denver | centric march/april 2013
THE MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY
KAHN & SELESNICK TRUPPE FLEDERMAUS AND THE CARNIVAL AT THE END OF THE WORLD
1740 Wazee St. Denver, CO 80202
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Beau Carey
M a g d a l e n e Fj o r d , o i l on ca n va s , 4 8 ”
x 60”
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1 2 5 5 D e l a wa r e S t., D e n v e r, C o l o ra d o 8 0 2 0 4 3 0 3 . 5 73 .1 2 55
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Ke n n e d y ( 7. 3 ) , 2 01 3 , o i l o n c a n va s , 2 2 ” x 1 8 ”
Monique Crine G REY TOWERS A pr i l 1 9 - J u n e 1 , 2 0 1 3
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denver centric magazine
12 | onview beau carey
March - April 2013
contents
13 | onview picture society 14 | onview abbas khajeaian
40 | space editor william biety
16 | onview a little piece of picasso
42 | fineart blue chip vs. emerging
18 | art jenny gummersall 20 | art andrea kemp 22 | art john fielder’s colorado & denver photo art gallery
THE MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY
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P u bl ish e r & E di tor
Richard Kalisher SPACE Editor:
William Biety Fo od & Tr av e l E ditor:
Justine Freeman
Art Collecting Columnist :
Astrid Oviedo Clark
C on t ri bu t i n g W ri t e rs: C h r i sti n e Bu c h s b au m Jam e s D u li n L au r a Gr i er He at h er Hol d en C op y E di tor Ron S amp s on
Design • Editor-at-large
Eric Kalisher
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Adve r t is i ng In for mat i on : R i chard Ka lishe r 5 6 1 - 5 4 2 - 6 0 2 8 | a dve r t is i ng@ d e nve rc e nt r ic. com © 2 0 1 3 R . K . Graph i c s / C it y C e nt r i c Me di a . A l l R i g ht s R e s e r ve d.
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Jeanine McCollom
Jesse Hernandez
Martin Bell
834 Santa Fe Drive Denver, CO 80204 303-780-9709 tdsop.com
The Denver School of Photography is Denver’s leading independent school for the study of photography. We are located in the heart of the Santa Fe Arts District. Join us for an exceptional learning experience.
denveronview
This past fall, Beau Carey was part of an Artist Residency program in the Arctic Circle through ArcticCircle.org. He spent several weeks aboard the tall ship Antigua in Svalbard. From the ship he would venture out into the high Arctic elements to explore and paint. This body of work, on view at Goodwin Fine Art, is the culmination of those explorations and expeditions. Carey has been painting landscape-based work for the past ten years. He often works in series, starting with an element of the landscape to delve into and distill into his own signature style of painting. When he first arrived in Colorado he chose Rocky Flats as his point of departure. An area declared a superfund site in 1989. While Carey’s landscapes easily entice the viewer, there can be an ominous forebod-
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ing as in the painting Colorado Sarin. He says his work “has always dealt with the question of how to represent landscape in a way that is both visually engaging and critically aware of important issues surrounding land use.” A recent series of work included a nod to the 19th century Hudson River School of artists, such as Bierstadt and Moran. An earlier New Mexico series underscores the impact of the topography and geography that surrounds the artist. The paintings are filled with vanishing horizon lines and big skies of phosphorescent gradient color. Carey considers the under-painting as a critical part to the finished piece to the extent that a frame can be seen as intrusive in its effort to conceal the dripping washes of color seen along the sides of the
BEAU CAREY
stretcher bar. This current body of work contains the same underpinnings that previous series have possessed, as disparate as they may seem, a similar current of light and mystery runs through them. Carey moved to Denver from the desert southwest in 2010 and was Artist in Residence at RedLine in Denver from 2010-2012. He received his M.F.A. from the University of New Mexico in 2010. Beau Carey’s “Fat Morgana: Notes from the Artic Circle” will be on view at Goodwin Fine Art from March 1 through April 13. For more informaiton, visit goodwinfineart.com
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PICTURE SOCIETY Picture Society was founded by Sarah LaVigne, photo editor at 5280 Magazine to showcase bodies of work from renowned and emerging photographers around the world. LaVigne holds an MFA in Photography from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York and worked as the photo editor at National Geographic Adventure, Men’s Journal, Best Life, and SKI magazines. She curates photography exhibitions and does portfolio reviews across the Southwest region and curated “In Query” for Space Gallery. Picture Society films are co-curated by Julia Vandenoever formerly the photo editor at Backpacker, Skiing and Outside magazines. Picture Society is presenting a multi-media film and photographic exhibition for the Month of Photography at Space Gallery in Denver on March 15. The slideshow, “Picture Society: Month of Photography” happens at 8:30 pm and features the narrative fine art photography of Nancy Baron, Chris Buck, Rania Matar, Alvaro Deprit, and Gregory Spaid set to music with audio dialogue and descriptions by the photographers overlaid creating a 40-minute fine
art film. An artist’s reception for the accompanying exhibition “In Query” happens from 6-10 pm and features the works of previous Picture Society participants: Jonathan Blaustein, Benjamin Rasmussen, Annie Marie Musselman and Dave Woody. “In Query,” the visual exhibition of works by Blaustein (from the print exhibition 2012), Rasmussen (from Picture Society slideshow 2012), Musselman (from Picture Society slideshow 2011) and Woody (from the print exhibition 2011) is a collection of images exploring the human condition and identity through possessions, place and home, injured wildlife and the intimate closeness of a portrait. Each artist is showing a complete body of work focused on an individual query or question (see below).
