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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: August 02, 2010 |
Kat and Bob Tudor: "Impractical, Impossible, Intuitive,Interpretive, Interplanetary Arts: Everything We Know So Far"
Smokebrush (Colorado Springs)
August 6 - 27, 2010
- Opening Reception and Live Art-Making Event: Friday, August 6 from 5-8pm
- Revel in the entertainment and visionary experience as art-making becomes performance. This collaborative duo will make small, affordable, collectible artworks created atop Thrift Store canvases during the opening reception of their Smokebrush Gallery exhibit. Bring your bucks to support local art!
 Kat & Bob Tudor - Don’t Wake the Sleeping Elephant
(from the press release)
Join us First Friday, August 6 from 5 to 8pm for the opening reception for KAT & BOB TUDOR’S exhibition Impractical, Impossible, Intuitive, Interpretive, Interplanetary Arts: Everything We Know So Far. The exhibition continues through AUGUST 27.
Mysterious but meaningful as usual, Smokebrush founder, Kat Tudor and musician/composer/artist husband Bob Tudor exhibit recent multidisciplinary creations. The collaborative artwork of Kat & Bob Tudor is often classified as whimsical, colorful and playful. The themes found within their work varies greatly, but frequently features the visual collision of photo-collage elements with fantastical painting to create quirky and witty juxtapositions of familiar real-life subjects alongside those only manifested from the artists' wild imaginations! Such elements in their paintings are sure to challenge the viewer's interpretation while reminding us to expect the unexpected. PLUS, DON’T MISS: THE EPHEMERAL ART EVENT with KAT & BOB TUDOR During the opening reception, Fri. Aug. 6, 5-8pm – Accompanied by live music!
Smokebrush Foundation
Located under the Colorado Ave. Bridge in the Depot Arts District
218 West Colorado Avenue, Suite 111
Colorado Springs, C0 80903
719.444.1012
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 5pm
First Saturday of each month
http://www.smokebrush.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: July 28, 2010 |
Marlo Pascual
Sergej Jensen
Aspen Art Museum
July 29 - October 10, 2010 (Pascual until October 3rd)
- Artists Reception: Thursday July 29th, 6pm
 Marlo Pascual, Untitled, 2009. Courtesy the artist and Casey Kaplan, New York  Sergej Jensen, Portrait Dr., (detail) 2005. Courtesy the artist and Anton Kern Gallery, New York
AAM MUSEUM HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.; Thursday’s 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Sunday, noon to 6:00 p.m. Closed Mondays and major holidays
Aspen Art Museum
590 North Mill Street
Aspen, CO 81611
970.925.8050
http://aspenartmuseum.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: July 01, 2010 |
Melanie Yazzie - Homeland: The Familiar and the Foreign
Smokebrush Foundation
July 2 - 30, 2010
- Opening Reception: Friday July 2nd from 5-8pm
Smokebrush Foundation
Located under the Colorado Ave. Bridge in the Depot Arts District
218 West Colorado Avenue, Suite 111
Colorado Springs, C0 80903
719.444.1012
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 5pm
First Saturday of each month: 12pm - 5pm
http://www.smokebrush.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: May 30, 2010 |
Jimmy Descant (The Rocket Man): Rockets For The Positive, By A Cyclops
Smokebrush (Colorado Springs)
June 4 - 25, 2010
- Opening Reception with the Artist: Friday June 4 from 5-8pm
- First Saturday Instant Art Event with the Artist: June 5 from 12-4pm
 Jimmy Descant, The Color Red In Green, Found Object Sculpture
(from the press release)
Join us First Friday, June 4 from 5 to 8pm for the opening reception for Salida-based artist Jimmy Descant the Rocket Man and his exhibition Rockets For The Positive, By A Cyclops. The exhibition continues through June 25.
Also join us for a special First Saturday event at the gallery on June 5 from 12-4pm with Jimmy's INSTANT ART EVENT where visitors can watch the artist create found object quick-sculptures on sale for about $50 each. Jimmy will even incorporate personal items from patrons if desired!
New Orleans transplant, now Salida-based artist Jimmy Descant's art is a reaction to his wonder and imagination concerning the possibilities of manufactured inanimate objects as art, much as Marcel Duchamp did in the early part of the 20th century. The pieces used in his work are mostly from before his time, in an era where space travel would be done in something as fine and stylish as the car produced in 1957 Detroit or the Art Deco juicer on the counter.
VIEW THE ARTIST'S WEBSITE AT: http://www.deluxerocketships.com
SEE OUR WEBSITE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS & OTHER EVENTS: http://www.smokebrush.org
Smokebrush Foundation
Located under the Colorado Ave. Bridge in the Depot Arts District
218 West Colorado Avenue, Suite 111
Colorado Springs, C0 80903
719.444.1012
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 5pm
First Saturday of each month: 12pm - 5pm
http://www.smokebrush.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: May 26, 2010 |
Restless Empathy
Aspen Art Museum
May 20 - July 18, 2010
- Free public reception: Thursday June 24 from 6-8pm
- Artists include: Allora & Calzadilla, Pawel Althamer, Marc Bijl, Lara Favaretto, Geof Oppenheimer, Lars Ø. Ramberg, Frances Stark, and Mark Wallinger
 Allora & Calzadilla, HOPE HIPPO, 2005 - Installation View 51st Venice Biennale Photo: Giorgio Boata - Image courtesy of the artists and Lisson Gallery
(from the press release)
Beginning with a members walkthrough and soft opening on Thursday evening, May 20, and a free public reception from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m., on Thursday, June 24, 2010, the Aspen Art Museum is very pleased to announce the debut of the group exhibition Restless Empathy, which will remain on view through Sunday, July 18, 2010.
