Friday, January 27, 2012
LARRY BOB PHILLIPS FEATURED ON UNTITLEDARTSHOW.COM THIS WEEK
http://untitledartshow.com/Apocalypse? HOW! has the distinct honor of presenting two national artists works to the Denver community. Larry Bob Phillips is one of the discoveries that we've been thrilled to present, he joins us this week and for the reception, having traveled from his hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Those looking for advance insight into his work can visit http://untitledartshow.com and listen to the podcast of this last Wednesday's interview with Eric and Mike. Larry Bob also delivered a guest artist lecture at CU Boulder this last Thursday evening in association with the art department at the school.
NINE JENNY MORGAN PAINTINGS FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS TO GO ON VIEW AT THE CVA NEXT WEEK IN "OUT / FIGURED"
Plus Gallery artist Jenny Morgan will have nine recent paintings on view, all from some of our best local art collections, starting next week at Metro State's Center for Visual Arts in the group exhibition "Out FIGURED." Jenny will be in Denver for a few days to celebrate the opening of the exhibition, which is on Thursday, February 2nd. The CVA will host members and the artists for a private reception from 6-7pm, followed by the public reception from 7-9pm. The occasion marks a watershed moment in Morgan's career, one in which she is finding both enormous acclaim for her hard-hitting work as well as significant collector interest across the country. Plus Gallery has been thrilled to be an integral part of her career, and in celebration of the unique display of her works, many of which have not been formally presented in Denver, we'll be releasing a new video profile of the artist next week titled "Jenny Morgan: Self Portrait" both online as well as at the CVA exhibition. Stay tuned for more details next week, and mark your calendars for Jenny's first return to Denver of 2012.
The CVA is located at 965 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO
The CVA is located at 965 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO
PLUS GALLERY ARTIST DOUGLAS WALKER CURRENTLY FEATURED IN THE WORLD'S MOST STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS EXHIBITION
Plus Gallery artist Douglas Walker has undertaken one of the most ambitious bodies of work possibly in the world, one that started with his extraordinary Plus Gallery painting "A-601" back in 2009, a massive work in oil on paper that was the centerpoint of our Biennial exhibition "You Are Here." Walker has continued to build on that work for recent institutional exhibitions throughout Canada, with paintings of such enormous scale and dexterity it's almost impossible to fathom. On January 12th he opened his most recent and ambitious viewing of the works in the exhibition "Other Worlds" at the Dalhousie Art Gallery, the oldest public art gallery in Halifax, Nova Scotia. We applaud Walker's efforts and envy anyone with the opportunity to view the exhibition during its run through March 4th. Here are a few select images from the artists scrapbook during the installation of the show (with Dalhousie text on the show following).
From the Dalhousie Web Site:
Douglas Walker: Other Worlds
Curated by Peter Dykhuis and Corinna Ghaznavi
Organized by the Dalhousie Art Gallery in partnership with the Robert McLaughlin Gallery and the Kelowna Art Gallery.
Douglas Walker's mostly monochromatic blue paintings on paper from the past decade are executed in a manner that pays homage both to historical fine art illustration and the graphic production strategies found in "outsider art" and tattoo culture. For the past few years Walker's imagery has revolved around three motifs: fantastical, other-worldly landscapes with mutant, modernist architectural structures; portraits of mid-20th Century women in which, for example, garments and hair morph into plant-like image-fields; and sinewy floral tendrils that parallel graphic flourishes, also from another century. All images and surfaces are finished in a top-coat of Walker's invention that simulates crackled 18th Century Delft-blue ceramic glazing - which itself quotes the Chinese porcelain that was highly valued by the colonial Dutch traders. These paintings are Walker's visitations to other places - perhaps real, perhaps imagined - where exotic graphic figures, human and otherwise, float in science fiction-like fields and atmospheres.
Walker has created new works for Other Worlds that synthesize pictorial components of his previous work into single images which are filled in with obsessively rendered references to cellular structures and organic matter. And Walker has significantly increased the size of these works. Indeed, the first installation of Other Worlds, which occurred this past Fall at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario, featured a nearly full-scale image of a sperm whale flanked on one side by a moon-like celestial body and on the other by an androgynous mask-like human, and occupied an entire 77' long wall.