Dave Woody — “Portraits”
Annie Marie Musselman — “Finding Trust” Benjamin Rasmussen —“Home” Benjamin Rasmussen is a photographer based in Denver, Colorado. He spent his childhood with an indigenous group of people on an island in the southern Philippines, his university years with evangelicals in a small town in northern Arkansas, and a year with the descendants of Vikings in the Faroe Islands, a nation of 45,000 residents in the middle of the North Atlantic. His photographs explore the notion of place and home and he utilizes his nephew as a stand-in for self-portrait in the series.
Her first personal project, “Finding Trust,” began 7 years ago at a wildlife sanctuary near Seattle. It has been featured in several magazines and exhibitions. “I strive to confront the destructive side of human impact on the survival of all wild creatures,” Musselman says. Currently she is working on a project photographing animals in specific sanctuaries around the world to raise awareness of the fragility and beauty of endangered/indicator species – animals which if saved, would save countless other species as well.
Woody investigates how we present ourselves to the world through the clothes we wear, the make-up and the sense of self-image. “It's a desire on my part to find a softness in people behind their presentation of self to the world,” Woody says. His camera lingers on a rumpled bit of clothing, or an imperfection in skin, which allows the viewer to get a sense of the person behind the image. The images are meant in size (about lifesized) and clarity to feel as if the person photographed has allowed the viewer to enter their personal space and to sit with them in an intimate closeness. A rare opportunity.
Jonathan Blaustein – “Mine” “Everything you see in these photographs is mine. My farm. My property. My nature. I own it,” Blaustein writes. Blaustein mined the natural resources on his land in northern New Mexico for a year and removed the artifacts to his studio and fabricated the animals and objects into sculptures to be photographed, turning them into products and commodities. He envisions this series of photographs as the first products offered by the Blaustein Mining Company, the artist’s corporate alter ego. As such, “Mine” is an ongoing project and the images are a direct representation of both the artists’ creative practice and the capitalistic behavior through which society extracts from the Earth for material gain.