For Restless Empathy, the Aspen Art Museum has invited eight artists—Allora & Calzadilla, Pawel Althamer, Marc Bijl, Lara Favaretto, Geof Oppenheimer, Lars Ø. Ramberg, Frances Stark, and Mark Wallinger—to create new projects or rethink existing bodies of work throughout the museum and the town of Aspen itself. While representing a wide range of practices and frames of reference, these artists share a capacity for creating and exploring empathy in unexpected ways. Bringing together artists who approach the idea of the poetic, either through material, language, or gesture, Restless Empathy examines the complex process of entering the interior world of another—whether artist, viewer, or object—and seeking to make a connection.
The notion of the viewer “completing” a work of art usually involves a demand placed upon the audience. Recently, with artworks often grouped under the term Relational Aesthetics, the viewer becomes instrumentalized within the work itself. Rather than use people as a medium, however, the artists in Restless Empathy make markedly generous gestures toward the public, creating a space for unexpected experience through work characterized by a deep sincerity and moments of intimate surprise.
Restlessness is having an uneasy, unsettled heart, mind, or physical body. Empathy is understanding the emotions of another. To be restlessly empathetic is to wander amongst the feelings of others and alternately reflect upon one’s own emotions. Restless empathy
allows commonalities and differences among people to be highlighted through an interaction with situations or objects. Much like restlessness is difficult to control, empathy cannot be dictated. These open-ended interactions are the goal of the Restless
Empathy exhibition. They are non-biased, non-prescribed, non-mandatory—yet filled with opportunity.
Furthering the Aspen Art Museum’s commitment to presenting art in unexpected places and removing barriers to contemporary art—cemented by its decision to admit all visitors free of charge—this exhibition challenges expectations of permanence and monumentality in art that addresses the public. In no way intended to be an exhibition of “public art” in any thematic sense, Restless Empathy broadly explores relationships between aesthetics, space, locality, and modes of address.
The exhibition is jointly organized by Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson, AAM Director and Chief Curator, and Matthew Thompson, AAM Associate Curator, and will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated hardbound catalogue (published by the Aspen Art Press and available in August 2010) including texts by the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) New York’s Harvey S. Shipley Associate Curator of Drawings, Christian Rattemeyer, and Renaissance Society at The University of Chicago Director of Education Hamza Walker.
Aspen Art Museum
590 North Mill Street
Aspen, CO 81611
970.925.8050
http://aspenartmuseum.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: May 19, 2010 |
100 Years of Colorado Art from the Kirkland Museum Collection
Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art
May 22 - July 15, 2010
- In the Main & Mezzanine Galleries
- Friday May 21st, 5-7pm: Members Only Preview with Hugh Grant, founder, director & curator of the Kirkland Museum in Denver
Without doubt, this is a must see show, making its way north after a 2 month run at the Arvada Center; nonetheless, I would prefer to see FCMOCA's precious exhibition calendar supporting their stated mission to "educate a broad audience about contemporary art." Although the exhibit does offer up some excellent modern work from the 70s and 80s by some of the regions top artists, the notes for the exhibit specifically call out the deliberate absence of any contemporary works, with a focus "primarily on a century of art, from 1875 to 1975." That said, if you didn't catch this show during it's initial run, it's worth the trip up to fully appreciate the breadth of styles reprented in this worthy compendium of Colorado art. - KLH
Fort Collins MoCA
201 S College Ave
Fort Collins, CO 80524
970.482.2787
http://fcmoca.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: May 05, 2010 |
The Pause Between Breaths: The Sculptures of Shan Wells
Smokebrush (Colorado Springs)
May 7 – May 28, 2010
- Opening Reception: Friday May 7 from 5-8pm
 Shan Wells - Leafpress
Join us First Friday, May 7 from 5 to 8pm for the opening reception for Durango artist Shan Wells and his exhibition The Pause Between Breaths. This installation of sculptures made from materials found in nature is an intimate look at the artist's relationship to his landscape. The exhibition continues through May 28.
Shan Wells' sculptural installations employ materials found in nature. The artist considers himself an assayer, a compiler foraging for color, collecting emotion. He strives for the child's perception in which things become referential and reverential, stripping away the cliché of "beautiful nature" to reveal overlooked components. Referencing science, he seeks ways to extend the connections implied by scientific discoveries, but clarifies it is only a part of our perception.
