There’s an elegant little show with the possibly insulting name of Silence Nothingness at Sandra Phillips Gallery (744 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-5969). The title is taken from a Samuel Beckett quote, but taken out of context, the words are robbed of their meaning. The exhibit pairs abstracted versions of the…

One of the weirdest twists in contemporary art over the last quarter-century — other than increased interest in boring videos and self-indulgent performances — is the way in which beauty has come to be denigrated. Today’s art world is suspicious of beauty, and to say something is decorative is to…

In the space once occupied by the now-gone and nearly forgotten ILK co-op, Lauri Lynnxe Murphy, who was once that group’s director, has opened her own art business, Pod & Capsule (554 Santa Fe Drive, 303-623-3460). Pod is a funky boutique that offers affordable artist-made objects, while Capsule is a…

Photography includes so many different things, it’s head-spinning. There are all the various styles, plus a wide array of categories, including, of course, fine-art photography. But over the past couple of decades, it’s become all but impossible to separate fashion photography, commercial photography, documentary photography — and especially photojournalism –…

Photographs by David Alexander Björkman make up the interesting exhibit The Maya Ballgame, now on display at the Museo de las Américas (861 Santa Fe Drive, 303-571-4401) for the “Month of Photography.” The Björkman shots, printed in black and white, are divided into two groups: those in the north gallery…

Among the first chapters in the history of Western art is the one devoted to Egypt, with much of the subsequent story tracing its origins to the objects and buildings produced in the Nile Valley more than 3,000 years ago. This was long before — millennia before, as it happens…

Though the main spaces at William Havu Gallery (1040 Cherokee Street, 303-893-2360) are dedicated to celebrating Denver’s “Month of Photography” (“Photo Play” ), the intimate areas beneath and on the mezzanine are given over to Painting exhibition: Julia Rymer and Kate Thompson, a show that has nothing to do with…

You’d have to have been living under a rock for the past few weeks not to know that something’s up in Denver’s exhibition world. Everywhere you look, some gallery, museum or art center is hosting a show devoted to photography — photojournalism, fashion, pin-up, fine art, experimental, and lots of…

There’s an extremely coherent twosome at the + Gallery (2350 Lawrence Street, 303-296-0927) called Manifesto Abstractos, which features non-objective paintings that are influenced by Hispanic culture. To put this excellent show together, gallery director Gilbert Barrera tapped the talents of an old friend from Houston, Ibsen Espada, and a new…

Some of the best art shows around are those unwieldy wide-ranging group presentations — though in truth, solos are the heart of the art-show business. What makes a group show interesting is its inconsistency and its multiplicity of visions, which, of course, are just the opposite strengths of a solo,…

It’s surely surprising — if not shocking — to find one of the best ceramics shows of the year being presented at the modest and remote Lakewood Cultural Center (470 South Allison Parkway, 303-987-7876). But that’s exactly what’s going on now with Place of Mind, a solo show dedicated to…

Ronald W. Wohlauer, whom everyone called Ron, was one of those artists who always seemed to be at the top of the visual-art pyramid around here — until, that is, his untimely death earlier this year. During his long career, which began more than thirty years ago, he was a…

Stoppage, now in the main space at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058) is the latest in a long-running series of installation exhibits by Pirate member Richard Colvin and his partner, Katherine Temple. The piece is unexpectedly spare, considering the pair’s typical everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. Suspended from the…

The adage about too many artists spoiling the installation is exemplified by a collaborative piece — done by several of the co-op’s members and by faculty from Metro — on view in the front space at Edge Gallery (3658 Navajo Street, 303-477-7173). Thank goodness John Davenport’s compelling solo, 1+1=1: More…

There’s a show at Andenken Gallery (2110 Market Street, 303-332-5582) with the cutesy title of Peachy Keen. Though the phrase has a retro ’50s feel, the show itself has more of a ’60s thing going on. You can’t really blame this confusion on Morgan Barnes, the kid who put the…

It’s amazing how vast the contemporary art world is, including as it does a full array of expressions — from the most edgy forms, such as video, to the most conservative, such as landscapes, still-life scenes and portraits. Within the realm of representational art that’s being done in the area,…

Walking into the front space at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058) is like stepping back into the early ’90s when half the shows at the alternative galleries were installations of questionable quality. There’s a reason for this: Wake Up Little Susie: Pregnancy & Power Before Roe…

On the morning of August 9, Mayor John Hickenlooper stood on the front steps of the City and County Building and made a stunning announcement: The City of Denver had formally committed to building a museum to house the work of abstract-expressionist giant Clyfford Still in exchange for a promise…

The Sandra Phillips Gallery (744 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-5969) has kept a pretty low profile since it opened last summer. Though I’d heard of it, I didn’t have any idea where it was. In retrospect, this is strange because it’s right across the street from Space and just a few…

Colorado has been a regional center for ceramics for just over a century. The reason is obvious, at least to gardeners and structural engineers: It’s all that darned clay. This readily available natural product led to what I call a “clay rush” beginning in the 1890s. In the late-nineteenth and…

Along with a lot of other people in Denver, I had my heart broken last winter when Skyline Park was bulldozed. The decision to destroy the park, which runs for three blocks along Arapahoe Street between 15th and 18th streets, was the last of many terrible moves made by the…

Though it’s a block or so to the south, there’s no missing the University of Denver campus while driving along I-25. For that matter, you can’t miss it from South University Boulevard or Evans Avenue, either. It’s all those recently built, eye-popping post-modern buildings. This architectural prominence wasn’t always true…