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ABBAS KHAJEAIAN
“When love sets you aflame, seek your resurrection in the ashes!” This poetic statement from Iranian-born artist Abbas Khajeaian describes how he has come to abstract painting: by means of Persian poetry and East/West philosophy. He believes that colors and textures are the ashes from which an artist is resurrected again and again. His inspiration has roots in Persian miniature paintings and the colors of Iranian life. There seems no limit to the talent and inspiration of Abbas Khajeaian. He moved to the United States in the early 1960’s and with a Ph.D. in education, worked as a professor until he was sidelined with a stroke in 1997. He taught himself mosaic art and, with one hand, set about beautifying the outdoor living space of his home. He opened Kashi Kari Gallery with his daughter Roya in 2003 where they created custom mosaic sculpture and furniture. He remains a denizen of the vibrant Art District on Santa Fe where his artistic mix has more recently expanded to poetry and painting. His work can also be seen at Café Byblos at 4th and Corona streets in Denver. An exhibition of Abbas Khajeaian’s work, entitled Colors of Spring: Poetic Abstraction Artwork is on view at Niza Knoll Gallery from March 29 - April 27. For more info, visit nizaknollgallery.com
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Artist Pablo Picasso is quoted as saying “a good artist copies, a great artist steals.” One of Picasso’s most famous works, the politically motivated work entitled Guernica was painted as an immediate reaction to the Nazi's devastating casual bombing practice on the Basque town of Guernica during Spanish Civil War. Access Gallery Resident artist Javier Flores and his team of artworks artists was angered that in December of 2012, the US blocked a United Nations treaty to ban discrimination against people with disabilities. Their immediate reaction was to channel their feelings into the creation of the fourteen-foot long Guernica inspired piece entitled REALLY? that depicts Braille writing, a blind person and his guide dog and Bob Dole rolling over in his grave (he was instrumental in passing the Americans with Dis-
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“A LITTLE PIECE OF PICASSO”
abilities Act in 1990). Artists from VSA Colorado’s ArtWorks program are exhibiting this powerful piece, and other works influenced by the prolific artist in “A Little Piece of Picasso.” The show runs in conjunction with the DCPA’s theatric production of “A Weekend with Pablo Picasso” at The Ricketson Theatre in Denver. Playwright Herbert Siguenza and his creative team will be at the opening reception to meet and greet visitors to the exhibit. In preparation, the ArtWorks artists studied Picasso paintings, sculptures and quotes as they looked into the creative mind of one of the most controversial and flamboyant artists of all time. Then, using street art, graffiti, and stencils as the mediums, the artists re-visited some of Picasso’s greatest pieces, giving them a modern twist. Participating artists include Javier Flores, Alan Marquez, Irvin Villasenor, Tony Torres, A.J. Kiel, Luiza Martin and Jareth Charles, The play “A Weekend with Pablo Picasso,” is a conversation with Picasso about the pressure he is feeling over a weekend to produce work very quickly to satisfy the world’s growing appetite for
his work. Drawing on the writings of iconic artist Pablo Picasso, playwright/performer Herbert Siguenza of LA’s Culture Clash creates a spirited celebration of the prolific artist’s life, featuring a sparkling portrayal—and live, onstage painting. The play runs March 22 -April 28, 2013 at The Ricketson Theatre in Denver. The ArtWorks Program helps teens develop economic opportunities and solid, marketable job skills to help manage their disability or other challenges and become more self-sufficient. Additionally the “Studio Gallery” at Access is hosting "Homage" a study of another Spanish Artist, Eduardo Chillida. Adults with developmental disabilities from the Colorado Easter Seals Society Explorers Group studied Chillida for 8 weeks and then created works to pay homage to this unique artist. The contrast between the graphic colorful images, in the Picasso inspired show and the subdued nature of the works paying homage to Chillida make for a wonderful contrast. VSA Colorado/Access Gallery is an inclusive nonprofit organization that engages the community by opening doors to creative and educational opportunities for people with disabilities to access and experience the arts. For more information, visit accessgallery.org.
denver.art
JENNY GUMMERSALL
Jenny Gummersall’s images of horses, natural objects and landscapes present an enduring and iconic vision of the West. But while the subject matter is familiar, Jenny’s photographs abstract the shapes into unfamiliar forms. This is seen clearly in her horse abstract series where the extreme close-up view of the manes, backs and faces of these animals are transformed to suggest landscapes, dance, or other purely natural scenes. Gummersall’s work is inspired by illuminated forms, driven by "writing" with light, coupled with a constant close observation of her environment. There is a strong desire to share with the viewer the interchange of what is presented to her lens. From her earliest days in the darkroom, at just 3 years old, she has "studied" life with a unique eye for the normal being transformed into the unusual. A graduate of the University of New Mexico, Gummersall's love of the West was first inspired by the New Mexico light. Her mentor, the late Professor Reinhold Misselbeck, then Curator of Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany encouraged Jenny to photograph her present surroundings so as to share those expert technical abilities with her passion of "drawing with light". For over 3 decades, Jenny Gummersall’s photographic work has been exhibited by galleries and collected throughout the US and abroad by private individuals, corporations and museums. Jenny's work may be viewed in fine art galleries and collections in Aspen, Chicago, Oklahoma, Telluride, Denver, Dallas/Fort Worth, Scottsdale and California to name a few. She is married to Abstract artist C. Gregory Gummersall. They live on a ranch near Durango, Colorado. Together they raised three boys who are all finding success in the arts.