Wells is an artist and professor of art in Durango and a political illustrator. He attended Art Center College of Design in California and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where he studied under Andrew Drummond. He is the recipient of: a 2003 Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship- Sculpture, a 2002 Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art Biennial Award, 2000 Colorado Council on the Arts Fellowship-Drawing and a 1999 Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant.
View the artist's website at: http://www.shanwells.com
Smokebrush Foundation
Located under the Colorado Ave. Bridge in the Depot Arts District
218 West Colorado Avenue, Suite 111
Colorado Springs, C0 80903
719.444.1012
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 5pm
First Saturday of each month
http://www.smokebrush.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: May 05, 2010 |
4x4: 4 artists, 4 curators
GOCA 121 (Colorado Springs)
May 7 - July 9, 2010
- CURATORS: Caitlin Green (GOCA), Blake Milteer (Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center), Jessica Hunter Larsen (The I.D.E.A. Space at Colorado College) and Holly Parker (Smokebrush Gallery & Foundation)
- ARTISTS: Andrew Beckham, Carol Golemboski, Kate Petley, and Stacy Steers
- Public Reception: Friday May 7 from 6-9pm
 Carol Golemboski at GOCA 121
(from the press release)
‘4x4’ developed out of a series of conversations between four local contemporary art curators. After many informal discussions about artists and exhibitions we decided to explore further the similarities and differences of our curatorial approaches by collaborating on a project featuring four Colorado artists.
While the artists are diverse in their chosen media and conceptual choices, taken as a whole, 4x4 challenges the viewer to consider space, scale and stories and ask questions about the relationships between objects, between object and space and between local visual arts institutions.
4x4 is a collaborative effort between Colorado College, the Fine Arts Center, the Galleries of Contemporary Art at UCCS (GOCA) and the Smokebrush Gallery & Foundation. GOCA121 was made possible by generous support from Nor’wood, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and GOCA members. For more information on the Gallery of Contemporary Art, visit http://www.galleryuccs.org/ Special thanks to COPPeR and NOSH for providing refreshments for the public reception.
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 30 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s and five doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 8,500 students annually.
GOCA MEMBERSHIP
Visitors interested in joining the gallery can do so online at www.galleryuccs.org or in person during the 4x4 reception. Visitors who contribute $50 or more will receive special perks including: 24/7 happy hour at Nosh in 2010, 15% off all purchases at Idoru and $5 off all tickets to UCCS THEATREWORKS’ productions.
GOCA 121
121 S. Tejon, Suite 100
South Tower, Plaza of the Rockies
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Mon-Fri: 10am-8pm
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: April 09, 2010 |
Dave McKenzie
Aspen Art Museum
April 15 - May 9, 2010
- Walkthrough and conversation between Dave McKenzie and AAM Associate Curator Matthew Thompson: Thursday April 15th at 6pm
- Opening Reception: Thursday April 15th from 6-8pm
- Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Parade: July 4, 2010
  Dave McKenzie - I'll Be There (left); Keep On Pushin' (right)
(from the press release)
With a keen sense of the inherent problems often encountered in communications between artist and viewer, Dave McKenzie uses objects, actions, and an equally poignant sense of humor to bridge that divide. Using sculptures or paintings as proposed encounters—a dinner meeting, a specific appointment, or even a casual conversation—McKenzie transforms everyday interpersonal activities into artworks. Primarily existing without either documentation or even an audience, these actions are, as the artist puts it, “critical of the fact that, for the most part, we are totally oblivious to one another.”
While the traditional exhibition format can be seen as an unfolding through space during a fixed time, McKenzie’s exhibition at the Aspen Art Museum will unfold over time in a variety of spaces. In the AAM Lower Gallery, McKenzie will present a sprawling environmental installation. Comprised of nearly twenty boom boxes, two video projections, and three hand-made sculptures of refrigerator boxes in various stages of use, the work reflects on living in America, both at the cusp of a historic presidency and also shortly after that election. Colliding world music, political speech, and popular culture, McKenzie’s installation will function like reading the newspaper or watching the evening news and mapping the juxtaposition of stories, which reinforce each other at times and cancel each other out at others.
Combining the exhibition in the AAM Lower Gallery with the creation of a float for Aspen’s Old-Fashioned Fourth of July Parade, along with other actions, McKenzie’s Aspen exhibition will emphasize his ongoing interest in returning, revisiting, and addressing the temporal aspects of all relationships.
Dave McKenzie was born in 1977 in Kingston, Jamaica, and lives and works in New York. McKenzie has held residencies at the P.S.1 National Studio Program, New York (2001-02) and the Studio Museum in Harlem (2003-04), and has been featured in solo exhibitions at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston (2007); 40,000 Gallery, Chicago (2006); and Susanne Vielmetter Gallery, Los Angeles (2004); and Savage Art Resources, Portland, Oregon (2004). His work has also been included in significant group shows including Figuratively: William Cordova, Dave McKenzie, and William Cordova (2004) at The Studio Museum in Harlem; Down the Garden Path (2005) at the Queens Museum of Art, New York; and Listening to New Voices (2002) P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York. McKenzie was recipient of the 2005 William H. Johnson Prize for outstanding achievement by an African-American artist, as well as a Louis Comfort Tiffany Award in 2005.
