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Discovering and Interpreting the West. This ambitious three-part extravaganza at the Arvada Center highlights Western landscape art. The nineteenth-century examples are in the Theater Gallery, the twentieth-century pieces are on the upper level, and the 21st-century renditions — the main course — are on the lower level. All three were put together by the center’s Kristin Bueb. For the nineteenth-century section, Bueb sampled the large Graham and Barbara Curtis Collection, using prints based on paintings. The twentieth-century exhibit includes pieces from the Kirkland Museum and elsewhere. But the whole thing really gets going with the 21st-century part, for which Bueb tapped no fewer than nineteen contemporary artists. The group is dominated by painters, but a number of artists working in other mediums are also included. The roster is filled out by Sushe Felix, Tracy Felix, Jerry Kunkel, Nathan Abels, Beau Carey, Paul Jacobsen, Kelly Schurger, Mai Wyn Schantz, Andrew Roberts-Gray, Jason Thielke, Kevin O’Connell, Denis Roussel, Brenda Biondo, Noah Manos, Kim Keever, Michael Burrows, Libby Barbee, Sharon Strasburg and Chandler Romeo. Through November 16 at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Boulevard, 720-898-7200, arvadacenter.org.
Dmitri Obergfell. Yinfinity: New Works by Dmitri Obergfell positively vibrates with aesthetic and conceptual energy. The sculptures and wall panels that make up the show survey a range of image sources and a variety of sensibilities. For Obergfell, these pieces are linked by references to ancient or otherwise recognizable symbols. But truth be told, the interconnections are pretty tenuous, other than his use of interference paint — an automotive finish coming out of the custom-car culture — on most of them. The paint’s special feature is that it has the ability to change color as a viewer moves past the pieces painted with it. One of the things that’s striking about Obergfell’s work is how obvious it is that he’s interested in creating something elegant. He mashes up traditional and modernist sensibilities to come up with something contemporary. Everything in the show has a high level of finish; Obergfell contracted with professionals to carry out the water-jet cutting, laser etching and automotive painting he employed. Through November 14 at Gildar Gallery, 82 South Broadway, 303-993-4474, gildargallery.com. Reviewed October 30.
Drips, Drops, Pours and Spins. Mike McClung, the director of Michael Warren Contemporary, has curated a show featuring four abstract artists who all use the liquid and viscous quality of pigments to create non-objective compositions, the subjects of which are the pigments themselves. The south side of the gallery is filled with luscious abstractions by Denver artist Quintin Gonzalez, who works the paint like cake icing. His bold sense of color lends his work a carnival-like character. On the north side are the comparable works of Melanie Rothschild of Los Angeles. Particularly striking is her installation of paint drips lifted off the surfaces to which they were first applied. In the spacious back gallery are works by California artist William Loveless, in which he drops ink or watercolors into glue so that they form point-based patterns. Finally, in the intimate niche space are drip paintings with embroidered cut-outs by L.A.-based Spanish artist Raul de la Torre. The affinities among the artists are so strong that this group endeavor reads like a solo. Through November 22 at Michael Warren Contemporary, 760 Santa Fe Drive, 303-667-2447, michaelwarrencontemporary.com.
New Topographies. This small, photo-based group show at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center takes up the theme of contemporary landscape art with a Western edge. New Topographies zeroes in on three photographers — Amelia Carley, Zoe Childerley and Sonja Hinrichsen — all of whom use Colorado as their unifying theme, and each of whom refers to installation art. Carley’s work, from her “Rexford Mine Fire” series, is made up of a selection of objects — a photo mural, works on paper, a freestanding sign — that purportedly document a historic event but actually tell a made-up story. Taking over the long wall is a fragment of Childerley’s installation, “The Land of Milk and Honey,” which includes drawings and photos from the artist’s time spent with the country folk who live around Walsenburg. Finally, there are the well-known photos by Hinrichsen from her famous “Snow Drawings at Catamount Lake” series, in which she captures gigantic abstract drawings that were created by volunteers under her direction. They’re incredible. Through November 15 at the Colorado Photographic Arts Center, 1513 Boulder Street, 303-837-1341, cpacphoto.org. Reviewed October 23.
Unbound: Sculpture in the Field. Since the Arvada Center sits on a very large site, exhibitions manager Collin Parson and assistant curator Kristen Bueb decided recently to use a small part of it – a seventeen-acre field just to the south of the complex – as a xeric sculpture garden. Parson and Bueb invited Cynthia Madden Leitner of the Museum of Outdoor Arts in Englewood to partner with the center in the effort. MOA has made a specialty of placing large pieces of sculpture in various spots around metro Denver, and that technical expertise was very desirable. The group put together a list of sculptors they wanted to include, and the final roster of fifteen artists was established, with most being represented by two pieces. The participating artists, all of whom live in Colorado and work in abstraction or conceptual abstraction, are Vanessa Clarke, Emmett Culligan, John Ferguson, Erick Johnson, Andy Libertone, Nancy Lovendahl, Robert Mangold, Patrick Marold, David Mazza, Andy Miller, Charles Parson, Carl Reed, Joe Riché, Kevin Robb and Bill Vielehr. Through September 30, 2015, at the Arvada Center, 6901 Wadsworth Boulevard, 720-898-7200, arvadacenter.org. Reviewed July 10.