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In Denver, Gummersall’s work is represemted by Goodwin Fire Art. For more information, visit goodwinfineart. com/pages/JennyGummersall.html or artphotoindex.com/JennyGummersall
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denver.art
Paul Gauguin once said, “Painting is the most beautiful of all arts.” Andrea Kemp’s evolving work evokes a poignant intimacy and moments of quiet grace that prove the truth of Gauguin’s perspective. Whether a delicately rendered reclining nude sensuously enfolded in bed sheets, a luscious scattering of cherries across a tablecloth, or an unassuming single blossom in a plain pottery container, Kemp’s paintings contain a seed of wonder at nature’s bounty. Kemp’s talent and drive became clear from her earliest years. While still in high school, an important stroke of luck allowed her to study with the highly recognized master painter Daniel Sprick. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Andrea says. “Not only did he give me the best possible foundation in painting and drawing, but his extraordinary work ethic has had a lasting impact.” Following graduation, the artist studied at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Olde Lyme, CT, for two years and then, homesick for her beloved Rocky Mountains, completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Utah in 2002. Kemp grew up in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, immersed in a creative environment and influenced by her artistically and musically inclined mother and grandmother. Today, Andrea, who describes herself as a naturalistic artist, chooses to depict realistic subject matter with an eloquence and integrity that draws admirers in
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ANDREA KEMP
any setting. Her attention to accuracy and detail are notable, yet her paintings push beyond simple realism to reveal a profound inner beauty in humble objects and ordinary human beings—a characteristic of all of her work. With her still lifes, Andrea moves beyond the usual bowl and fruit, which often reference what has been painted historically. She strives to avoid romanticizing her subjects, instead digging beneath the surface to find their unique abstract essence. Having built her skills on exceptional draftsmanship, the artist is adroit at translating any three-dimensional subject to the two-dimensional plane. As Daniel Sprick says, “Andrea Kemp doesn’t know that a particular thing can’t be done—she just does it. From the age of sixteen she has been able to see into the core of any painting challenge, distill it to its essentials, and make a beautiful artwork with cerebral content and true soul.” Perhaps best known for her figurative work, Kemp’s paintings of women are especially sensitive—flesh tones glow, compositions show us private moments as though the subjects have been caught unaware—they hint at a story yet to be discovered. These paintings invite the viewer in, allowing room for wonder and speculation. When talking about her process and her subject matter, the artist reveals she does not begin with a detailed drawing. She might make a few marks on the canvas to indicate scale, but then
proceeds abstractly, very loosely all over the painting, working from the very general to the more specific. “It’s always a journey,” she says. “Subject matter is a big part of my work—like a poem, there are more possibilities than messages or conclusions.” Andrea Kemp’s paintings are, indeed, visual poetry and express her avid curiosity about the world and her eagerness to pursue new ideas and techniques of self expression. Her growing fluency with tools and technical training liberate her to expand and experiment, to realize her unique, individual vision. A new generation is succeeding the old masters and Andrea Kemp is in the vanguard of young, supremely talented artists bursting onto the American scene. As Daniel Sprick sums it up, “It’s been a brilliant unfolding and the future promises even more startling works.” — Rosemary Carstens
Andrea Kemp’s work is represented by Saks Galleries in Cherry Cheek. For more info, visit saksgalleries.com. Rosemary Carstens writes for several national arts magazines and publishes an award-winning online magazine, FEAST, about books, art, food, film, and travel. She is the author of two books with a third presently being researched. For more info, visit: CarstensCommunications.com and FEASTofBooks.com.
