Nina Tichava, Layered
SugarCube Luxury Apartments,1555 Blake Street
May 9 through July 16
Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 9, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
K Contemporary and SugarCube team up to present this solo exhibition by Nina Tichava, of work that is indeed layered — with multiple mixed-media applications involving painting, printmaking, stenciling and collage — into imagery both abstract and drawn from natural and physical worlds. Think of this as a prelude to Tichava’s next solo: Borrowed Landscapes [Erected], opening in July at K Contemporary, where she is a gallery artist.
John Garrett, “Play Room” (detail), nickel wire, galvanized steel chain, blocks made of reclaimed wood with paint, collage and metal leaf.
John Garrett, Michael Warren Contemporary
New Mexico Artists group show
Michael Warren Contemporary, 760 Santa Fe Drive
May 8 through June 16
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 10, 6 to 8 p.m.
Michael Warren Contemporary pays tribute to our artist friends to the south with an all-New Mexican combo of solos by Jennifer Bain and John Garrett and and a group show of works by Angela Berkson, Ted Laredo, Marietta Patricia Leis and Brian Shields. Bain’s airy abstracts painted in a New Mexican palette of pastels should provide the perfect counterpoint to Garrett’s colorful metal and found-object curtains. If you miss the reception, an artist talk on Saturday, May 12, from 10:30 a.m. to noon, should provide a sufficient look through the whole gallery.
Lisa DiAmor Sanchez, How I See The World
BuCu West Development Association, 4200 Morrison Road
Opening Reception: Thursday, May 10, 5 to 7 p.m.
BuCu West and the new Westwood Creative District will host a show of inspirational works by local artist Lisa DiAmor Sanchez, and follow through on the exhibit’s theme of community by inviting the public to collaborate with Sanchez on a group piece. Hecho Colorado will serve up tacos and other bites to add to the fun; proceeds from the community artwork will benefit art programs for Westwood youth.
Mark Makers
Walker Fine Art, 300 West 11th Avenue
May 11 through July 7
Opening Reception: Friday, May 11, 5 to 9 p.m.
Artworks often start with a single mark, and then another and another, until some kind of visual whole is reached. Mark Makers at Walker Fine Art is all about the process of producing imagery by manipulating the relationship between the hand and the eye, with lovely results that come straight from deep in the brain, where synapses are popping. Ana Zanic, Mary Mackey, Ellen Moershel, Brigan Gresh, Brandon Reese Art, Julie Maren and Patricia Finley all contribute to this themed group show.
Phil's 1st Art Show
Pirate: Contemporary Art, 7130 West 16th Avenue, Lakewood
May 11 through May 27
Opening Reception: Friday, May 11, 6 to 10 p.m.
Phil's 1st Art Show, popping up in Pirate’s informal community corner, is a tribute not to that Phil (Bender, of course), but to the late Phil “Phil the Fan” Hamon III, a longtime fixture in the local music scene, whose main claim to fame was his pure ardor for the stuff, the memorabilia and the immediacy of rock music and the people who make it. He also practiced a kind of obsessive art in the form of gig posters and other naive works of assemblage, many examples of which will be on display at Pirate for a three-week cycle. Eventually, Phil the Fan’s entire archive will make its way to the Denver Public Library as part of the DPL collection, but here’s a chance to remember him before it gets packed away. While you’re at the gallery, don’t miss the two member shows opening at Pirate on the same night: Night Falls, by Lisa Kerns, and Koti, by Heather Kegel.
Braidrage: A Performance by Baseera Khan
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 West Dale Street, Colorado Springs
Friday, May 11, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Free, RSVP required in advance
The centerpiece of Baseera Khan’s exhibit iamuslima, currently on view at CSFAC through June 24, is a standard rock-climbing wall embedded with detritus made of jewelry and hair, hiding behind a rope of human hair that dangles from the ceiling. A metaphorical take on the experiences of women of color in colonized nations, it will also provide the backdrop and the apparatus for a choreographed live performance by Khan.
Kristen Hatgi Sink: Milk
Gildar Gallery, 82 South Broadway
May 12 through June 17
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 12, 6 to 9 p.m.
May is Kristen Hatgi Sink’s month, beginning with the opening of her exhibition and installation Milk at Gildar Gallery this weekend and topping off at the end of the month with another solo show opening at MCA Denver. Framed by Sink’s rich and voyeuristic photographic imagery of women and girls, caught inside a bubble of privilege and privacy, posed against a liquid floor of milk, these works are cosmopolitan and dreamy. As is usual for both the gallery and the artist, this revery is not-to-miss.
John Barnabas Lake and George P. Perez, Sometimes Photography
808 Projects, 808 Santa Fe Drive
May 12 through June 1
Opening reception: Saturday, May 12, 6 to 10 p.m.
Artist-Led Gallery Tour: Wednesday, May 16, 7 p.m.
Photo Show & Tell: Saturday, May 26, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Slide, Slide, Slide Altering Workshop: Tuesday, May 29, 7 p.m.
John Lake and George Perez collaborate on an interesting upending of the photographic medium that invites public participation while delving into the human side of photography and how it orders our memories. The duo invites the public to donate unwanted photos for further explorations throughout the run of the show; in addition, they’ll host a BYO Photo Show & Tell on May 26, encouraging participants to bring and share insights on their own photo books and family albums. Say cheese!
Artists Have the Coolest Stuff! Bazaar and Yard Sale
Globeville Riverfront Art Center (GRACe), 888 East 50th Avenue
Saturday, May 12, 8 am. to 3 p.m.
The name says it all: Artists really do have the coolest stuff, and who doesn’t want a piece of that? The denizens of GRACe and their friends are opening up shop for a single day of glorious, artsy yard-saleing through the tossed-off treasures of thirty or more vendors. While you’re there shopping, check out GRACe’s new co-working creative spaces, then come back at 6 p.m. for an opening reception showcasing solo photography works by GRACe studio resident Amanda J. Armstrong.
Glossuary: Mini-Solo from Dusty Ray and Make Your Own Heroes group show
Sally Centigrade, 445 South Saulsbury Street, Lakewood
May 12 through June 9
Opening Reception: Saturday, May 12, 5 to 9:30 p.m.
New shows at Sally Centigrade always trigger the fun, and in the case of Dusty “Slop Jockey” Ray’s work, fear of the bloodthirsty fanged creatures who creep around, slavering, through his artistic universe. Along with a mini-solo by Ray, the gallery is mounting Make Your Own Heroes, a group compendium of lowbrow art from a flock of experts in the field.
Interested in having your event appear in this calendar? Send the details to [email protected]. For more events this weekend, see our 21 Best Things to Do in Denver.