Aspen Art Museum
590 North Mill Street
Aspen, CO 81611
970.925.8050
http://aspenartmuseum.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: March 31, 2010 |
Secrets of the Electric Illuminati: The Lyrics, Art & Toys of Ron English
Smokebrush (Colorado Springs)
April 2 – April 30, 2010
- Opening Reception: First Friday, April 2 from 5-8pm
 Ron English, Electric Illuminati Boy, Drawing
(from the press release)
Renowned New York street artist Ron English creates an enticing show of art & toys inspired by his lyrics for his collaborative band, The Electric Illuminati (an endeavor with Springs musician Jack Medicine). A limited edition screenprint made just for this exhibit will be unveiled and for sale. This is a superb opportunity to collect Ron English's work and have it signed by the artist! Additional events including a film screening & concert at Stargazers Theatre on April 3 supplement the exhibit (see below). The exhibition continues through April 30.
See more information about Ron English at http://www.popaganda.com
In addition, our partner Smokemuse Publishing brings you a special screening of the Abraham Obama documentary film - Saturday April 3, 4pm at Stargazers Theatre followed by music from The New Depressionists and The Electric Illuminati. Ron English will be available to sign copies of Abraham Obama: A Guerilla Tour Through Art and Politics. Tickets $12 at the door. For more information on this event, please visit http://www.songsinenglish.com or http://www.krcc.org. Also see www.abrahamobama.net for more information about the film and book project in which Smokebrush shared a part!
Smokebrush Foundation
Located under the Colorado Ave. Bridge in the Depot Arts District
218 West Colorado Avenue, Suite 111
Colorado Springs, C0 80903
719.444.1012
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 5pm
First Saturday of each month
http://www.smokebrush.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: March 24, 2010 |
CONFLICT | RESOLUTION
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
March 26 – June 20, 2010
 Danger Toy Love Gun by Sean O’Meallie
(from the press release)
The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center will explore the concept of Conflict | Resolution, a multidisciplinary project within the FAC’s three main areas of focus: performing arts, visual arts, and education, beginning in March.
The visual arts component of Conflict | Resolution will include three exhibitions in the Taylor Museum galleries and an installation of Chris Weed sculptures, March 26 – June 20.
 Spores by Chris Weed
- Danger Toy Love Gun by Sean O’Meallie
Danger is at play in Sean O’Meallie’s sculpture. The Colorado Springs artist reminds us that our childhood fascination with guns and bombs may not be something we so easily outgrow. But that is only the beginning of the narrative in this selection of O’Meallie’s work; he weaves us in, out, and around issues of national, individual, and artistic identity. In his exquisitely-crafted sculpture, O’Meallie celebrates the reconciliation of opposites, and despite his playfully familiar forms and bright colors, the artist draws our attention to the grayness of contemporary life’s struggles.
“These objects are meant to be enjoyed and to stimulate thought,” said O’Meallie. “They are dangerous, no doubt. My interest in the anatomy of physical forms and their underlying systems, and my background in toy inventing are melded in these objects along with whatever the world was pounding into my head at the time and should only be contemplated with extreme caution.”
 Bill Viola - Tempest
- Dealing with Difference: Domination/Compromise/Integration
“There are three ways of dealing with difference: domination, compromise, and integration,” said Mary Parker Follett, a conflict resolution expert. “By domination only one side gets what it wants; by compromise neither side gets what it wants; by integration we find a way by which both sides may get what they wish.”
Dealing with Difference will feature 20th and 21st century art that draws attention to selected aspects of conflict and resolution; aspects like war, terrorism, gender and cultural identity, poverty, and oppression.
“But the art is not a mere reflection of our struggles; it also frequently embodies the artists’ suggestions of human resilience and perseverance,” said Museum Director Blake Milteer. This exhibition features various media including many video pieces by Bill Viola, Tempest (Study for The Raft); Lorna Simpson, Easy to Remember; Walid Raad, We Can Make Rain But No One Came to Ask; and Jeremy Blake, Winchester Redux.
This series of works by Mexican artist Carlos Aguirre focuses on the role of the media as it communicates and responds to world conflict, specifically the events of 9/11 and its aftermath. This exhibition explores how words acquire new meaning and change the perception of events. By combining and juxtaposing texts from the actual press, Aguirre’s work revolves around the premeditated manipulation of language in the mass media and the role it plays in the political arena. One of the foremost figures in contemporary art in Mexico, Aguirre analyzes the distance between words and their meaning in his thought-provoking and exquisitely conceived objects and installations.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
30 West Dale Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
719.634.5583
http://www.csfineartscenter.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: March 17, 2010 |
JD Wellborn and Mark Castator
Winterowd Fine Art (Santa Fe)
March 19 - 31, 2010
- Artist Talk: Friday, March 19 at 4:30pm
- Opening Reception: Friday, March 19 from 5-7pm
 Denver's Space Gallery artist Mark Castator brings his metal sculptures down to Santa Fe - Pictured above: Mneme 1
Winterowd Fine Art
701 Canyon Road
Santa Fe, NM 87501
505.992.8878
http://www.fineartsantafe.com
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: February 10, 2010 |
Mark Bradford
February 12 - April 4, 2010
Group Exhibition: Disembodied
February 12 - April 11, 2010
Aspen Art Museum
- Public Reception: Thursday, February 11 from 6-8pm
  Mark Bradford - Untitled (left); Louise Bourgeois - Give or Take (right)
Solo exhibition with Los Angeles artist Mark Bradford
A curatorial selection of Bradford’s “Merchant Posters” —works on paper created from community-oriented billboards, signs, and advertising posters removed from fences in the artist’s L.A. neighborhood—will be on view in the museum’s Lower Gallery from Friday, February 12, through Sunday, April 4, 2010. A full-color catalogue will also be co-published by Aspen Art Press and Gregory R. Miller & Co., featuring essays by AAM Director and Chief Curator Heidi Zuckerman Jacobson, Los Angeles-based artist and writer Malik Gaines, Los Angeles-based cultural critic Ernest Hardy, and Dia Art Foundation Director Philippe Vergne.
