REVIEW OF PLUS GALLERY EXHIBITION "SYSTEMS OF KNOWING" IN THIS WEEKS WESTWORD
Pick it up on the newsstand now or read online at
http://www.westword.com/2009-08-13/culture/these-three-denver-solos-set-the-scene/
DENVER DAILY NEWS GETS IN ON THE ART ACTION HERE AT PLUS WITH REPORT ON STEWART EXHIBITION
The Denver Daily News has lately been giving good coverage to the arts recently, including yesterday's report on R. Justin Stewart's "Systems of Knowing" here at Plus Gallery, complete with excellent panoramic image of the show. If you missed it on the newsstand you can read here online at
http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=5311
RIVA SWEETROCKET PRODUCES ANOTHER MASTERPIECE FOR FALL BUELL EXHIBITION
The latest to roll out of Riva's studio is another masterpiece titled "Wish," a terrific complement to the greater body of work she's been wrapping up for the exhibition "Heaven on Earth." Plus Gallery is currently producing a small booklet to complement Riva's upcoming show at the Buell Theater in conjunction with the City of Denver to honor the artist and exhibition. Advance purchases are highly recommended and include recognition in the publication as well as on the wall at the theater. We are pleased to report that Sweetrocket will be featured on a major billboard within the Denver Theater District in a program that kicks off this fall to honor the arts within the city and to magnify the dynamics of the DTD.
NEW PETLEY'S MAKE THEIR WAY TO PLUS GALLERY
Kate Petley's latest works have been getting rave reviews from the public and curator's alike, with two of the larger horizontals on view upstairs at the gallery. Last week Petley brought in two more smaller panels that are beautiful and a great extension of the most recent work that we highly recommend coming in to see.
MORE ON JUSTIN STEWART FROM 2007 MINNESOTA PUBLIC RADIO INTERVIEW
We wanted to share the MPR report and interview with R. Justin Stewart from October 4th, 2007, by Marianne Combs, a rare honor for an emerging artist and a good basis towards understanding a little more in the development of his career:
In high school, R. Justin Stewart was a complete jock. Now just a few years later, the University of Minnesota student is an internationally acclaimed sculptor.
Minneapolis - R. Justin Stewart used to love to play sports. He was especially good at football.
In his sophomore year of high school he was feeling the pressure of a heavy class and practice schedule, and so he made a decision that would forever alter the course of his life. He took a pottery class from a teacher he already knew very well.
"I was like, ceramics -- how hard can that be? It's my football coach, so he has to give me an A," Stewart recalls.
Instantly, Stewart was hooked. He just couldn't stop making bowls and pots.
My senior year I was taking like three ceramics classes that didn't even exist. I was spending my study halls in ceramics -- I was skipping out of school to go to the ceramics classroom," said Stewart.
"It's hard to forget a kid like that," says Justin's football coach, and ceramics teacher, Peter Loose.
"As I recall, he built a kiln and bought a wheel, and he was firing pots in his backyard. He was an amazing kid," says Loose.
So does Coach Loose give easy A's to football players?
"No I don't -- that's a trick question," he says with a laugh.
Loose said he had to work hard to stay one step ahead of his student, using new techniques and materials. Stewart ate it all up. He decided he wanted to be a ceramics teacher, too.
"Because that's all I knew," says Stewart. "I didn't really know you could be an artist. The only artist I knew was my ceramics teacher, so I figured I'd be a ceramics teacher."
Stewart left his home in Wisconsin to attend the Kansas City Art Institute.
"I left high school as a total jock. I was captain of the football team, played three sports. And I got to arts school and it was people with dyed hair and piercings and tattoos," says Stewart. "I went from being the normal person in high school to being the weird person in college."
Attending arts school is about being exposed to new art forms -- trying out different ways of expressing an idea. At first, Stewart would have none of it.
"I was like I just want to make pottery. I just want to throw, and then all of a sudden I'm starting to do some sculpture, and then all of a sudden I'm not so interested in pottery anymore," Stewart says.
Stewart's work transformed completely in the coming years. He started adding new elements into his clay. He made creatures half from clay, and half out of cloth.
"One critic once called them muppets getting ready to go to the disco," Stewart.
Now in his third year in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota, Stewart makes sculptures that represent networks and systems.
He creates large-scale installations, working with diagrams and string. Some are so ethereal they look like light passing through a prism.
