FLORA | | FAUNA Summer 2020: Art, Interrupted

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Creators Carlee Henderson, Publisher @carleeah Ash Taylor, Photographer @thegutsandglory Mark Whitrock, Photographer/Writer @sanspellegrino Sierra Voss, Photographer @vossling Laure Ely, Copy Editor @laure_ely Sponsors Animal Handmade, METTA Society, Lane Meyer Projects, PoN pOn, Ten Penny Thrift Store, PEEN ZINE, Blazy Susan, CMBL Design To everyone who helped make this publication possible, thank you.

Cover Feature ‘Follow the Light into Darkness’ Photography: Ash Taylor Cover model: Maria Cronin @mariabcronin Clothing sponsor: Ten Penny Thrift Store @tenpennystore Creative Direction: Carlee Henderson

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CONTENT Note from the Editor: Art, Interrupted 6 Whitney Wells: Second Nature 10 Brooke Tomiello: Curator, Lane Meyer Projects 20 KoKo Bayer: Paying Homage to the Bauhaus Family Legacy 32 Sarah Darlene Palmeri: Ambiguous Illusions 40 Wet Nights: Vicious Delights 48 Tom Bond: A Spare Set of Feathers @ wellingtonprojects 60 Stalk us on Instagram: @florafaunazine See more at florafaunazine.com, blah blah blah...

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A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR. ‘Art, Interrupted’

*All interviews and photo shoots were finished prior to the COVID-19 pandemic

A few months ago, I found myself connecting with some of the most creative minds in the Denver art scene.

The patterns are interrupted, vacated by the rebellion of nonconformity, evolving to what it means to be a creator implied through vast mediums, location and text.

From their complexity and authenticity still arose something similar in each artist as I reminisced upon our time together. At some point in our conversations, each person would look away and speak from some other place outside the room we were in. They were indexing a private archive in their mind, which I as a writer only hoped would be bestowed upon me unveiled and vulnerable. They weren’t fully with me, but I was encircled by their presence.

With awakened excitement, I found myself wanting to see this other place with them, to journey together. I watched as their minds searched to find the best suited answers to describe themselves, as they reflected on their inspirations, works and processes.

These whirlwind months that have passed since the origination of this latest project have been, well, intense. In more moments than I’d like to admit, I felt myself stuck in a negative state of mind. We’ve all been rocked with so much so quickly, it’s hard to mentally and emotionally keep up. However, through this turmoil we kept returning to this issue, saturated with positive content and memories of a blissful past. A reminder of normalcy so recent, yet now seemingly out of reach.

Ultimately, this issue’s objective became clear: To document the unanticipated and refreshing disruption of Denver’s art scene, observing a new wave of self-expression in a community hungry for diversity and growth.

Without having to say so these artists, who were at times unable to express their full intent verbally, have exceptionally executed to all of us their inner workings scattered throughout this very city. A shift has occurred with creatives here which has disrupted the art scene and its stigmatic obligations to produce, show, and repeat, challenging these routines that fall within the realm of art production and curatorial immersion.

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Through this amazing medium it is my belief we can still connect and bring people together, to experience engagement with the creatives in our community, by hearing, documenting and sharing stories. Late night conversations, snapshots and glimpses of coveted memories I hold close, all captured and collaged to highlight each subject. Each page independent of the next person’s creativity.

Each person with a unique story to tell.

It’s always been our objective to uncover hidden meanings and discover nuances hiding in plain sight throughout our community. This issue has been an accidental beacon that brought us all together to find silver linings of hope and communal support still lingering greatly in our daily lives. The cover’s metaphorical meaning of following the light into darkness holds true during these troubling times, to discover the people and places that bring awakening and excitement amidst the unknown.

This is the place of wonder I wish upon all of you to find within these pages. Take time to explore and engage with every creator ahead. Find inspiration in them as I have, and note their triumph in continuing to create and disrupt unapologetically.