Group exhibition Disembodied, featuring works by an intergenerational selection of historically significant artists known for their incisive investigations into the interaction between body and identity
Composed of a simple and literal premise—two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head—Disembodied offers visions of isolated, separated body parts as a fragmented, hallucinatory whole, colliding notions of corporeality, aging and experience within and without the body, and reflecting on the human form and the often complex relationships between mind and body. Disembodied highlights works by Louise Bourgeois, Berlinde de Bruyckere, Robert Gober, David Hammons, and Kiki Smith, as well as a selection of historical anatomical illustrations and sculpture.
Aspen Art Museum
590 North Mill Street
Aspen, CO 81611
970.925.8050
http://aspenartmuseum.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: February 10, 2010 |
DU Alumni: Past and Future
Teal Art Gallery (Breckenridge)
February 13 - March 5, 2010
- Opening Reception: Saturday, February 13th from 4-8pm
Teal Art Gallery is hosting a singularly unique art exhibition of DU Alumni on Saturday 13th of February. Artists from different graduating years, but similar educational experience, are coming together to show their art in a single exhibition. Already, the diversity of this show is making it a show that you won't want to miss. The unique personalities of University of Denver artists, and their more recent experiences shaping who they have become, will make for a positively fascinating evening of art, life and discussion.
Don't miss out on this opportunity to meet, and see and buy the art of these successful artists.
Featured Artists: Pat Aaron, Mark Brasuel, Cynthia Friedlob, Wendi Harford, Jennifer Hope, Joan MacDonald, Ray Maseman, Ira McMahon, Kathryn Oberdorfer, Michelle Rollman, Lindsey Stouffer, Elaine Tack, Honoring the art of Russel Bay McLayer
Teal Art Gallery
211A N. Main St.
Breckenridge, CO 80424
970.453.4020
http://tealartgallery.com
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: February 03, 2010 |
Point A: A Place to Start
GOCA 121 (Colorado Springs)
(from the press release)
POINT A: a place to start is the first exhibition scheduled at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs’ (UCCS) new downtown gallery, GOCA 121. This exhibition is the starting point for an ongoing discussion on contemporary art and culture, facilitated by UCCS. We don’t presume to know where these conversations will take us, we simply offer a place to start. POINT A features distinct installations by DeLane Bredvik, Corey Drieth and Izumi Yokoyama.
Each installation is a response to communal spaces and social conventions, both in content and design. The architecture of the space and the viewer’s physical relationship to the work creates a forum to discuss the content of each work. POINT A invites visitors into deliberately constructed environments in order to engage with the concepts each artist introduces. From the vapid allure of pop culture, to the battle between individuality and conformity, to a gently constructed personal narrative on family and play, POINT A challenges the viewer to first question and then articulate their place in each installation, by responding intellectually to content and physically to space.
GOCA has partnered with the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region (COPPeR) to present FEEDBACK, an opportunity for gallery visitors to participate in regional cultural planning efforts. The exercise asks visitors to respond to four questions about cultural opportunities, institutions, ideologies and practices in Colorado Springs. Responses from the project will not only inform future exhibitions at GOCA 121, but will also be valuable components to COPPeR’s cultural strategic planning efforts. More information about the planning process is available at www.coppercolo.org.
GOCA 121 was made possible by generous support from Nor’wood, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and GOCA members. For more information on the Gallery of Contemporary Art, visit http://www.galleryuccs.org/ Special thanks to COPPeR and NOSH for providing refreshments for the public reception.
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs located on Austin Bluffs Parkway in Colorado Springs, is one of the fastest growing universities in the nation. The University offers 30 bachelor’s degrees, 19 master’s and five doctoral degrees. The campus enrolls about 8,500 students annually.
