Galleries: Art Gym, Counterpath and a Traveling Feast in Boulder

Along the Front Range this weekend, you can travel to alternative places and spaces to participate in art that asks questions while leaving the answers up to you. Begin your journey at these three spots.
bell & banowetz
Art Gym Denver
Through September 10
Terri Bell and Nicole Banowetz might seem like an odd couple for sharing the Art Gym’s gallery space — Bell’s dark and beautiful photo-based, mixed-media “Garden Box” works, which hang on the wall, muse on a secret garden, while Banowetz’s large-scale inflatable sculptures fill a room in odd white billows of pure form. But both explore human mysteries in engaging ways, making for an exhilarating and thoughtful duo show. Bell will give an artist's talk from 2 to 4 p.m. on September 3; hear Banowetz speak on her design process from 5:30 to 7 p.m. September 7.

Genevieve Waller, Faux Bois, with readings by Mathias Svalina, Jessica Lawson and Julie Carr
Counterpath
7 p.m. Friday, August 26
Free
Counterpath mixes things up with artist Genevieve Waller’s installation Faux Bois and poetry readings by Mathias Svalina, Jessica Lawson and Counterpath co-founder Julie Carr. Inspired by the decorative tradition of trompe l’oeil, Waller’s collection of photographs and sculptures opens a discussion about the nature of reality and the substitution of reality. And there will be food.
Matthew Mazzotta, Harm to Table
Boulder Public Library
6 p.m. Saturday, August 27
Free
Local food and climate change will both be addressed when the Boulder Office of Arts and Culture presents a traveling series from New York conceptualist Matthew Mazotta. He'll start by unfolding his mobile, fold-up dining table on the Canyon Gallery Plaza of the BPL and then serving a meal representing foods facing extinction due to climate change over the next four decades; taste a menu of Ponderosa Osha Kombucha from Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha, Wild Sarsaparilla and Sweet Grass Soup created by Boulder chef Tim Hessenbruch, and chocolate financiers with local bee pollen made by Fortuna Chocolate. Future stops in the Boulder area include the 63rd Street Farm, 3796 63rd Street, on September 1; a to-be-determined spot on September 8; and Martin Park, Fordham Court and South 36th Street, on September 15. After that, Mazzotta plans to travel the nation, sourcing local foods in different regions. Visit the Boulder Arts website for more information. 

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