Carlee

Editor-in-Chief

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WH I T N E Y S E C O N D

WELLS N A T U R E

by Carlee Henderson Photography by Mark Whitrock blackblak.bigcartel.com Instagram: @blackblak

‘Batboy’, 2019

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Whitney Wells sits in HIS art studio, A converted second floor bedroom in his family’s 100 year old Sears house AMONGST OTHER W H I T T I E R NEIGHBORHOOD HOMES. Light pours through the original windows and jazz music is playing in the background. The artist sits comfortably at his unconventionally large drawing table. “I found plywood in the basement and built it in my backyard with a friend. See the line here? It wouldn’t fit up the stairs which I didn’t think far enough ahead about, so we had to saw it in half then reassemble once we got it in the room. It’s not very sturdy, but it works.”

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Unlike his home, his neighborhood (like every other part of Denver it seems) is changing. But the home with almost all original architecture including fixtures, kitchen cabinets and even appliances, stands proud as an impressive rarity preserved so eloquently in fashion and function, celebrated with art in every room.

Born into a family of artists, Wells is an artist of a seemingly effortless second nature. His multifaceted approach to creating art is another rarity. “I sketch on whatever is around at the time. Cardboard, sketchbooks, walls; sizes vary as well.�

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Since high school, Wells has been drawing and sketching characters of people and places he’s never met or been to.

Influenced by decades past, Wells found his niche with old comic books, tattoo artistry, and typography.

Even though almost every piece was a different shape, size and medium, every piece was fitted to complement one another, brilliantly shining among the bar’s ambient, playful yet stylish decor, thanks to the bar’s designer Priscilla Jerez. It all worked together seamlessly and sold at a rapid pace well before last call.

Much like his approach to his application process, his medium also varies with ink pen, marker, paint, even digital graphic design.

Wells originally found himself in Denver’s skate culture, having worked for Emage until recently.

Wells recently hosted a small exhibition at Tooey’s Off Colfax highlighting recent various creations.

Having been sponsored by Vans, Adidas, Converse and others, Wells has also created art designs for skate decks, most recently for Emage. This collage style design was hung at the same show as an inside joke to himself. The deck had been used by the artist, complete with

A bartender at the local dive, he hung his pieces around the lone pool table in a eclectic framed curation.

scuffs and wear from his own personal use earlier that week.

Sitting with Whitney, he made it easy to relax and have interesting conversation, fluid and organic, funny and curious.

Warmly welcoming Mark and myself into his home set a tone of humble hospitality mirrored with open transparency to talk about his background, processes and exploration of art through the vast and explosive impact he’s made on our community.//

‘ACAB’, 2020

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BROOKE TOMIELLO Curator,

Lane

Meyer

Projects

by Carlee Henderson Photography by Sierra Voss lanemeyerprojects.com Instagram: @lanemeyerprojects

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As a teen, Brooke Tomiello would often travel to NYC from New Jersey to take photography classes. Casually living any teenager’s artistic dream, her travels to the city led to an unexpected academic travel opportunity. A move that would ultimately shape her curatorial career.

After taking classes in interior design (texture, objects, space; a foreshadowed skill later executed in building successful gallery exhibitions) and photography, she applied for a newer residency program focused on art history and theory - in Lypzik, Germany.

She practiced video art and installations such as building a cardboard security camera, something that everyone noticed, prompting a topic of conversation with others. That’s when Tomiello found collaborations were more comfortable and natural to her. She liked to push boundaries with people, see a community engaged, and even cause trouble with others.

Upon moving back to US in 2012, the curator moved to Brooklyn where she and a few others began Youme Haus in a rundown alley house with the mission of showing art and bringing people together.

Used as a networking experience, Youme Haus was the start of the curatorial mindset and a career worth pursuing. In 2016, Tomiello and her partner moved to Denver with nature, career opportunities, and a better quality of life in mind.