ARTIST STATEMENTS
DeLane Bredvik | Art communicates knowledge about reality by utilizing a form of cognition that it not quantifiable. We feel, as well as think about a work of art. Consequently, a viewer may understand something new when looking at art, but not be able to describe it. This ephemeral process of feeling, thinking and understanding is the foundation for my work. A few months ago I read the ancient Greek play Bacchae by Euripides. Phrases describing the chorus, such as “Statuesque immobility,” “external simplicity,” and “a relatively static chorus,” captured my attention. The chorus “served to represent the broad foundation of timeless and popular views of life and to provide a background for motivation and commentary or advice on individual actions.” Even in the relatively open and free society that most people in the United States enjoy, there is still the continuous presence and pressure of society to conform to an ideal. The emergence of our character remains fluid and continuous. We understand who we are through daily association with things we come in contact with and those things that repel or attract us. Individuality and spiritual self-knowledge emerge despite the presence of a collective force that compels us to conform.
Corey Drieth | When I make installations and sculptures I am typically interested in the metaphorical use of common materials and objects. Placing slightly manipulated versions of these objects into the gallery context gives the viewer a opportunity to reconsider and expand on their meaning. For Point A, I will be exploring my ambivalent feelings about popular culture…the beauty, humor, spectacle, and exhausted vacancy of it. Ultimately, I hope to create spaces that sparkle and shine, but spaces that are also subtly malevolent or sad. Drieth is an assistant professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs.
Izumi Yokoyama | My work is always inspired by nature’s ephemeral and fantastic phenomena as well as the social activities that engage with them. I enjoy watching each season’s theatrical scenes such as cherry-blossom petals swirling in spring, lightning bugs dancing around in summer, red leaves softly fluttering down in fall, and snowfall in winter. Growing up in the northwest part of Japan, where snow was my playground, I have always dreamt of building Kamakura, an igloo-like snow house. Neighbors used to gather together to build snow houses for their children. They lit candles inside snow houses as kids sang songs and ate their favorite rice cakes inside. While we still enjoy seasonal gifts of nature, the activity of building Kamakura has become uncommon for today’s children. The installation for Point A illustrates moments of such fragile beauty and that reflects the importance of family gathering. Yokoyama was born in Japan and earned her MFA in sculpture from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2009. She lives and works in Los Angeles.
GOCA 121
121 S. Tejon, Suite 100
South Tower, Plaza of the Rockies
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
Mon-Fri: 10am - 8pm
http://www.galleryuccs.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: February 03, 2010 |
Extreme Ice Survey: The Photography of James Balog
Smokebrush Gallery (Colorado Springs)
February 5 – March 26, 2010
- Opening Reception: First Friday February 5th from 5-8pm
- First Saturday Hours: March 6th from Noon-5pm
 James Balog - Extreme Ice Survey, Ice In Disko Bay, Greenland
The Extreme Ice Survey (EIS) brings art and science together with stunningly sublime photographic imagery and time-lapse animations illustrating the rapid changes happening to Earth's glacial ice. It is at once visually captivating, educational, and compelling. And it is the perfect beginning to Smokebrush Gallery's 2010 programming.
EIS is the most wide-ranging glacier study ever conducted using ground-based, real-time photography. EIS uses time-lapse photography, conventional photography, and video to document the rapid changes now occurring on the Earth's glacial ice. James Balog and his EIS team have specially customized and installed 27 time-lapse cameras at 15 sites in Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, and the Rocky Mountains. EIS supplements this ongoing record with annual repeat photography in Iceland, the Alps, and Bolivia.
Mr. Balog recently presented his work at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen in December 2009, was featured on the cover of National Geographic and was recently appointed as the ECO-Ambassador to SAMSUNG for the Vancouver Olympics, and his one-hour documentary will release this Spring on PBS's NOVA. These credentials merely support the value and timeliness of this contemporary image-maker's work. Although the science world has given Mr. Balog more attention than the art world at this point, the work itself shares no exclusive borders with either world and certainly stands up on its own in the gallery and museum settings.
Smokebrush Foundation
Located under the Colorado Ave. Bridge in the Depot Arts District
218 West Colorado Avenue, Suite 111
Colorado Springs, C0 80903
719.444.1012
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 5pm
First Saturday of each month
http://www.smokebrush.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: January 03, 2010 |
38 Degrees Latitude… Crossing the Lines
Sangre de Cristo Arts Center - Hoag Gallery (Pueblo)
January 9 - April 24, 2010
 Justin Reddick - The Naked Player Reddick is one of the members of "38 Degrees Latitude" a group creating new works specifically for this exhibit
(from the press release)
Crossing the Lines: Exploring American Values through the Lens of Contemporary Art consists of all new works by the collective artists of 38 Degrees Latitude. The exhibit examines a wide assortment of past and present events and issues that have helped define and change American values. The artists of 38 Degrees Latitude intend to document and interpret through their own lens the significance of these events. A variety of media/mediums are used to depict some of the topics of mental illness, corporate America, art/culture, music, war/politics, prostitution, greed, the Obama administration, women’s rights, and poverty.
38 Degrees Latitude is a collective group of seasoned contemporary artists who have come together in hopes of igniting a spark within the local art scene in and around southern Colorado. Their primary mission is to give the community something unique, powerful and relevant to experience. Furthermore, 38 Degrees Latitude wants to give emerging artists a place to be seen and heard.