Alongside the work installed at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, this exhibition will present five new pieces that Walker has produced specifically for the Dalhousie Art Gallery: a modernist office building in a landscape, a suspension bridge, a large wave, a tree, and a human body laid out horizontally in a tomb-like structure. These works allude to transitory life forms, energy fields and natural forces in states of flux that are juxtaposed with engineered constructions which penetrate the sky or connect opposite shores over dangerous waters. Remaining poetically unfixed in specific meaning, Walker's images appear to be assuredly rooted in an experience of earth that we collectively know. Yet there are too many little slippages, distortions and embellishments within the images to make us feel certain whether what we are looking at is from this world - or another.
Douglas Walker: Other Worlds
Curated by Peter Dykhuis and Corinna Ghaznavi
Organized by the Dalhousie Art Gallery in partnership with the Robert McLaughlin Gallery and the Kelowna Art Gallery.
Douglas Walker's mostly monochromatic blue paintings on paper from the past decade are executed in a manner that pays homage both to historical fine art illustration and the graphic production strategies found in "outsider art" and tattoo culture. For the past few years Walker's imagery has revolved around three motifs: fantastical, other-worldly landscapes with mutant, modernist architectural structures; portraits of mid-20th Century women in which, for example, garments and hair morph into plant-like image-fields; and sinewy floral tendrils that parallel graphic flourishes, also from another century. All images and surfaces are finished in a top-coat of Walker's invention that simulates crackled 18th Century Delft-blue ceramic glazing - which itself quotes the Chinese porcelain that was highly valued by the colonial Dutch traders. These paintings are Walker's visitations to other places - perhaps real, perhaps imagined - where exotic graphic figures, human and otherwise, float in science fiction-like fields and atmospheres.
Walker has created new works for Other Worlds that synthesize pictorial components of his previous work into single images which are filled in with obsessively rendered references to cellular structures and organic matter. And Walker has significantly increased the size of these works. Indeed, the first installation of Other Worlds, which occurred this past Fall at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa, Ontario, featured a nearly full-scale image of a sperm whale flanked on one side by a moon-like celestial body and on the other by an androgynous mask-like human, and occupied an entire 77' long wall.
Alongside the work installed at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, this exhibition will present five new pieces that Walker has produced specifically for the Dalhousie Art Gallery: a modernist office building in a landscape, a suspension bridge, a large wave, a tree, and a human body laid out horizontally in a tomb-like structure. These works allude to transitory life forms, energy fields and natural forces in states of flux that are juxtaposed with engineered constructions which penetrate the sky or connect opposite shores over dangerous waters. Remaining poetically unfixed in specific meaning, Walker's images appear to be assuredly rooted in an experience of earth that we collectively know. Yet there are too many little slippages, distortions and embellishments within the images to make us feel certain whether what we are looking at is from this world - or another.
PLUS GALLERY ARTIST WILLIAM BETTS AWARDED NEW AMERICAN PAINTINGS ANNUAL PRIZE
Plus Gallery is extremely pleased to announce that artist William Betts has just been awarded the Annual Prize from New American Paintings. The panel for the Annual Prize consists of three previous NAP jurors including Bill Arning, Director, The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), James Rondeau, Curator and Chair of Contemporary Art, Art Institute of Chicago, and Peter Boswell, Senior Curator, Miami Art Museum.
In a world in which artists of all fields are multiplying faster than at any period of time in history, it is a true honor to have worked with a number of individuals from the start of their careers who have proven to be of extraordinary depth and talent in relation to their peers. We always say the best reason to become a patron is the lifelong connection to those artists as they develop and reach new heights. William Betts is a particular case in point, it was apparent from his very first exhibition with the gallery back in 2005 that he had something immensely special to deliver to the world. His growth and development has been staggeringly profound, showing a level of intellect and maturity beyond compare. In less than ten years he has built a sizeable following around the continent, with representation at some of the top tier galleries in the top-tier markets. We are proud to continue working with William, he is really at a point in his career where the greater market interests could easily dominate his time and output. We applaud William for his most recent distinction from NAP, one that is likely to be just the first of many high-level accolades that he will encounter in his career.
