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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: December 30, 2009 |
It's again that time of the year to take a stroll down memory lane and review Denver Arts circa 2009:
Hellos:
- Adam Lerner made a splash at the MCA Denver replacing outgoing director Cydney Payton and bringing his signature brand of in your face arts education (Mixed Taste, Art Fitness Training, B+) to his role as "Chief Animator"
- The Denver Art Museum followed suit, with contemporary curator Christoph Heinrich taking the helm from long time director Lewis Sharp, while still finding time to curate "Embrace," an exhibit that takes on the exotic interior space of the Daniel Libeskind designed Hamilton Building with multiple off-kilter installations that challenge traditional concepts of flat art on straight walls
  Adam Lerner (left); Christoph Heinrich with Vicki and Kent Logan (right)
- The MCA's gain was the Lab at Belmar's loss as the Lakewood institution ended its all too brief tenure with Lerner's departure; I will miss those shuffleboard courts!
- Patty Ortiz was an amazing presence at the Museo de las Americas bringing a seemingly endless slate of nationally significant exhibits that illuminated and then transcended the institution's mission to support Hispanic/Latino programming; she will be missed...
- Gallery T's time on Santa Fe was all too brief, going into indefinite hibernation earlier this year, but director Ron Judish continues working on the gallery's new space; you can keep up with all things T by signing up for Judish's "T-Gram" newsletter
- I could not get enough of Bjorn Melhus "Captain" and "Deadly Storms" videos as part of the "Fuse Box" display space on the 4th floor of the DAM and was saddened to see them go; let's hope there's some type of commitment to video art at the DAM come 2010 (wish list: how about the hypnotic work of Irish video artist John Gerrard which finishes up a run at DC's Hirshhorn in May '10?)
- Denver lost it's claim to being a two newspaper town with the demise of the Rocky Mountain News, and the art community lost the voice and insight of Mary Chandler, the paper's longtime Art and Architecture critic
  Patty Ortiz (left); the defunct Lab at Belmar (right)
- RiNo's Dry Ice Factory showed what can be done to an historic building with the right effort; the space plays host to over a dozen spacious and light filled artists studios, along with a new artist's co-op "Ice Cube"
- Plus Gallery finished the move to an uptown, upscale space that allows gallery director Ivar Zeile the room needed to keep his talented stable of artists happy
- LoDo's Center for Visual Art is closing up shop on Wazee, but will be making the trek south to 965 Santa Fe Drive in 2010
  Dry Ice Factory (left); Plus Gallery (right)
- Denver Arts Week started off a few years back with the high-falutin idea of artists actually getting funded to create site specific installations as part of the event, and while the DOCA dollars unfortunately never materialized, the annual November gathering has hit it's stride and found a pleasant balance between butts in restaurants/hotels and a variety of coordinated gallery openings culminating in a Saturday evening "Night at the Museums"
- Eric Matelski's First Monday Art Talk at Dazzle and the DAM's Last Friday "Untitled" events have acheived multi-year success and continue to provide a fun night out
Also of Note:
- The year kicked off with a flurry of Colorado Abstract activity, the centerpiece being the CVA's "Colorado Abstract" exhibit curated by Michael Paglia and Mary Chandler
- Metro State art and sculpture students' group show "A Motley Effort" was a time capsule back to NYC of the 80s: an abandoned RiNo factory turned into a seemingly endless series of kinetic contraptions and installations showcasing the creativity of Denver's young lions
- Vertigo Gallery on Santa Fe brought forth a string of intelligent installation exhibits including CU student Mathew McConnell, DU faculty Mia Mulvey and LA artist Alvin Pagdanganan Gregorio
- Virginia Folkestad's colorful light installation CURRENT3 at LoDo's Manny's Bridge was a welcome addition to a stroll along Cherry Creek on a warm summer's night
- DIA announced that architect Santiago Calatrava would be leading a major project at the airport
- Local artist and Edge Gallery inspiration Russell McKlayer: 1961 - 2009
Outstanding gallery exhibits of 2009:
Happy New Year and looking forward to seeing you all out and about in 2010! - KLH
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