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denver.art
John Fielder’s Colorado and the Denver Photo Art Gallery share space in a 6,000-squarefoot historic building between 8th and 9th avenues in the heart of the Art District on Santa Fe in Denver. The galleries’ owner, John Fielder, has been Colorado’s preeminent nature photographer for over 30 years. The grandeur of his work will leave you in awe and a feeling of peace will overcome you when viewing his majestic landscapes. The gallery displays over fifty of John’s large-scale images, some as long as eight feet, in many fine treatments including archival light jet prints, watercolor giclees and gallery mounts. Over 1,000 of John’s images can be viewed online, which helps wehn looking for the perfect print for one’s home or office. The gallery also features a library which sells the entire current collection of John’s book titles (all available
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JOHN FIELDER’S COLORADO & DENVER PHOTO ART GALLERY
autographed), including the best-selling Colorado 1870-2000, the beautiful Mountain Ranges of Colorado, and his newest literary achievements the Great Outdoors Colorado coffee table style guide book. On the other side of the space is the Denver Photo Art Gallery, which Gallery Director Kelly Rush describes as “an eclectic mix of many different fabulous resident photographers who bring their talents from all over the world — as far away as Australia and South Africa!” The current photographers showing in the gallery are: Bill Bonebrake, Morey Kitzman, Kevin Necker, Michael Anderson, Samuel Howard, Brent Stone, Michelle Attala, Steve Goodman, Russ Shugart, Dylan Fox, and Daniel McVey. DPA also features month-long emerging artist exhibits and 2-month rotating exhibits for more
established photographers. Currently, the gallery is showing John Fielder’s “Great Outdoors Colorado,” an exhibit that celebrates the twenty year anniversary of this organization’s commitment to preserving Colorado’s open space. The exhibit shows through March 30, 2013. John Fielder’s Colorado and Denver Photo Art Gallery are open Tuesday – Saturday, 9 a.m - 5 p.m. Both are also open on the Friday of the month for the Art District on Santa Fe Art Walk and for the Collector’s Preview on select third Fridays.During these evenings, the galleries provide an opportunity to meet the photographers who show here. The space is located at 833 Santa Fe Drive in Denver. For more information, visit: johnfielder.com & denverphotoart.com
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THE MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY
THE MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY Month of Photography Denver is a celebration of fine art photography through over 80 collaborative public events throughout Denver and the region for the month of March 2013. Multiple museums, galleries, and schools surrounding fine art photography are partnering to create an exciting artistic and educational event for the city of Denver and the region. Here are some of the events.
REDLINE The Reality of FIction The realities and absurdities of our modern age. March 8 - April 28 RedLine is one of the key space of Denver’s 2013 Month of Photography city-wide exhibition. RedLine is home of the marquis exhibition, “The Reality of Fiction: The realities and absurdities of our modern age,” curated by Mark Sink. This is the second biennial in which RedLine has served as the nerve center for Month of Photography Denver with lectures, portfolio reviews and exhibitions. According to the curator, Mark Sink: “The Reality of Fiction is a survey of photographers work who explore the subject of reality and fiction in this new millennium. This survey of fake will consist of portraits of extreme plastic surgery, hyper realistic fake babies, fake holidays, fake relationships, fake realities, UFO Polaroids and much more. Photographs will range from serious social documentation to humorous play of the absurdities our modern culture.” Participating artists include: Sarah Martin, Reiner Riedler, Phillip Toledano, Rebecca Martinez, Greta Pratt, James Soe Nyun, Joe Clower, Sally Stockhold, Edie Winograde, Lori Nix, Christine Buchsbaum, Conor King, James Frede, Katie Taft, John Bonath, Michael Ensminger, Pablo Gimenez Zapiola, Liz Greene, Emily Peacock, Harry Walters, Adam Milner, T. John Hughes, Nina Berman, Sarah Haney, and Susan Anderson.
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MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY
THE BYERS-EVANS HOUSE GALLERY The Denver Salon: Then and Now through May 31 It has been twenty years since photographer Mark Sink formed the Denver Salon, a gathering of fine art photographers that he admired for pursuing higher ideals in the use of photography. The Denver Salon prided itself with presenting bold experiments, risky and revealing subject matter, as well as ambitious photo installations. The group was committed to taking the art of photography to new places. This exhibition will commemorate and document the group’s original work, and take a look at where these members are today in their artistic and creative lives. Included in the exhibition will be Mark Sink, Eric Havelock-Bailie, Anne Arden McDonald, Bryan Boettiger, Joel Dallenbach, Michael Ensminger, Susan Evans, Shaun Gothwaite, John Hallin, Jeffery Hersch, Christopher James, Kate James, Wes Kennedy, Kevin O’Connell, Tamiki Obuchi, Christopher R. Perez, Paul Schroeder, Reed Weimer, Inna Valin, and David Zimmer.
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MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY
EDGE GALLERY Susane Mitchell: We Once Were Mar 29 - Apr 21 “We Once Were,” new work by Susanne Mitchell. The show is a series of portraits by Susanne Mitchell, inspired by a group of glass plate neg-
atives from the late 1800’s–early 1900’s. Mitchell enlarges parts of the “found” portraits into photolithographic negatives, prints them onto stained birch plywood or black paper and embellishes the imagery with painting and drawing. Removing the portraits from their original context and reinvestigating their meaning captures the melancholy and sadness in these anonymous, discarded photographs. Mitchell’s pro-
cess in creating We Once Were reveals both the splendor and tragedy of humanity, and the role of photography in our complex relationships with time and death. Susanne Mitchell received an MFA in printmaking from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a BFA in painting and drawing from California College of the Arts. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally. She lives in Denver.
