denver a chance to see Alejandro's surreal stream-of-consciousness-driven drawings and paintings in  person.
Valerio D'Ospina: Transient Glance
Mike Wright Gallery
March 4 though April 16
Opening reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, March 4
Mike Wright Gallery showcases international star Valerio D’Ospina with an exhibit of his signature urban and industrial imagery and a twist: Included in the show are works painted with Denver in mind. The artist will be in the gallery at the First Friday reception.

Jill Powers, Holdfast: Seaweeds in a Time of Oceanic Change
Dairy Arts Center
March 4 through April 7
Opening reception: 5 p.m. Friday, March 4
Artist Jill Powers has a lifelong love of seaweed and its underwater culture, and this multidisciplinary installation at the Dairy shows how the metaphor of seaweed holding fast in an ocean that’s never still reflects how we ourselves deal with change. Sound, video, a seaweed-tasting station and artworks mingle throughout the exhibition, which serves as a lesson in the natural history of seaweed and ecological disasters-in-the-making. Several related events are planned throughout the show’s run, including a three-course seaweed dinner at Shine in Boulder; visit Powers’s website for more information. 

Want more? See the Westword event listings for current gallery and art museum exhibitions and openings in the metro area.