Art Attack: Where to Find Art in Denver on First Friday Weekend

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The arty party that began on First Friday will continue through the weekend, which is crowded with art openings and events in every sector of the city and beyond, all the way to Longmont, Colorado Springs and that southern Colorado upstart, Trinidad.

The promise of warm weather beckons: Plot your course.

click to enlarge Melissa Harvey of WYMZY, pitcher. - COURTESY OF DENVER POTTERS

Melissa Harvey of WYMZY, pitcher.

Courtesy of Denver Potters

Denver Potters Association Spring Show and Sale
Sixth Avenue United Church, 3250 East Sixth Avenue
Saturday, May 7, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, May 8, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Denver Potters Spring Show, a tradition for decades, returns for another year to Sixth Avenue United Church with a spread of vendors that spills over from clay to other craft genres, including wood, glass, metal and jewelry. A perfect prelude to Mother’s Day, the sale is laden with gifts moms of all types would like — and moms themselves are more than welcome to gift themselves from the substantial tables of wares and accessories, if that’s what works.

60th Anniversary Show
Depot Art Gallery Littleton, 2069 West Powers Avenue, Littleton
Through July 16
The Depot, a community gallery housing representational art by members of the Littleton Fine Arts Guild, celebrates the group’s sixtieth anniversary with a big group show of landscapes, still lifes, florals, abstracts, photographs and pottery. As the name suggests, the Depot once was a train station — in this case, for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. 

click to enlarge Jessica Langley, studio scan, 2022, Polystyrene foam. - JESSICA LANGLEY

Jessica Langley, studio scan, 2022, Polystyrene foam.

Jessica Langley

Jo Bertini, Deep in Land
Jessica Langley, Hymenophore
UCCS Galleries of Contemporary Art, Ent Center for the Arts, 5225 North Nevada Avenue, Colorado Springs
Bertini: Through July 14, Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery
Langley: Through May 21, Sheppard Arts Studio Project Space
Two separate art exhibitions begin in May at the Ent Center, under the wing of the Galleries of Contemporary Art at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. In the Marie Walsh Sharpe Gallery, Australian artist Jo Bertini mixes signature desert landscapes with a sound and video installation by musician/composer Thomas Studer for an immersion into the Outback and other desert locations around the world. A reception and artist talk will celebrate the exhibition on June 30.

Meanwhile, Colorado Springs multimedia artist Jessica Langley, known for the outdoor installations she and her husband, Ben Kinsley, curate in their front yard-cum-project space, shares icy blue painted polystyrene inspired by a 3D animation depicting the blossoming of a blue oyster mushroom and its reproductive structure. (Langley is, among other things, an amateur mycologist.) Join Langley and curator Daisy McGowan for a gallery talk at 6 p.m. during the May 5 reception.


click to enlarge Suzanne Frazier, “Star Bright,” 2022. - SUZANNE FRAZIER

Suzanne Frazier, “Star Bright,” 2022.

Suzanne Frazier

Suzanne Frazier and Barb DeMarlie, Thresholds Unknown
Carrie MaKenna and Craig Rouse, Nature. Nurture. Structure., in Gallery East
D’art Gallery, 900 Santa Fe Drive
Through May 29
Artist Reception: Friday, May 20, 6 to 9 p.m.
Artist Talk: Sunday, May 29, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

D’art painters Suzanne Frazier and Barb DeMarlie share the theme of Thresholds Unknown for a show mixing the breath of intermingling landscape, abstraction and color expressions. Frazier visits new territory in studies of subtle graduated colors radiating from simple shapes, while DeMarlie experiments with layered oil glazes, monoprints and mixed media to express the voyage of life. In Gallery East, married artists Carrie MaKenna, a painter, and Craig Rouse, an architect by trade, tag-team the ideas of nature, nurture and structure in a two-person show. The result is an exchange of hard-edge and soft, organic paintings.

Artista Femminista: A Women’s Road, A Women’s Journey
Art Container Del Sol, 3058 West 55th Avenue
Through June 30
The countdown to the grand opening of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council’s new Lakewood space ends a mere month from now, but that hasn’t stopped CHAC artists — at least the women — from farming out one more show to a pop-up gallery. Artista Femminista, an exhibition of work from the perspective of Chicanas and other multicultural women curated by Debra Scarpella, can be viewed in a northwest Denver shipping-container studio.

click to enlarge Amy Metier, "Slipstream." - AMY METIER, COURTESY OF WILLIAM HAVU GALLERY

Amy Metier, “Slipstream.”