Sangre de Cristo Arts Center
Hoag Gallery
210 N Santa Fe Ave
Pueblo, CO 81003
719.295.7200
Tue-Sat: 11am - 4pm
http://www.sdc-arts.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: December 16, 2009 |
NASA | ART: 50 Years of Exploration
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
December 19, 2009 - March 7, 2010
- Opening Celebration: Friday December 18 from 5-7pm
- Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in cooperation with the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum
 William Wegman - Chip
30 West Dale Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
719.634.5583
http://www.csfineartscenter.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: December 09, 2009 |
Kris Martin and Claire Fontaine
Aspen Art Museum
December 10, 2009 to January 24, 2010
- Public reception with the artists: Thursday, December 10 from 6-8pm
- Claire Fontaine exhibit continues until January 31 in the Upper Gallery
 Artist collective Claire Fontaine - 2009
(from the press release)
The Aspen Art Museum is proud to present the first U.S. museum solo exhibition to feature an entirely new body of work by Belgium-based artist Kris Martin, and first U.S. museum exhibition of Paris-based collective artist Claire Fontaine.
Martin’s exhibition will remain on view through Sunday, January 24, 2010 in the AAM Lower Gallery; Claire Fontaine’s After Marx April After Mao June in the AAM Upper Gallery through January 31, 2009.
Kris Martin creates objects in which the ideas and the materials are carefully refined to explore and emphasize time— its passage and its relationship to faith, aging, and to our self-conception and sense of mortality. Martin’s AAM exhibition features eight large, human-height boulders, their apexes marked by tiny paper crosses. This shift of scale and perspective turn the rocks into mountains, their cracks into crevasses and their highest points into symbols of arduous accomplishment. Also included is Martin’s artist book, Idiot (2005). Printed to resemble a pocket bible, the book consists of Martin’s hand transcription of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s 1868 novel The Idiot in which he has replaced the name of the book’s protagonist with his own. In so doing, the work becomes both an unconventional self-portrait and an extreme act of adulation in which Martin identifies with Myshkin's desire for spiritual transformation. In addition to conventional distribution, the book has also been placed in hotel rooms throughout Aspen, including: the Annabelle Inn, Hotel Aspen, Hotel Durant, Hotel Jerome, Hotel Lenado, Innsbruck Inn, Limelight Lodge, The Little Nell, Mountain Chalet, Molly Gibson Lodge, Mountain House Lodge, the St. Moritz, St. Regis Resort, Aspen, and Sky Hotel.
Founded in 2004, Claire Fontaine works in such diverse media as neon, video, sculpture, painting, and text to create neo-conceptual art that interrogates the very position of the artist within culture at large. Through her practice, she questions the political impotency that characterizes much contemporary art today. The title of the exhibition, After Marx April After Mao June, is taken from a slogan that appeared on a wall in Bologna, Italy, in 1977 during the political and cultural revolution that took place there that year. The exhibition includes the work Passe-Partout (Aspen-Leurre), (2009), a sculpture composed of handmade lock-picks associated with fishing flies, lures, and hooks used in the rivers of Colorado, as well as a neon sign, mounted on the exterior of the AAM that reads Foreigners Everywhere in the Ute language. * Foreigners Everywhere belongs to a series of Claire Fontaine works in different languages that refer to the fact that the concept “foreigner” is dependent on context. The light emitted from the neon serves as a silent reminder of a time when the woods were inhabited only by the indigenous native “Indians”—a time before colonization.
Kris Martin was born in 1972 and is based in Ghent, Belgium. Solo shows include P.S.1, MoMA, New York (2007). Group shows include Traces du sacré, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2008); Passengers, Wattis Institute for Contemporary Art, San Francisco (2007); Learn to Read, Tate Modern, London (2007); and Of Mice and Men: 4th Berlin Biennial for Contemporary Art (2006). Kris Martin is organized by the Aspen Art Museum and funded in part by the AAM National Council. Exhibition lectures are presented by the Questrom Lecture Series.
Claire Fontaine is Fulvia Carnevale and James Thornhill, whose recent exhibitions include Arbeit Macht Kapital, Kubus, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus und Kunstbau, München; They Hate Us For Our Freedom, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis; Lucky In The Misfortune, Maison Descartes, Institut Français des Pays-Bas, Amsterdam; Feux de Détresse, Galerie Chantal Crousel, Paris; The Exhibition Formerly Known as Passengers, CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco. Claire Fontaine is organized by the Aspen Art Museum and funded in part by the AAM National Council. Exhibition lectures are presented by the Questrom Lecture Series. * The Utes are an ethnically related group of Native Americans now living primarily in Utah and Colorado. The native Ute language belongs to the Numic division of the Uto-Aztecan family of languages and is a dialect of Southern Numic. However, most current Utes speak only English.
Aspen Art Museum
590 North Mill Street
Aspen, CO 81611
970.925.8050
http://aspenartmuseum.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: November 29, 2009 |
Eco-Art Market
Smokebrush (Colorado Springs)
December 4 – December 23, 2009
- Opening Reception: Friday December 4 from 5-8pm
 Chase DeForest, Garden Hose Basket, Woven garden hose with zip ties
(from the press release)
Eco-Art Market - A Gift Market Unlike Any Other!
