Two interesting new shows bend reality into representational art

Despite the many stylistic revolutions of the last century, the old hidebound pursuit of the depiction of external reality has persisted. In some cases, the rendering of external reality is conservative, as in neo-traditionalism, which occupies its own world. In others, it’s employed in what used to be called vanguard…

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Ania Gola-Kumor. One of Colorado’s greatest abstract painters is the star of Ania Gola-Kumor: Moving Paint, at Sandra Phillips Gallery. These large oil paintings, along with small works on paper that were done in oil stick and oil bar, represent both a continuation of Gola-Kumor’s longstanding interests and a new…

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God of Carnage. Let’s start with the setting, so pristine, white, minimal and tasteful — chairs with gracefully curving legs, a glass table on which art books are meticulously arranged, a vase of white tulips, nicely grouped, with just one flower swaying slightly out to the side. Even if you…

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s is a mash note to fashion

At last! A documentary about that underexposed group: the 1 percenters in their lair. In Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s, the storied store is presented in cinematic terms as ex-screenwriter Matthew Miele watches decorator David Hoey madly creating window displays of phantasmagorical “installation art” that moves. The film’s climax is…

In Omit the Logic, Richard Pryor crucifies himself, again and again

“Least you got to see a motherfucker crucify himself,” Richard Pryor spits in the most surprising footage director Marina Zenovich has unearthed for her new documentary Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic. The scene is of Pryor’s last great cock-up, just before his last, great comeback. Pacing restlessly before a Hollywood…

After Earth: Smith Family Robinson

The surprise twist in the new M. Night Shyamalan film is that the film is directed by M. Night Shyamalan, a fact that the movie—like the posters and commercials—won’t admit until after you’ve already sat through it. While at heart a Pinkett-Smith family bonding project, the kind of sci-fi play…

How M. Night Shyamalan became just another director

Wait, you didn’t know that After Earth, the Will Smith–Jaden Smith sci-fi adventure hitting theaters this weekend, is the latest from Shyamalan, he of The Sixth Sense fame and Lady in the Water infamy? Columbia Pictures has done everything in its power, in both trailers and print and TV advertisements,…

Joss Whedon on comic books and Shakespeare

After completing five months of principal photography on The Avengers, Joss Whedon flew back to Los Angeles and threw himself a welcome-home party. As the guests circled his pool, he asked friends like Firefly’s Nathan Fillion, Angel’s Amy Acker, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Alexis Denisof if they were busy…

Naked Laughter

Sex stories are almost always funny. But what if the sensual yarn involves characters from The Facts of Life, or Jeopardy — can that be funny? The brain behind Nerdist Theater’s Competitive Erotic Fan Fiction comedy show thinks so. “It’s just a good subject to make an audience uncomfortable,” says…

Go To the Source

The social upheavals of the 1960s and ’70s were fueled by a potent blend of sex, drugs and rock and roll, but only a few select groups elevated that combination to a religion. The Source Family, a documentary directed by Maria Demopoulos, reveals one such group and spotlights one of…

Camp Is Cool Again

Once summer is no longer marked by the end of the school year, what’s a grownup to do? Tonight’s Summer Camp With Adult Drinks at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver aims to answer that by inviting guests to unwind on the museum’s rooftop deck with hand-crafted cocktails, live music,…

Four-Eyed Funny

Nerds aren’t known for their extroversion and spontaneous wit, but over this Comic Con weekend, Impulse Theater will cast of spell of dork dominion over its monthly improv show, bringing in two stars from the gamer-comedy web series The Guild to perform some insider humor for the Orcs, Ewoks and…

On the Road

Now that food trucks have become a permanent part of the landscape, are you ready for rolling boutiques? Denver is popping up with more than one of these retailers on wheels this summer, including Brick & Mortar General Store, the design-savvy entrepreneurial venture of business partners Tran Wills and Allison…

Horribly Cinematic

While some may prefer the fantasy, sci-fi or superhero aspects of Denver Comic Con, which wraps up today, you can’t totally geek out without a bit of blood-bursting horror. “I tend to think that comic-book and horror fans are often one and the same,” says horror comic artist Dan Crosier…

The People’s Party

A decades-old tradition, the CHUN Capitol Hill People’s Fair at Civic Center Park is one of the largest festivals of its kind in the country. But the community gathering, which opens today, is far from old-school: This year the fair will offer its first-ever health and wellness area, devoted to…

Play Station

In just its second year, Denver Comic Con is poised to take the pole position among the region’s many fandom conventions. Sporting a stellar lineup of geek-culture icons, including Wil Wheaton, George Takei, Colin Baker Chris Ware and last-minute guest William Shatner, hundreds of panels, cosplay, an independent film series,…

Meat and Greet

“Half a decade into being a vegan, I couldn’t have fathomed eating flesh again,” writes Tovar Cerulli in his memoir, The Mindful Carnivore: A Vegetarian’s Hunt for Sustenance. “And I certainly couldn’t have pictured myself eight years later plunking my first freshly eviscerated mammal down onto the kitchen counter.” His…

Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s

At last! A documentary about that underexposed group: the 1 percenters in their lair. In Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s, the storied store is presented in cinematic terms as ex-screenwriter Matthew Miele watches decorator David Hoey madly creating window displays of phantasmagorical “installation art” that moves. The film’s climax is…

The Inn Crowd

Fans of cheeky British comedy don’t have to cross the pond to get a dose of Anglophile humor: The Equinox Theatre Company is importing it to the Denver stage with A Night at Fawlty Towers, which opens tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Bug Theatre. For this production, Equinox has…

Ice Cream Social

The works of Parisian artist Amande In are long on concept and fleeting in execution, but they have a way of turning a viewer’s understanding of art upside down. Cortney Stell, curator at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design’s Philip J. Steele Gallery, flipped the minute she saw…