Hit it Up: Current Must-See Shows
Great current and upcoming art happenings Current: Right now, you can check out Terminal Kings as it visits Denver. Watch street artists from LA as they do live art every day. Plus Gallery’s Frank T Martinez show is almost over, be sure to see it this week. This week and onwards: Be sure to check out this Friday’s opening at David B. Smith Gallery, featuring the work of Liz Miller. A sample of Liz Miller's installation work The Invented World, by Sandy Skoglund opens this Friday at Rule Gallery. You might know Sandy Skoglund by Fox Games, famously installed at the DAM. All the more reason not to...Read more
filed under: events
tags: Art Redline Sandy Skoglund Huma Bhabha Liz Miller Terminal Kings Street Art Denver
Awesome Comic Books
For those that don’t know, when I’m not at art shows, I work at a comic book factory. I read about 8 comic books a day. Rusty math skills reveal that this means I’ve read about 2000 comic books last year. Maybe that makes me an expert, or a total nerd, or both. But I’ve seen a lot of comics, good and bad, awesome and terrible. In my time at the comic book factory, I’ve read a few comics that are really pretty great, which you should check out. These books are not necessarily new, or super-cutting edge, they are just great: these comics are doing it right. Awesome Comic #1: Infinite Vacation In ...Read more
Complex Visions of Matthew Brandt
Matthew Brandt, an L.A. based photographer, works in an interesting process. Using a combination of both the image and the physical relationship that that image, as an object, has within our realm of physicality; the photograph as document, catalogues an existence, where as an object (or the object documented) is subject to time and decay. uh, so, for example...In his work, Taste Tests, Brandt uses the iconic image of Half Dome in Yosemite, and silk screens it using condiments such as Cheez Whiz, and Mint Jelly. In Brandt’s series Lakes and Reserviors, he photographs the landscape of various bodies of water, and then submerges the images in a wash of that water until the chemic...Read more
Top Ten Colorado Art Happenings of 2011
It’s almost 2012, and 2011 was an incredible year for art in Colorado. Here’s the list of the best art events of the year. 1. Clyfford Still Museum Opening This museum was a long time in the making. Like the Rothko Chapel in Houston or the Georgia O’Keefe museum in Santa Fe, this Museum will make Denver into an artist’s new home. 2. Huma Bhabha at the Aspen Art Museum This exhibition has barely happened, opening on Dec 22, but it ranks high for 2011. Usually Bhabha does sculpture, but her works on paper hold a mysterious quality. The works seem classically modernist, and they involve a lot more than you w...Read more
Ricky Allman at David B. Smith Gallery
Probably the best sense of what this show is all about is the cover image on Ricky Allman’s website, which identifies just how big these paintings are. David B. Smith gallery never disappoints. I feel that geometries are overdone in art currently, but I do not gather the “This has been done before” feeling from Ricky Allman’s work. This transcending of trend occurs in the scale of Allman’s work, the controlled palette, and the maximal style. There is much to be learned and explored in these canvasses: Allman shows us that he can not only paint expertly, but that he can create worlds, feelings, and fine orchestrations of shine and shado...Read more
December with Denmark's Nicolai Howalt
In the spirit of winter, I bring you Nicolai Howalt who, in collaboration with David Stjernholm, brings us, Rusland, or Russia in English. This series, exhibited in 2010, is a photographic documentation of the 260 hectares (which is just over 642 acres) of protected moorland in Denmark. It struck me, at first glance, a snow or frost covered forest void of any signs of life. The forest is actually a unique growth. The frost like dusting is actually sand, which was placed there after the “drifting sands” settled in the 1700’s. The habitat found a way to grow among the harsh debris of the historic sand storm of Holocene period. The overgrown forest appears in a timid grays...Read more
FOUND: Other People's Stuff
New stuff rocks. What's better than getting the latest, greatest and most expensive Apple product? Who hasn't camped out for the opening of oh say... a new Swedish design store (the meatballs were sooo good)? And how can anyone deny the awesomeness of that new car scent? But as cool as new stuff is, there are some people who would contend that the old stuff rocks more. Yeah dude- I'm serious! The good people at Found Magazine have even dedicated an entire website to their love of previously owned objects. Specifically, as the name implies, the site features old objects found by chance. They eschew the fresh ‘n shiny stuff in favor of items which “give a glimpse ...Read more
Up an Coming: Erin Graboski
Erin Graboski is a Colorado photographer based out of Denver Co. Erin is new to the art scene here in Denver just recently making her work available to the public. She recently launched her website under the name Cosmic Autum. Erin has a interesting style and approach to photography. Like most great artist she does not follow the main path that many people see as traditional photography. Here subjects may be everyday things, the way she manipulates her images in post processing is brilliant. Many of her images have a nostalgic feeling with a combination of vintage film and lomographic feel. The coloring and tone of the images scream dark yet leave you with a tranquil sensibility. ...Read more
TJ Reagan: Happily Ever After
Almost everyone has a soft spot for picture books. Most people also enjoy cats. This could be why TJ Reagan is becoming a favorite new artist among Denverites. Most recently, TJ exhibited a collection of works at Anthology Fine Art. The walls were covered with a striking display of pastel colored prints, tied together with pixelated motifs and Victorian white frames. Tiny porcelain figures sprinkled themselves into the mix, portraying figures with bodies of humans, but heads of animals. The type of imagery TJ uses is often unsettling, but the story book creatures appear whimsical and innocent, doing things like jumping rope and playing games. The show, after all, is entitled &lsq...Read more
filed under: art
tags: TJ Reagan Metro Printmaking Cats Anthology Fine Art Happily Ever After
For the Love of Photography, Discovering Vivian Maier
Vivian Maier was a privately independent woman who was recently uncovered as a inextricably prolific photographer. She worked at shaping her craft in New York in the 1950's before moving to Chicago where she would spend the rest of her life. She was notably un-materialistic and earned money as a nanny. Late in her life, three of the children she had nannied split her bills, and in 2007, Maier's storage locker would be auctioned and her life's work which she has hoarded away would soon be discovered. Films, Audio, and documentation of a unique urban Americana of the 1950's through the 1990's were found along with over 100,000 negatives. Her work is now being exhibited. What a gift! Alt...Read more
.jpg "Ryan Riss | November 4 - October 28, 2011")