He made a sculpture that represented how words in a thesaurus link to one another. Others look more like molecules or the wiring inside a computer chip.
Stewart's piece titled "Connected" won him the Outstanding Student Achievement in Contemporary Sculpture Award from the International Sculpture Center in New Jersey. He was in a group of 21 artists selected from over 300 applicants around the world.
His faculty advisor, Andrea Stanislav, says it's the first time a student from the University of Minnesota has won the prize.
"This is a great achievement, first of all," says Stanislav. "Definitely for Justin, but also for the sculpture area and the department of art and the university."
Stanislav credits much of Stewart's success to his willingness to try new things, and his openness to new ideas. Stewart admits he's changed a lot since he first started throwing pots on a wheel.
A lot of times I wonder if the 19-year-old in me would like me? Or even the 19-year-old in me would like the work I make now," says Stewart. "I think he would. We'd argue a lot, but I still think he'd like the work I make."
Stewart's piece, "Connected," goes on display at the International Sculpture Center in New Jersey this weekend.
Stewart is currently working on a tower of copper wire that represents the activity of the Twin Cities metro transit system at certain times of day. That and other recent pieces will go on display on the University of Minnesota campus this spring, when Stewart completes his MFA.
- Morning Edition, 10/04/2007, 7:50 a.m.
TRIP TO BOULDER WORTH TAKING TO SEE THE WES MAGYAR PAINTINGS AT DAIRY CENTER
We are very inspired by Wes Magyar's latest paintings, a truly fabulous series that deserve to be seen. They'll be on view at the Dairy Center for the Arts through September 18th.
ARTLAB TO STAGE READING OF THEIR PLAY "I. AM. HERE." THIS WEEKEND, AUGUST 14TH AND 15TH
I. Am. Here.
Staged Reading
When: Friday and Saturday, August 14th & 15th at 7:00 pm
Where: Arts Building, Room 278 Auraria Campus Denver
Located in between to St. Cajetan's Center and the Library
Cost: $5 Adults $3 Students PG-13 Content
About the play:
This original play created and performed by Denver's own youth explores the struggles and triumphs of high school life in an urban public school. Not amused by the various high school melodramas (High School Musical, Twilight, 90210) "I. Am. Here." is a response to the Hollywood cliché and provides the audience with a raw taste of what it takes to survive a day in today's high school. ArtLab youth offer an insightful, poignant and honest examination of today's complex teenage life. Despite living in a world of Facebook and Twitter, youth today fight to be heard and recognized. "I. Am. Here." is a voice that must be seen and heard.
Performed by the culturally diverse group of high school youth that created the stories, "I. Am. Here." is also an autobiographical look at their own struggles and triumphs as high school students in Denver. The play follows the teens though a day at school, full of hall sweeps, hanging out, and humorous discussions about the truth of the opposite sex. These teenagers present an honest face to urban teenage struggle that includes teenage pregnancy, alcoholism at home, interracial dating, economic hardship, and violence. "I. Am. Here." dives into race issues that shape the lives of students' choices and beliefs. The youth don't ask, but demand that you engage in their sometimes raw, sometimes touching yet always accurate portrayal of high school life.
Created from a summer of script workshop assignments improvisation, and autobiographical performances called "autodramas," this original play is written by ArtLab youth with playwright Craig Volk, Associate Professor of Theater, Film and Video Production at the University of Colorado Denver; and directed by Jose Mercado, Assistant Professor of Theater, Film and Video Production, University of Colorado Denver.
GREAT LOCAL BAND TO CHECK OUT: BAD LUCK CITY, SET TO PLAY UNTITLED AT DAM ON AUGUST 28th
Last night the crowd at Red Rocks was treated to the local band "Bad Luck City" in advance of the Donnie Darko Screening for Denver's most excellent summer program Film on the Rocks. The band managed to pull off a pretty amazing performance, their set no doubt highly influenced by the mannerisms, songwriting, sonic build and violin riffs that are the trademark of the venerable Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Not a bad band to emulate, and certainly Bad Luck City managed to pull it off in a way that complemented the film and proved they are a band to pick up on live. Though we'd most look forward to seeing them perform in a smokey bar, their next gig will actually be August 28th at the Denver Art Museum as part of the monthly Untitled Series. We'll for sure be there and recommend you dress in black and do so as well.
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