Amy Metier, courtesy of William Havu Gallery

Amy Metier, In Order of Disappearance
Melinda Rosenberg  
William Havu Gallery, 1040 Cherokee Street
Through June 18
Abstract artist Amy Metier’s new show at Havu Gallery resulted from time spent during a Ballinglen Arts Foundation artist’s residency in County Mayo, Ireland, wrapping weather changes, Irish light and the ancient sprites and little people evoked by the countryside landscape into new compositions. In counterpoint, Ohio-based newcomer Melinda Rosenberg brings sharp angles and earthy textures to play on the mezzanine, in dimensional wood wall sculptures enhanced by painted surfaces. Think of paper-folding without the extra task of turning slabs of wood into pulp and paper first.

click to enlarge Jasmine Holmes, "Fufu," 2020, digital illustration. - JASMINE HOLMES

Jasmine Holmes, “Fufu,” 2020, digital illustration.

Jasmine Holmes

Jasmine Holmes: Carolina Gold
Alto Gallery, RiNo ArtPark, 1900 35th Street, Suite B
Through May 28
Alto invites Jasmine Holmes, who works in traditional and digital media, to bring the lilt of her Creole upbringing into the gallery with work that rails against consumerism’s unapologetic homogenization of Black culture. Instead, Holmes sets the Creole cultures of music, food, textiles and hair free in joyful, rich colors and appreciation.

The Yellow Show
Dateline Gallery, 3004 Larimer Street
After about ten years in operation, Dateline is ringing in a new decade of life with a sunshiny, all-yellow group show called The Yellow Show. You wouldn’t want to miss that, would you? Party time!

Precious Kofi, “Emergence,” 2021, acrylic on canvas. - © PRECIOUS KOFI

Precious Kofi, “Emergence,” 2021, acrylic on canvas.

© Precious Kofi

Precious Kofi, It Is, Because I Am
Bell Projects, 2822 East 17th Avenue
Through May 22
South African native Precious Kofi, a former TV host and producer who chucked the screen to become an artist, is now settled in Boulder and interested in breaking into Denver’s art scene. Her solo show It Is, Because I Am at Bell Projects is a good move in that direction. She’ll bring her sunny personality and painterly abstract canvases to the gallery for a May 6 exhibition that works magic with touches of subtle underlying colors that glow out of an otherwise murky palette.

The Natural World and Other Wonders
Foolproof Contemporary Art, 3240 Larimer Street
Through July 23
With perfect timing, Foolproof turns over for a new spring show by eighteen artists exploring the natural world. Come for the art, enjoy the refreshments and art shmoozing, as well as a live art demo by Leslie Aguillard.

click to enlarge A sampling of altered books by Valerie Savarie, Find them at Balefire Goods in Arvada. - VALERIE SAVARIE

A sampling of altered books by Valerie Savarie, Find them at Balefire Goods in Arvada.

Valerie Savarie

Valerie Savarie, Mermaids, Monsters & Magic
Balefire Goods, 7513 Grandview Avenue, Arvada
Through May 31
Valerie Savarie brings a new batch of beautiful altered books to her gallery home away from home, Balefire Goods in Olde Town Arvada, along with mini paintings, mini book fliers and prints of creatures and magical beings. Stock up on all your favorite fantasies.

click to enlarge Steven Morrell, “Wonderwomb,” oil, acrylic, spray paint on canvas. - STEVEN MORRELL

Steven Morrell, “Wonderwomb,” oil, acrylic, spray paint on canvas.

Steven Morrell

Guest Artist Steven Morrell
Valkarie Gallery, 445 South Saulsbury Street, Lakewood
Through May 31
Steven Morrell paints portraits of people and dogs, but also imagines naked bodies hurtling through space or in the throes of physical communion. Also still on view: Matt Verges and Robert Davis Garner, through May 22, and featured ceramic artist Penny Bidwell, through May 29.

Revolutionary Art
Rise Westwood, 3738 Morrison Road
Through May 31
In conjunction with Saturday’s Cinco de Mayo festivities on Morrison Road, galleries along the same stretch are debuting new shows on First Friday that will remain on view the next day. D3 Arts and the Westwood Creative District are hosting Revolutionary Art, a showcase at the community hub Rise Westwood for artists Spirit Hawk, Diego Florez and Josiah Lopez, who muse on the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo, which is not, as the common fallacy assumes, Mexican Independence Day.