VICTORIA H MYHREN GALLERY Joel Dallenbach: Sidewalk Stories through Mar 31 Denver street photographer Joel Dallenbach has spent decades capturing Denver in black and white. With a vintage film camera perpetually at hand, Dallenbach finds unexpected messages in reflective storefronts and in the edgy confrontations of daily urban life. Featuring selected photographs from an expansive archive, this exhibition reveals every alleyway and avenue as another contact sheet of stories waiting to be told.
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MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY
DENVER ART MUSEUM Laura Letinsky through March 24
Laura Letinsky’s evolved from studies in melancholy and absence to subtle, yet surprising, explorations of perception, color and space. Wavering between flatness and volume, story and metaphor, the selection of 17 photographs contain mysteries that challenge viewers to keep looking and asking questions about how we see. This survey exhibition traces the paths Letinsky followed in her work from the late 1990s until today “Letinsky is an important mid-career artist who is pushing the boundaries of traditional photography,” said Eric Paddock, photography curator at the DAM. “On one level, the objects in her earlier photographs are simply things anyone might see. But they also have, or suggest, symbolic meanings that blur the line between reality and something mysterious. Although we never see Letinsky or other people, their presence—or maybe their absence—hovers around the photographs.” Many of Letinsky’s pictures describe the remnants of daily life—left over food, silverware and napkins. The soft light and delicate colors invite viewers to approach her work, where they discover unexpected shifts of scale and playful illusions of space. These qualities are most pronounced in Letinsky’s work from 2010– 2012, in which she abandons traditional concepts of space all together, and chooses instead to tape, pin or glue cut-out images of food and other objects to large sheets of paper—which she then photographs. This latest work crosses into territory where the usual lines between real and imagined worlds are not only blurred, but tied into puzzling knots.
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MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY DIKEOU COLLECTION Sebastiaan Bremer opens March 14 In his new series, Schoener Goetterfunken, Bremer works primarily with snapshots taken from his own family vacations, where he paints or draws upon the images, enlarges them, and then re-photographs them. This creates works that exist in between the worlds of painting and photography, where, as Bremer says, “you see how it’s made but the magic still works.” Two of Bremer’s large-scale photographs will be on view at the Dikeou Collection Pop-Up Space, 1331 Bannock Street in Denver.
Denver-based artist Mario Zoots has collected a variety of artwork from VERTIGO GALLERY Denver and beyond for an exhibition exploring mainstream media “Vital Illusion” through collage. Zoots is known for March 1-30 his digital artworks which convey a spectrum of PhotoShop-manipulated pop-culture images pulled from the internet. In this show, Zoots has curated a variety of strong pieces, digital and otherwise, from artists who examine similar concepts he explores in his own work. The theme for the exhibition is loosely based on philosopher Jean Baudrillard's collection of lectures "The Vital Illusion." These lectures explore the impact of technology on social life. Zoots uses this quote from the text to summarize his inspiration for the show; "To challenge and to cope with this paradoxical state of things, we need a paradoxical way of thinking; since the world drifts into delirium, we must adopt a delirious point of view." A sense of delirium and contradiction is clearly visible, specifically, by included artists James Gallagher and Charles Wilkin. This show will be Zoots' first curatorial project. As a local and emerging artist, he believes it is vital to examine how one's practice is actively applied in the art world at large. Zoots says, "We can be in Denver and be part of a larger conversation". — Christine Buchsbaum
BLACK BOOK GALLERY Marla Rutherford, Joe Russo And Sara Ford March 1-30
THE NEW COLORADO PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS CENTER GALLERY Phos: Light Today through April 20
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MONTH OF PHOTOGRAPHY
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART DENVER March 15 - April 30 Also on view:
Lucas Foglia A Natural Order
Pablo Gimenez Zapiola Project: Around the infinite
curated by Mark Sink
Lucas Foglia on his work:
Open Shelf Library Mario Zoots Collage
Motivated by environmental concerns, religious beliefs, or predictions of economic collapse, they build their homes from local materials, obtain their water from nearby springs, and hunt, gather, or grow their own food. All the people in my photographs are working to maintain a self-sufficient lifestyle, but no one I found lives in complete isolation from the mainstream. Many have websites that they update using laptop computers, and cell phones that they charge on car batteries or solar panels. They do not wholly reject the modern world. Instead, they step away from it and choose the parts that they want to bring with them.
