Month of Photography in Denver

Accolades to Mark Sink for organizing the Month of Photography. We were out of town in early March so missed the openings of many of the shows. We went out Sunday afternoon to catch two: the closing day of exhibit at Edge and the two shows at RedLine. The impact of all this photography on exhibit is marvelous- it certainly affirms how diverse the medium is and how pretty limitless it can be a art medium. Traditionally Unconventional is the show at Edge curated by Jessica Ellis and John Davenport with work by Susan Goldstein, Carol Golemboski, Kristen Hatgi, Davis Kaleda, Jocelyn Nevel, Christopher R. Perez, John Rodden, Rett Rogers, David Sharpe, Sarah Timberlake, David Seiler, Keiren Valentine, Michele Wysocki, David Zimmer. Lots of good stuff. I particularly liked Susan Goldstein's small mixed media prints. They demand a close up look- I wish I knew how she does it.
The two shows at RedLine are up till April 26th. The Alternatives Processes exhibit includes an array of early techniques like Daguerrtypes, tintypes, platinum prints,and all kinds of wonderful processes. As beautiful as the results are I was rather disappointed that the imagery was so reflective of historic work. It was a bit deja vu and led me to wonder how more contemporary images would look like using these processes.

The larger show is an exhibit from Houston's FotoFest as well as a smaller exhibit of work Mark found on line and locally. Both are knock down terrific exhibits- we spent lots of time there and I want to return. Some highlights were Andy Freeberg's( see above) large prints showing the reception desks of Chelsea galleries. It says all that needs to be said about the clubby, unfriendly atmosphere of high end galleries. I loved Viviane Le Courtois' video of peeling potatoes ( Ok, you gotta see it) Emma Livingston's luscious photos of Argentina and Ion Zupcu's black and white prints of cubes.
Go to http://monthofphotography.blogspot.com for all the details.

Dale Chisman

last day to see the Dale Chisman retrospective at RedLine in Denver. I spent time there this week surrounded by his beautiful canvases. Abstraction lives in his inventive work. He was a treasured teacher at the Art Students League of Denver and his work lives on in the many students who have benefited from his vision.

January painting

 

 

 

the painting and the drawing and collage that preceded it......

what a pleasure

The exhibition I was in this year, I Paint therefore I am curated by Sandra Kaplan at the 910 Arts Center was recently voted Best Curated Exhibition of the Year for the Santa Fe Arts District in Denver. I am honored and happy to have been one of the 9 artists in the exhibit.It gave me a chance to show my largest work to date: Journey so this is a good time to repost it!

2 paintings in the Spark show this month

Top image: Asymmetry 36" x12"
below: January 12" x24"

 

 

The Nature of Things: Denver Biennial

24 artists, architects and designers from the Americas have work in the central exhibition at the Biennial of the Americas which closes at the end of the month. While there are some terrific pieces in the show,I confess that the star is the McNichols building itself. The former Carnegie library, situated on a prime corner of downtown's Civic Center park, has been the phantom of the park. There, but not there, present but absent. For the past decade it was the offices for city workers, apparently divided into a rabbit warren of cubicles, cheap carpeting and dropped ceilings circa 1960. Now, stripped down to its bare bones, it is a ravishing beauty with drop dead views of the park and surrounding civic buildings. The exhibit takes full advantage of the open spaces and offers tantalizing glimpses of its past, in areas with fragments of beautiful tiled floors areas.
The exhibit has a tendency towards the didactic, not surprising since the curator,Paola Santoscoy is a recent Cal Arts Grad student. However, there are beauties too; most memorably Pedro Reyes use of confiscated firearms remade into shovels to plant trees. There are some great videos and a compelling piece by Clark Richert.
Unfortunately, the Biennial, which many felt was rushed and given insufficient planning time, was crammed into one month. Certainly an exhibit such as this deserves a decent run. The Nature of Things comes down at the end of July so if you want to see it and enjoy a peek inside the phantom of the park, come down to Civic Center this week.

Good morning

15" x60" lots of yellow which was definitely nice to look at this weekend when it rained both days.