Jose Mares, Las Catrinas de Mares
BuCu West, 4200 Morrison Road, Unit 3
Also on Morrison Road, the community nonprofit BuCu West presents Las Catrinas de Mares, a one-man showcase for artist Jose Mares, who riffs on the imagery of the Catrina, the bony female icon of Día de los Muertos — and other women of lore.

click to enlarge Tony Ortega, “Super Hombre,” lithograph. - TONY ORTEGA

Tony Ortega, “Super Hombre,” lithograph.

Tony Ortega

Tony Ortega and Sylvia Montero, Cafe con Leche: Amantes y Artistas
Off Broadway Art Gallery, Pine Street Church, 1237 Pine Street, Boulder
Through May 30
Husband-and-wife artists Tony Ortega and Sylvia Montero pop up in Boulder with a dual exhibition at the Pine Street Church’s in-house gallery. Together, the couple speaks for the Chicano community through art that shows people in everyday scenes — at work and at home — while touching on elements of culture, history and current events, sometimes with satirical humor.

Photo Month With Colleen Hennessy and Elliott Douglas
Ironton Distillery & Crafthouse, 3636 Chestnut Place
Through May 31
Bet you didn’t know it was National Photography Month. Ironton is celebrating with a two-person, all-photography show by Colleen Hennessy, who prefers human subjects, and Elliott Douglas, whose interests lie in the subjects and textures of the natural world. As usual, Ironton will serve up a special themed First Friday cocktail in an artist-designed glass.

click to enlarge Mikael Olson, "Speedy Nun." - MIKAEL OLSON

Mikael Olson, “Speedy Nun.”

Mikael Olson

First Friday With Mikael Olson
RPO Framing & Gallery, 1588 South Pearl Street
Stopping on Old South Pearl Street for the First Friday Art Walk? Robert Platz’s RPO Framing & Gallery hosts painter Mikael Olson this month, hanging a series of the artist’s impressionistic street scenes, landscapes and more. Stroll the rest of the street to see artist demos, catch a quick dinner or listen to live music at Second Star to the Right Books, Pearl Street Garage and the Denver Folklore Center.

click to enlarge Ethel Magafan, “Riding the Brahmas,” c. 1938, lithograph. - ROBERT G. LEWIS COLLECTION

Ethel Magafan, “Riding the Brahmas,” c. 1938, lithograph.

Robert G. Lewis Collection

Modernist West: Prints From the Robert G. Lewis Collection
PACE Center, 20000 Pikes Peak Avenue, Parker
Through May 30
Denver oil and gas lawyer Robert G. Lewis lives another life as a collector of Western art. See treasures from his collection’s Modernist period at the PACE Center in Parker, where Modernist West: Prints From the Robert G. Lewis Collection opens this weekend with a wealth of imagery from the early to post-WWII twentieth century.

click to enlarge An installation view of Washi at the Longmont Museum. - LONGMONT MUSEUM

An installation view of Washi at the Longmont Museum.

Longmont Museum

Washi Transformed
Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont
Through May 15

The Longmont Museum’s gorgeous exhibition Washi & Beyond: Exploring Japanese Handcrafts opened without a reception thanks to COVID, but happily, it won’t end without a party: A closing reception for the exhibition, which ends on May 15, will shut the house down in style on First Friday in May, offering a last look at art using handmade paper in unexpected ways. Asian-inspired appetizers and Japanese koto music will complement the show perfectly, and washi scholar Claire Cuccio, Ph.D., will offer insights into the context of papermaking in Japanese art.

click to enlarge Ellie Rusinova, “Phoenix,” mixed media. - ELLIE RUSINOVA, MAD TATTERS

Ellie Rusinova, “Phoenix,” mixed media.

Ellie Rusinova, Mad Tatters

Soft Opening and Open House
Kuehl Fine Art, A.R. Mitchell Museum, 150 East Main Street, Trinidad
Denver cowboy artist Cody Kuehl is building out his own gallery space, Kuehl Fine Art, inside Trinidad’s A.R. Mitchell Museum. He’s recruited a group of hip Denver artists, including the BRDG Project’s Michael Dowling, Annie DeCamp and Brett Matarazzo; and, from Valkarie Gallery, Mad Tatters, Valerie Savarie, Colleen Tully and himself for a soft opening to show off the space and give an idea of what’s to come in the next few months.

Interested in having your event appear in this calendar? Send the details to [email protected].



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