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Join us on Facebook or visit our website for exhibit dates and information. Mention Denver Centric Magazine for a special discount on your picture framing order
design Size Matters: The Importance of Proportion by William Biety
We live in an era of downsizing. This is partly due to a population that
is aging and partly to a contraction from the “more is better� mentality of the 1980’s. Comes to find out in the twenty-first century, that more is just more. This has created a problem for those who wish to compact themselves from the 5000 or more square-foot house into 1200 square feet of space. The issue is that 40 denver centric march/april 2013
design
the neo baronial furnishings used to make a large space seem lived in are not in scale with the reduced floor plan. Vain attempts to make it fit, serve to make the space crowded, cramped and, to be honest, ridiculous. Proportion, defined by Merriam-Webster is: The harmonious relation of parts to each other or to the whole: balance, symmetry. Folks get attached to scale though and it can be difficult to adjust to the reality of new space. A suggestion is to get graph paper and draw the room floor plan then go shopping with a tape measure. It may be time for a change of style as well. Simple lines and less upholstery take less visual space than over stuffed and ornate. The mix of the two can work well but heavy on the simple with touches of the ornate. A good combination of textures with a neutral palette can make a smaller space look more rich and spacious. Never leave strong color out of the equation though as an all beige space can become... well...beige. Clients who moved from a large mountain house to a more urban town home squeezed the huge, black leather suite of couch, love seat and chair into a living room that was 12‘x15’, looking like an Angus cow herd in a pen. Being comfortable with the furniture, they did not see that it made the room seem tiny and cramped. Famil-
iarity is the enemy of change. When it was all replaced with a more contemporary sectional of brown saddle leather and a chair that was comfortable but lean, the room appeared twice the size and seemed it would welcome the intrusion of human beings. For those who own artworks, there is good news. Scale can work quite differently with art. Putting a large work in a smaller space can lend a feeling of monumentality to it. A painting that nearly fills a wall can become an architectural element as well as a work of art. Adding much smaller pieces in proximity can emphasis the shift in scale. Mix it up. Trial and error are the best way to experience different effects. When working with the elements of a room sit and look. See with your eyes how it feels. Move things a few inches this way or that way to observe what changes. This is your home..have fun. One advantage to smaller furniture is that it is easier to move about. Editing is important! Put the essentials in the room and stop, evaluate each addition after that. Live with less for a while before placing the proverbial “kitchen sink” into the room. It will take much less to make a small space look full. When possible I have always maintained a room or a large part of a room in my homes to remain empty. This provides flexible space as well as a
kind of psychic “neutral” zone. In addition the money one saves by not just filling space is a bonus. Having moved a fair amount, the realization is that it is much easier to accumulate than to de-access possessions. The personality of a space should reflect the personality of the person(s) that inhabit it. To that end worry less about matching and more about relationships of things to each other. Furniture, objects and artwork should “speak” on some level to each other. This can become an argument or a song depending on the moderator. Experimentation cannot be overemphasized in this process. Observe each area and the flow between them. Then see the totality of the whole and note what jumps out and what recedes visually. Consider always, the purpose of things. Does it need to be there? Does it serve the intention of the room. Often we do not sufficiently consider what and why we live with the things that we do. People who do not have the time, patience or just need support in the effort, can benefit greatly from coaching. Getting a new perspective can help to bring fresh ideas and help to make major changes without starting from scratch. Email William Biety at wbiety@gmail.com
march/april 2013 denver centric 41
fineart
blue chip vs. emerging art
by Astrid Oviedo Clark It is almost unfathomable: the contemporary art market appears relatively untouched by the aftermath of the worldwide economic crisis. As the stock market was dropping in May, Christies auction house broke records with its New York sale of post-war and contemporary art on May 8th making $388.5 million. Only a month and a half later, its contemporary auction in London set another record with a $133 million dollar sale. Why is the art market outperforming other markets? And what does it mean to someone interested in buying art? The art market in general has expanded exponentially since 2002 due to the Internet. A whole new infrastructure beyond the physical white walls of the gallery has taken hold. Today, gallery dealers will tell you that they make most of their sales at art fairs and from purchases via their website. The ability to conduct business over the Internet and email high-resolution images of artwork has broadened the art market. The easy access to images, information, and auction results online is unprecedented. For this reason, the audience and interest in art has grown to include the newly minted billionaires of Russia, the Middle East, India, China, and South America. And, this truly global demand for art is why the art market is growing in volume and value. Everyone