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“Artists from all over love coming to Denver, love coming here to support Lane Meyer. We’re able to bring eyes here that wouldn’t normally look.

“It’s very much a community of warmth and welcoming artists, all wanting to support each other and then to have this platform is a great outlet to bring local talent and national artists together, offering a balance.

“As a curator, you have the opportunity to push boundaries and challenge viewers.

“And you fucking push.”

What would you consider your curatorial style when building exhibitions for LMP? “My curatorial style isn’t set in stone, but I have been following some artists’ careers for many years and LMP provides an opportunity to work with them on a solo show or a two-person.

“I’ve also become sort of fearless in terms of asking artists I don’t personally know, but have admired them and their work, on having an exhibition. Sometimes Eric or Paul want to curate shows, so I work with them on that.

“Recently I’ve been re-thinking structure, schedule and support and how we want to truly address and play out our mission going forward.

There’s so much room for growth, progress and community building, so I’m truly excited.”

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Who are your current favorite artists for us to check out?

“Paul Verdell, Sophia Belkin, Karen Azoulay, Virginia Poundstone, Corey Presha, Olga Balema, Yacine Fall, Ellen Berkenblit, Bonanza Art Collective, Loretta Pettway, Michael Mahalchick, Terence Koh, Erin Jane Nelson, Kate Casanova, Dana Lok, Mika Rottenberg, Tya Anthony, Tryn Collins, Marlon Mullen, Paul Chan...

“My list is embarrassingly longer, but this is a good glimpse into current favorites but also artists that have stayed with me and continue to inspire me.”

What are your upcoming projects for the gallery?

“Since everyone involved in an exhibition at LMP puts in so much work and time to make it happen, I don’t plan to open at a limited capacity. It also depends on when PoN pOn reopens, which is TBD. We want to be safe and thoughtful. We’ve also taken a pause on the internet to educate and evaluate how to move forward.” //

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K o PAY I N G H O M A G E T O T H E B A U H A U S FA M I LY L E G A CY

by Carlee Henderson Instagram: @kokonofilter

Photographed by Ash Taylor Wheatpaste Spotting? Tag us.

I met with artist Koko Bayer on a sunny afternoon at her home in the RiNo Art District. When I had finally gained enough courage to ask for an interview, the artist not only agreed but casually invited me to go wheatpasting around town with her, an incredible opportunity I wasn’t expecting.

As we drove around town, Bayer’s pieces started to stick out brighter than ever. The artist has covered the Denver metro area with temporary works on found and fixed structures featuring her grandfather Herbert Bayer’s world-renowned art from the Bauhaus period.

Her focus on “wheatpasting”, a technique for temporarily attaching paper to walls began in late 2015 when asked to participate in an upcoming show.

The biodegradable prints are installed with a plant-based paste that can easily be removed with water, another positive factor added to the laundry lists of benefits the artist has imbued upon the Denver art scene.

‘Lonely Metropolitan’, Herbert Bayer 1932 Gelatin silver print

‘Humanly Impossible (Self Portrait)’, Herbert Bayer, 1932 Gelatin silver print

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‘Lonely Metropolitan’, late 2015 - ongoing Wheatpaste on concrete

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Bayer emphasizes the nuance of temporary art structures, complementing her late grandfather’s design components to create new works and paste wherever she sees an opportunity, which includes high traffic areas in Denver metro, but also in random alleys, on dumpsters and dilapidated building facades.

Having studied Herbert Bayer years ago in school, I was elated to finally connect the dots of Bayer’s ancestry with sighting her work all over our very city. Bayer was heavily involved with the Bauhaus art movement, which began in Germany circa 1919.

The movement aimed to bring art back into contact with everyday life, something Bayer is currently doing through a different form.

