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ON VIEW
Several weeks remain to visit the Denver Art Museum exhibition “Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Mexican Modernism,” a traveling show that explores the Mexican modernism movement through various artistic mediums. Timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the end of the Mexican Revolution, the exhibition explores themes of independence and national identity through more than 150 post-revolution artworks by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and their contemporaries, including Lola Álvarez Bravo, Gunther Gerzso, María Izquierdo and Carlos Mérida. Highlights include seven of Kahlo’s selfportraits; Mérida’s bold, geometric works, including Festival of the Birds; and Rivera’s original works, including his beloved Portrait of Natasha Gelman (right). Also on view are large displays of Rivera’s iconic fresco murals, politically charged works of public art commissioned by the post-revolution government to educate, inspire and reunify Mexico’s population. The exhibition closes January 24. denverartmuseum.org
POST MASTER @HILUXEINTERIORS
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WHO: Interior designer Lindsay Hendrix, principal of Denverbased Hi-Luxe Interiors, prides herself on helping clients finetune their unique aesthetics in a sophisticated, put-together way. When it comes to her style, she’s like a kid in a candy shop. “I love midcenturymodern design and think that style can go with just about anything,” she says, “but I also love Asian design and classic farmhouse elements. Maybe you could call that eclectic?”
where she shares the products and makers she discovers every day while sourcing furnishings and accessories from around the world.
WHAT: Hendrix uses her feed to share spaces that spark her creativity and design ideas from her completed residential projects. It’s also a treasure trove of decor finds from Hendrix’s Hi-Luxe Boutique, an online shop
IN HER WORDS: “The purpose of my feed is to inspire. When someone tells me that they saw a post from my Instagram account that they loved, or that they want to model their new space around, that’s a win in my book.”
WHY: Hendrix is a self-described sucker for neutral furniture pieces layered with colorful, texture-rich accents (think mintgreen walls, vibrant decorative tiles, and even a bit of macramé), and you will be too after browsing her feed filled with light and lively rooms. There’s a bit of drama to be found here, too, from sweeping murals to high-contrast color combinations.
on view photo: portrait of natasha gelman, 1943, © 2020 banco de mexico diego rivera frida kahlo museums trust, photo by gerardo suter. post master photos: top and bottom left, courtesy hi-luxe interiors; bottom right, libbie holmes.
“FRIDA KAHLO, DIEGO RIVERA, AND MEXICAN MODERNISM”
DISPATCH DESIGN
COVE GOODS, ROAM COMMON AND STUDIO MARCETTE In 2014, entrepreneur and Denver transplant Lee Mayer began her takeover of the digital design space by co-founding Havenly, an online alternative to traditional interior design services that digitally delivers custom decorating ideas. Now she’s making her next big move: launching three new Havenly-curated home brands. Here, Mayer shares the details with Luxe. havenly.com What inspired you to enter the home goods marketplace? We learn so much every day from our clients and designer base about what they are looking for in the market. This helped us see trends in design early on and identify gaps in the marketplace. The natural next step was to curate home brands offering on-trend goods at approachable price points to better serve our customers. Tell us about the new collections. One of our most popular styles is the quintessential California-casual vibe, with a relaxed yet refined quality that feels as lovely as it is livable. We introduced Cove Goods as our interpretation of the Pacific-natural lifestyle, paying homage to new coastal design with neutral colors, woven textiles and timeless details. Roam Common is all about la vie bohème. Inspired by free-spirited style, the line features organic textures, globally inspired motifs and pops of vibrant color. And we created Studio Marcette to infuse everyday luxury into our clients’ homes; it combines trending patterns, rich textures and clean lines to make any space feel a little more glamorous. At Havenly, we call the inspiration behind this brand “Parisian Modern”—a mix of ornate details and modern sensibilities.
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photos: top, courtesy roam common; portrait and bottom, courtesy cove goods; bedroom vignette, courtesy studio marcette.
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TALKING SHOP CODA STUDIO
MEET THE MAKER JULIE MAREN
After years of painting, stone-carving and textile design, Boulder-based artist Julie Maren decided to take her work directly onto the wall. “Biophilia,” her latest body of work, features sculptural “paintings” that play with shape, color theory, microscopic and macroscopic perspectives—and unconventional materials. juliemaren.com What prompted your shift from canvas to walls? When I realized that what I was most interested in was the patterns of dots that appeared throughout my paintings, I began thinking of ways to extract them. I use many layers in my paintings to create the illusion of depth, and I was also thinking about how I could create actual depth. “Biophilia” achieves those goals with an unusual material. The sculptures are composed of acorn caps filled with paint and other materials, including mica, rubber, glass and crystals. In my quest to take my paintings off the canvas, I applied for and was awarded a monthlong residency at Weir Farm in Wilton,
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Connecticut, through the National Park Service’s artist-in-residence program. There, I took long walks in the woods, looking at the millions of tiny acorn tops carpeting the path. They were little canvases, discarded by nature! You describe these sculptures as a sort of 3D pointillism. Each piece is like an individual painting, and the Biophilia appear as bouncing dots of color. Projected at different depths on the wall, they play with visual perception and cast shadows, which shift throughout the day, making the Biophilia feel almost alive. I find satisfaction in recycling and reanimating discarded natural material into new, seductive organisms.
meet the maker photos: top left and bottom, karl uschold; top right, dona laurita. talking shop photos: andrew clark.
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Denver may be a long way from California’s sunny shores, but the Malibu-born home-goods boutique Coda Studio has found some common ground, which it celebrates through a collection of bespoke modern furnishings that embody a chic, laid-back glamour. “We love combining natural textures and exotic woods, which bring warmth to the modern furnishings,” says architect Angela Feddersen. She owns and operates the brand’s first outpost, which opened in Denver’s Cherry Creek North shopping district last February (an Aspen location debuted in late 2020). Coda Denver’s customizable furnishings are designed to reflect Colorado’s natural surroundings, aesthetic and indooroutdoor lifestyle, and include upholstered, metal and wood pieces handmade in Los Angeles using sustainable, Southern California-sourced materials whenever possible. A stylish selection of accessories, including art, textiles and lighting, highlights Colorado makers, “bringing a unique personality and story to each piece,” Feddersen says. Full design services are also available to those clients looking to infuse every inch of their homes with Coda’s particular brand of cool. coda.studio