can take advantage of this. One can begin to learn about what people are talking about by going online, and this is particularly true of contemporary art. Blogs and online art news sites offer real time information. My favorites are: www.artinfo.com for general news and great bloggers turned columnists, and the more recently launched www.paddle8.com, where offerings at current international art fairs can be seen and bought. For images of contemporary art shows, there is www.contemporaryartdaily.com. Starting off here helps one begin to become educated about the art world and understand the diversity of what is out there. Of course, looking at art in person trumps any other way of getting to experience a painting, allowing one to see its surface and its true color. The contemporary art market is one area for collecting. What is wonderful about contemporary art is that it is created in our time, expressing visually an artist’s interpretation of the world we live in. If one looks back at art history, one can see that art best expresses its period. For example, the Enlightenment, the period in history when the Western world became interested in science, knowledge, and when many nations were born, historical painting (with its undetectable brushwork, almost photographic) reigned. Today’s art does not have one common theme or even medium. The work can range from painting to video , and materials of choice range from oil paint to supplies bought at Home Depot. They express the diversity of our society in subject matter, techniques, and materials used. Success in today’s contemporary art market is found in two areas: bluechip art and emerging art. Blue-chip art has an established resale market, can be seen in major museums, and is breaking records at auction. It is what can be seen in the important evening sales of the main auction houses, Christies and Sotheby’s. Warhol and Picasso are two wellknown names whose work mainly starts in the six-digit range. With the expanding, global reach of the market and the limited supply of their work, their prices will inevitably go up. The emerging art market offers something altogether different and in many ways is more exciting. So much so that many blue-chip collectors also buy emerging art. Emerging art refers to work created by unestab-
42 denver centric march/april 2013
lished artists working today, many of whom are beginning their careers. These are potentially the future Warhols and Picassos. However they are accessible in terms of price. Yes, these are untested artists in terms of the market but the joy of the “discovery” is something that new collectors can enjoy. These emerging artists are their peers in society, and they can follow the artists’ careers as they mature. As an art advisor, my job is to identify what untested artists are worthwhile. How can you do this on your own? First, always buy what you like. Start with what you like, if you keep thinking about, and find yourself returning to the gallery to see what else the artist has done. Then, look into the arist’s network to help determine if the choice is a good one. As I mentioned in my last column, no artist has ever been truly discovered. They are part of a network that nurtures them. Their galleries are central to this. One way to quickly start learning which galleries are the influential ones is by going to the sites of the top art fairs and seeing which local galleries are listed as exhibitors. Contemporary art fairs like ArtBasel, ArtBasel Miami, FREIZE in London and New York, the FIAC in Paris, the ARMORY show in New York, and the ADAA show in New York are known for having mostly blue chip dealers but also many younger dealers with emerging artists. The NADA, The Independent, VOLTA, and Pulse fairs exhibit younger galleries known for presenting emerging artists. Go to these galleries online or in person and look at their “program” (i.e. the artists they show). The influential galleries are open to meeting new collectors if they see the passion and the desire to learn. They will even guide a collector through the art world. Don’t hesitate to ask for someone to tell you about the work or to inquire about prices. The galleries want to educate and they are for-profit businesses. Read the artist’s bio and CV and look to see what school they went to, their exhibition history is, and what press they have had. Even ask the dealer even about who is collecting the artist, in order to get an idea of what big collectors are behind the artist. Also, galleries occasionally mount group shows (mostly in the summer) that are perfect occasions to “discover” emerging artists. In the summer, when attendance can be low, galleries introduce a wide variety of artists they are considering taking on. If you visit a gallery and really are interested in learning about the artist, ask the dealer if the artist is open for a studio visit. In most cases, they welcome this. At a studio visit, you can not only begin a dialogue with the next great living artist but get the chance to see where they create, something no one who collects a Warhol or Picasso will ever get to see. Another option is to get one step ahead of even the galleries and go to where they find their artists: at local art schools. Look up when the local MFA art schools are having open studios and visit. In Los Angeles, go to UCLA, USC, Art Institute and Cal Arts. In New York, visit the MFA open studios for Hunter College and Columbia University. Walk through, talk to the artists, and even ask if their work is for sale or if it will be. You will be viewing art next to top gallerists, collectors, and curators. Collecting in contemporary art can be a stimulating way to partake in what is happening right now in history and one of the most economical. Who knows, you might even take home the next Picasso.
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