Page 36 - Page 37 (above): ‘Third-eye Watcher’, 2017 Drew Landon IG: @drewlandon Oil paint on vinyl, wheatpaste Page 36 - Page 37 (below): ‘head+heart+hand’, late 2015 - ongoing Wheatpaste on steel Opposite: ‘Summer Fashions’, 2016 - ongoing Wheatpaste on steel

Bayer also comes as a refreshing and uplifting artist creating pieces that praise high art but also extends hope and uplifting messages hiding in plain sight. Her most recent ‘Hope’ series started in April 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception.

Below: ‘Harper’s Bazaar, Summer Fashions’, 1941 Original period lithographic poster

“I started thinking about what has that effect on me?

Topping the list is the color yellow. I love how it amplifies light and mood. The heart, symbolizing the self or spirit, also shows up often in my work. In this print, it represents love, optimism, and empathy. As does the word “hope.” I chose my grandfather Herbert Bayer”s landmark “font universal” for its clarity.”

“The response has been so gratifying. I love hearing that the image has brightened someone’s day.”// 39

AMBIGUOUS I L L U S I O N S AN ONGOING SERIES BY S A R A H PA L M E R I

by Carlee Henderson P hotography by Reed Imaging & Palmeri Archive sarahpalmeri.com I n stagram: @darlene_in_dever

The moment Sarah Darlene Palmeri sits down next to me in an old art building tucked away in the RiNo Art District, we immediately gush over similar interests, the most inclined being our mutual love for the abstract expressionist art period in America ranging from the late 1930s to the 1950s. Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning and others painting enormous color field murals with the objective to immerse the senses and emotions completely into the chaos presented before the viewer.

none are wrong, all views and ideas are valid and expressed accordingly,” continued Palmeri.

This comfort from anxiety of acceptance is something Palmeri has resonated with all her adult life. Bradford was an idol to Palmeri in another way by openly identifying as queer, as Palmeri herself also identifies while happily married in a hetero relationship. This has been an imperative bond in this series expressing any fear or doubt regarding her own self worth.

This anxiety had having a closeted past and the idea of oppressing oneself to then break free of those stigmas should be held in the highest regard.

Palmeri explores impressive avenues of her creative intuitiveness with multiple original collections all resonating with an idea of mindfulness and liberation of the self. Primarily identifying herself as a painter, Palmeri has also been busy creating installation pieces all over the world as well as here in Denver (in City Park no less). Yet her ongoing abstract expressionist series ‘Ambiguous Illusions’ is what she returns to most often, what she considers her “home series.”

The title of the series is a nod to this. As it is open ended and ever-evolving, Palmeri takes with this as a relationship with herself, unfolding and seeing the images in front of her. How the image in front of you may not change but the illusion changes your mind, which allows for colors, shapes, and movement, enhancing the visual creative process. Also described as contemporary and feminine, the series shines light to manipulation of the medium, taking some paintings and digitally inverting them to produce what seems like an entirely new piece.

Greatly inspired by American artist Mark Bradford, a modern day painter, Palmeri sought out comfort in said chaos of this medium through emotion and metaphorical depth, mentioning a reference to her inspiration from Bradford but also for the greats before her.

The LSU Painting and Drawing BFA graduate has travelled all over the world, pulling inspiration from cities, people and personal experiences which have aided in growth as an artist but also as a human being. See her latest installation work ‘Color Field’, in collaboration with Urban Art Agency at City Park. //

“They were creating space and making space, making their own rules, having power over self, and questioning what do those rules actually look like is, for women especially, quite a radical space considering the white male dominated history of the art period itself.”

Top right: ‘SHIFT II’, 2020 Digital color inversion of Shift I

“Everyone has their own opinions and views on a piece and

Bottom right: ‘METAMORPHOSIS II’, 2020 Digital color inversion of Metamorphosis I

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‘RED III’, 2018 Oil and acrylic on panel

Page 46 - 47: ‘REFLECTION II’, 2020 Digital color inversion of Reflection I

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‘Swamp Tour’, 2017 Oil on fashion magazine paper

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w T NIGHTS VICIOUS DELIGHTS Words & Photography by Mark Whitrock C r e a t i v e D i r e c t i o n b y C a r l e e Henderson Instagram:

@ wetnightsfanclub

Seventy people squeezed into a detached garage turned makeshift venue to host eight bands.

