Nick Cave Gives Exactly What You Want
(Photo by Tyler Beard) Since I put my journalistic hat on the shelf over a year ago I was a bit surprised when I received an invitation to attend the media preview for Nick Cave’s exhibition Sojourn at the Denver Art Museum. Was this a clerical mistake? Inviting a journalistic apostate turned art dealer to a sacred press junkit seemed akin to letting a fox browse the hen house. Still, I felt the early private look at Cave’s work, which I’ve been following for a number of years, was worth any potential embarrassment when the media relations staff saw me and realized their blunder. Besides it wouldn’t be the first time I crashed a party.However, when I arrived ...Read more
Interview with Liz Miller
Liz Miller, who recently visited Denver and filled David B. Smith Gallery with a lively installation, agreed to do an interview with me about her process. Here is what we discovered. Becky Jewell: Your installation at David B. Smith was conducted with Clyfford Still in mind. Have you done other installations like this? Do your installations often take inspiration from artists or sites? Liz Miller: The work of other artists is certainly inspiring to me, but is not usually a direct source of inspiration for my installations. I am much more likely to find inspiration in non-art sources. I’ve recently been fascinated with weapons, and many of my proj...Read more
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
filed under: comics
tags: comics gunnerkrigg court tom siddell the walking dead robert kirkman charlie adlard christian ward image comics archaia art speigelman infinite vacation loose ends comic chris brunner
Adventures in Pixiv
Pixiv is the deviantArt of Japan. Except, it is better. Well, sort of. The cool thing about Pixiv is that its top-ranked illustrators eventually get to throw their own themed art shows, or they get to participate in an attractive, user-generated limelight. Online art communities that swiftly and obsessively encourage brick-and-mortar efforts are uncommon: it’s a business model that should, in effect, work wonders. But it is tough to pull off. Hoping to become more internationally-minded, I joined Pixiv last year to see how the community worked. Immediately I can admit that not everything on the site is clearly navicable for an American, ...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
Au: Exchange at Redline
Gold has always been fascinating, and it is especially fascinating in a recession that touts the rare element as recession-proof. Money is so tight right now, or so we hear. Fittingly, in this money-themed show, not much seemed too extravagant. I wouldn't characterize any single piece as a splurge, but rather as calculated, spare, and elegant work. On opening night, the show had a gold and beige color, overall. Nothing stood out color-wise, and perhaps for this reason, each piece demands its own singular, committed attention. The premise for the show is simple: Each Redline artist was granted a 2.5 bar of gold to use for this exhibition. Whether the artists sold the gold t...Read more
REMEMBERING 9/11: Trough the art of children
As we near the the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, we reflect on how this tragic event as inspired art; more specifically how it has influenced the art of the youth. The images in this blog all come from a book titles The Day Our World Changed: Children’s Art of 9/11 featuring paintings by nearly 200 children (toddlers to teens) who lost a loved one in the attacks on New York City’s World Trade Center on February 26, 1993, and September 11, 2001. Thus book is was put together thanks to Robin Goodmen the author of this inspiring book. In many way the results of this attack not only effected the adult population as well as created a life changing the feature of the chi...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
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