For those who are not familiar with NAP, it is a publication and organization that focuses specifically on painters of merit from across the country. With each issue, they ask an established art curator to jury a specific region of the country, culled from submissions that come from individual artists and galleries alike. Numerous Plus Gallery artists have been accepted into the publication over the years, including Melissa Furness, Lenka Konopasek, Karen McClanahan, Kate Petley, Jenny Morgan, Colin Livingston, Robin Schaefer and John Hull. William, however, has been juried into the publication an unprecedented number of times, including editions #60, #72, #84 and most recently as an Editor's Pick in #96. It is no doubt because of this distinction that he was selected as one of the ten artists up for the Annual Prize this year, and for us it is no surprise that the jury selected his work for the award, his output being as singular, honest and engaging as any in the world.
To read the full report from NAP and a recent interview with William, visit the link here:
http://newamericanpaintings.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/nap-annual-prize-winner-william-betts/
Plus Gallery will display a small portion of Betts works from his career on the second floor of the gallery, in celebration of his award and in anticipation of his forthcoming solo exhibition here in April.
For those who are not familiar with NAP, it is a publication and organization that focuses specifically on painters of merit from across the country. With each issue, they ask an established art curator to jury a specific region of the country, culled from submissions that come from individual artists and galleries alike. Numerous Plus Gallery artists have been accepted into the publication over the years, including Melissa Furness, Lenka Konopasek, Karen McClanahan, Kate Petley, Jenny Morgan, Colin Livingston, Robin Schaefer and John Hull. William, however, has been juried into the publication an unprecedented number of times, including editions #60, #72, #84 and most recently as an Editor's Pick in #96. It is no doubt because of this distinction that he was selected as one of the ten artists up for the Annual Prize this year, and for us it is no surprise that the jury selected his work for the award, his output being as singular, honest and engaging as any in the world.
To read the full report from NAP and a recent interview with William, visit the link here:
http://newamericanpaintings.wordpress.com/2012/01/20/nap-annual-prize-winner-william-betts/
Plus Gallery will display a small portion of Betts works from his career on the second floor of the gallery, in celebration of his award and in anticipation of his forthcoming solo exhibition here in April.
PLUS GALLERY'S "NEW ABSTRACTION TODAY" FORUM NOW ON YOUTUBE
Last week Plus Gallery presented the forum "New Abstraction Today: Four Essential Plus Gallery Artists" to an enthusiastic and full house. For those who were unable to attend, or anyone wishing to further scrutinize the evening's proceedings, we've posted documentation of the forum online in seven parts, the first of which can be found at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTbODiWD_mM
Special thanks to Plus Gallery assistant Ryan Pattie for the documentation and upload
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTbODiWD_mM
Special thanks to Plus Gallery assistant Ryan Pattie for the documentation and upload
Thursday, January 19, 2012
PLUS GALLERY TO OPEN "APOCALYPSE? HOW!" FOUR PERSON EXHIBITION NEXT FRIDAY, JANUARY 27TH
Those who have enjoyed the four-part serialization by local writer Nancy Hightower "The Four Horsemen" may be wondering what it could possibly mean. We asked Nancy to ply her exceptional creative writing skills to an exhibition that we've been devising over the last eight months that brings two searingly awesome national artists together with two local talents that we've had our eyes on for a while now. The apocalyptic theme seems to resonate within all of the artists work, at least we felt it to be a useful and timely model to add cohesion for the start of the year 2012. But what really distinguishes the group more than anything is the detailed, personal approach to drawing and works on paper that is elevated above the norm. We hope that you will find the same level of engagement and interest in the works of Drew Englander, Donald Fodness, Paul Nudd and Larry Bob Phillips as we do, and will come see an exhibition unlike any other in the gallery history.