It was mid-July in a brick garage with one door and no windows.

The bricks retained the heat and kept the room hot long after sunset. Jasper, Wet Night’s guitarist and vocalist, rushed back from a UMS set on South Broadway with another band to make Wet Night’s show at the garage - the Ballroom Boogie, Jasper’s house. Seth Stone finished setting up his drum kit as Jasper came in wearing a leather vest and chaps and hurried onto stage.

The stage was MDF and two-by-fours, six inches off the ground and slung with old rugs and pieces of carpet. They started with ‘Ain’t There.’ It is driving bass, drum machine underneath, then Seth with the cowbell, the guitar stirring below it all, building. A snare hit, Seth comes in, and Jasper tears off, the guitar punching through to the top of the mix.

This was what felt like the beginning for Wet Nights, but the band was still evolving. Lyrics, songs, and even members were still changing. They had a way to go before they reached the point they are at today.

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Jasper and Seth first played together over a year ago at the open mic at Squire Lounge. Seth was there with his brother to play a couple songs and Jasper came with two demos and his drum machine. After Seth played, Jasper asked him if he wanted to drum on his songs.

The two played well together. Over the next few days, Jasper started sending Seth more demos. Seth liked the sound and wanted to be a part of the new project but Jasper still wanted to do drum machine only.

“Finally, I came to jam with him,” Seth said, “and it was cool. The first song sounded really good, the second one not so much. It was really hard to play along with a drum machine at first. But we both thought, ‘this sounds cool, this could work.’”

“I played with a drum machine when I didn’t have a band,” Jasper said. “I was used to writing and recording that way. I was setting the limitations of a drum track and a guitar riff that looped, trying to make everything simple, then challenging myself to make a chorus and a verse when there were no chord changes” The songs may be simple but creating the drum tracks, scrutinized down to the snare hit, is not.

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“It would be a lot easier to not have it. It’s a lot harder than Seth makes it look. Having the drum machine makes us write songs way differently,” Jasper said.

Before joining Wet Nights, Jasper played with the Leisure Boys, a Kansas City band that went through many iterations. Seth was with Dirty Few, the Denver punk band that gained a large following over the ten years it existed.

But both bands eventually fell apart.

“Being in a band is fun but you have to be a band to have fun.

You know?” Seth said. “At some point you have to have to be professional if you want to go to the next level. It was party over music and once I joined Wet Nights, it was a realization for me, that you can put music over partying and still get the partying done.

“Wet Nights is more about working and being a functioning, professional band, and that’s one of the reasons we hired ol’ Rootbeer over here, that’s his goal in life, along with me and Jasper: to put music first.”

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Rootbeer is 6’3”, 220 pounds of self-proclaimed Louisiana trash, coming hot out of the swamps, just trying to play some rock and roll; the bassist and newest member of Wet Nights.

“I like playing music,” he said. “I do it as much as possible. I’ve played almost every genre possible, from zydeco to neosoul, to playing support for a hip-hop artist, to grimy punk rock to more doowoppy rock and roll. I just want to play in a band that takes the music seriously.”

His arrival seemed to solidify the band.

It brings a realization, a sense of the last piece falling into place.

Wet Nights is slop pop. It’s sexy, polished pop music combined with lofi garage rock. It’s what would happen if you gave your favorite pop singer a shitty leather jacket and a fuzz pedal.

It hits you hard and make you want to get up and dance. They’ve come a long way to get here, but they made it and they’re here to play. //

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Set locations: The 1UP on Colfax Ave. @the1uparcadebar Hot Tub Spa Santa Fe Art District The Chapel Jesse May & Dan Vollmar Catered by Taco Bell @tacobell

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