Join us First Friday, December 4 from 5 to 8pm for the opening reception of our unique approach to the holiday gift market. Our Eco-Art Market features all Colorado-made, eco-friendly, one-of-a-kind decorative, wearable and functional artworks priced & sized for today's gift giver. All work is made with a better world in mind. 100% of the proceeds support Colorado artists and your local Smokebrush Foundation for the Arts. The market continues through December 23. See extended shopping hours listed below. The well-made and exciting eco-minded work of over twenty Colorado artists comes together in one amazing gift buying market at the Smokebrush Gallery this December!
- Chris Behm (Co Spgs) – Repurposed bicycle part belts and jewelry for men
- Janet Burgar (Co Spgs) – felted fleece purses, pocket books, eyeglass holders, cell phone holders, and jewelry
- Juanita Canzoneri (Co Spgs) – Recycled glass ornaments, knitted video tape purses
- Jocelyn Childs (Denver) – Repurposed vinyl banner tote bags and reusable fabric gift wrap
- Chase DeForest (Denver) - Garden Hose Baskets and Hose Clamp Jewelry
- Jimmy Descant the Rocketman (Salida) – Assemblage artwork
- Elisabethan LLC (Paonia) – Upcycled fabric wearables
- Lin Fife (Co Spgs) – Upcycled fabric Tunics
- Jennifer Ghormley (Denver) – Recycled printmaking paper journals & sketchbooks
- HJ's Hats (Cresed Butte) – Upcycled fabric hats for hipsters
- Sarah Hope (Co Spgs) – Upcycled material jewelry
- Deanna Hood (Denver) – Assemblage jewelry
- Keith Jive (Denver) – Graffiti on found object artwork
- Kellybeth Designs (Denver) – Upcycled credit card/gift card jewelry
- Liz McCombs (Denver) – Assemblage and ceramic artwork
- Daisy McConnell (Co Spgs) – Encaustic (beeswax) paintings
- Holly Parker (Co Spgs) – Burlap & Beeswax paintings, wine bottle pendant lamps
- Ryan Rosburg, Community Carbon Project (Denver) – Beer/vodka bottle tumbler/rocks glasses
- Kat & Bob Tudor (Co Spgs) – Found object sculptures
- LuDel Walter (Co Spgs) – Handmade paper ornaments and embellished gourds
- Barb Ziek (Co Spgs) – Hand dyed, Hand Felted Alpaca Wool wearables & objects
Gallery Admission: FREE – But donations are graciously accepted - Even a $5 Helps Keep Us Alive!
Extended Holiday Hours:
- Fri. Dec. 4, 5pm – 8pm
- Sat. Dec. 5, 12pm – 5pm
- Sat. Dec. 12, 12pm – 5pm
- Sat. Dec. 19, 12pm – 5pm
- Monday – Friday (Dec. 7 – 23), 11am – 6pm
Smokebrush is located in the Depot Arts District under the Colorado Avenue Bridge
Smokebrush Foundation
Located under the Colorado Ave. Bridge in the Depot Arts District
218 West Colorado Avenue, Suite 111
Colorado Springs, C0 80903
719.444.1012
Mon-Fri: 12pm - 5pm
First Saturday of each month
http://www.smokebrush.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: September 09, 2009 |
Bold: Photography by Diego Lama
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center - Steiner Gallery
September 11 – December 6, 2009
(from the press release)
This series of six panoramic photographs from Peruvian artist Diego Lama were taken in Lima in 2007. The large format works featuring dramatic, theatrical atmospheres emphasize a contrast between the bodies and the perfectly organized spaces. Solitary figures seem out of place in various stylized areas. Lama describes the series as a testimony about the cultural politics in Peru. The spaces he chose to photograph are all part of cultural institutions of restricted access.
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
30 West Dale Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
719.634.5583
http://www.csfineartscenter.org
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Written by Ken Hamel
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Posted: September 09, 2009 |
Personal Paradise: Contemporary Perspectives on Landscape Painting
Colorado Springs Fine Art Center - El Pomar Gallery
September 11 – December 6, 2009
- Artist Panel: Saturday, October 3, 11am
- Curator’s Tour: Tuesday, November 17, 6pm
 Julia Fernandez-Pol - Cerebro
If you missed Julia Fernandez-Pol's excellent show at van Straaten Gallery back in 2008, the trek down to the springs is well worth the effort to catch up with her latest work featured as part of the CSFAC's Personal Paradise: Contemporary Perspectives on Landscape Painting. Pol's dense colors are lavishly slapped layer upon layer on canvas forming organic, rorschach-esque visions of flowers, animals, landscapes and the human anatomy (see "Cerebro" above, a distinct peek into the literal and figurative mind.)
Also on display is the work of Montana based Theodore Waddell whose work can be seen here in Denver at Visions West in LoDo, along with Eric Perez from Mexico and Native American artist Kay WalkingStick. - KLH
Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
30 West Dale Street
Colorado Springs, CO 80903
719.634.5583
http://www.csfineartscenter.org
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