Alternative ideas and alternative spaces both play a part in new gallery shows this week, proving that you never know where you’re going to find topnotch art in Denver on a Friday night. Here are some ways to enjoy new work and shop till you drop at the same time.
Direction / Instruction
Super Ordinary
Through August 31
Opening reception: 6 p.m. Friday, August 14
The boutique/gallery Super Ordinary at the Source gave over its walls this month to a group show curated by Hyland Mather, who moved his Andenken Gallery from Denver to Amsterdam several years ago. Direction / Instruction brings an international crew of urban artists exploring geometric pattern work to Denver for a show that’s equal parts modern and street.
Martin Tsibrov, Nuances
Neet, 4903 Lowell Boulevard
Opening reception: 7 p.m. Friday, August 14
Local artist T.J. Raygun’s Neet, a boutique/design studio/gallery near Regis University, might be a little off the beaten path, but Nuances, an exhibit of landscape photography by Bulgarian-born Denverite Martin Tsibrov, makes the trek sweeter. View Tsibov’s natural imagery while checking out Raygun’s latest artsy T-shirts.
Excavations: New Works by Mario Zoots
Ironwood
Opening reception: 8 p.m. Friday, August 14
Ironwood, a museum of a boutique where you find geological treasures and butterfly wings alongside pots of succulents, features the latest photographic collages from Denver artist Mario Zoots this month in Excavations, a show of haunting works that go beneath the surface of old magazines. DJ PooLs!De, aka Rhinoceropolis’s Colin Ward, will provide the tunes at the opening.
Tony Ortega: Hybridity
William Havu Gallery
August 14 through September 19
Opening reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, August 14
Veteran Denver artist Tony Ortega takes the spotlight in August at the Golden Triangle’s Havu Gallery, bringing a mixture of his colorful signature works depicting the common people and pop-art paintings commenting on the cultture clash between all-American and Latino societies. Also see work by Max Lehman, Billy Hassell and, on the mezzanine, Betsy Margolius. Work by Tony Ortega is also featured with fellow Denver Chicano artists Carlos Fresquez and Carlos Santistevan, through September 8, in Los Three Revisited — Now at the Curtis Arts & Humanities Center in Littleton. The three will give an artist talk at 6:30 p.m. there on August 14.
Want more? See the Westword events listings for current gallery and art museum exhibitions and openings in the metro area.