Drew Englander and Donald Fodness represent two of Denver's premier up-and-coming artists, both distinguishing themselves through their graphic abilities and distinct voices within Denver's scene in recent years. Englander is a recent fine-arts graduate of the Rocky Mountain School of Art and Design and no stranger to the contemporary exhibition field. His first involvement with Plus Gallery was inclusion in the 2008 three-person exhibition "Trickle Down," the final intern-curated show to be hosted at Object + Thought and certainly the most provocative. Englander presented a more expansive view of his work at Denver's Illiterate Gallery in 2010, one that started to render a signature feel to his output, which consisted of almost microscopically detailed renderings of explosions (or "Growths" as the artist named them) as well as body parts and figures merging into one another. Englander has been involved in multiple performance works with his RMCAD compatriots and in 2011 started to develop national recognition for his music entity "Real Magic."
Donald Fodness, the lead inspiration for "Apocalypse? HOW!" has certainly achieved a level of distinction that is rare amongst emerging artists not only in Denver but anywhere in the county. Three of his last four exhibitions since 2010 were invitations from the areas most prestigious curators, including his major installation piece for last year's groundbreaking "Blink!" new media exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. Fodness was fresh from receiving his MFA in painting from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and showing all the brashness of youth with works that defied painting per-se and ranged more into the extraordinary, merging painting, installation, video, and just about everything along with the kitchen sink. But at the heart of his output are works on paper that read like high-school journals, featuring a largely indescribable random quotient. According to Fodness, "I use seemingly benign, somewhat enticing, imagery to draw my audience into a layered and unsettling world of complexities. Among the kitsch and banal I cram the gross, grotesque, obnoxious, and weird." That, along with a haze of spray paint, maybe just to affirm that it's use needn't be relegated to the sides of buildings.
Completing the quartet of Horseman are two of the more premier emerging artists on the national level, Albuquerque's Larry Bob Phillips and Chicago's Paul Nudd. With drawing as his primary medium for the last ten years, Phillips utilizes a mature cartoon-based language that responds to psychedelic impulses to "create a form that has plasticity and transformation as its explicit focus, allowing the viewer to experience the paranoid formalism of the image where nothing is anything, but everything is something." The result is a densely wrought explosion on paper and panel rendered in dark-black ink that has a steady focus positioning humanity at its most base instincts in natural settings that are no-doubt influenced by his New Mexico surroundings. Like many artists of today, Phillips has successfully expanded his context beyond the traditional "work on paper", having realized major installations and full-wall drawings that brazenly expound the surreal impact of his work. The psycho-sexual nature of his latest drawings for "Apocalypse? HOW!" affirm his desire to mimic the "violent pregnancy within modern painting" that French painters like Bonnard, Braque and Van Gogh instilled at the turn of the last century.
In less than ten years, Chicago artist Paul Nudd has truly pushed the envelope of the subversive in contemporary art, with a wide-ranging output that includes sculpture, video and works on paper of all dimensions and mediums. What pulls them together is their extremely grotesque nature that is densely wrought and successfully engages a wide-variety of colors and textures that have been aptly referred to as "icky." With solo exhibition titles such "Vomitromiton" and "Pus Lust," one might wonder what the visual appeal might be in the artists work, but there is no doubting the high artistic level that Nudd achieves in making the icky appealing. His 9' tall "Brainiac Cack" will stand perhaps as the ringleader of the apocalyptic vision put forth by the rest of the artists in the exhibition.
"Apocalypse? HOW!" will open with "Rapture," a public reception/celebration on Friday, January 27th starting at 6pm. We'll be pouring Great Divide "Hades" beer that night in celebration. Expect the unexpected!
The Ooey Gooey Aesthetics of Subversive Drawer Paul Nudd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPi8oXgr6BM
Donald Fodness in Blink!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrc8QZJQciY
Larry Bob Phillips
http://larrybobphillips.com
Drew Englander and Donald Fodness represent two of Denver's premier up-and-coming artists, both distinguishing themselves through their graphic abilities and distinct voices within Denver's scene in recent years. Englander is a recent fine-arts graduate of the Rocky Mountain School of Art and Design and no stranger to the contemporary exhibition field. His first involvement with Plus Gallery was inclusion in the 2008 three-person exhibition "Trickle Down," the final intern-curated show to be hosted at Object + Thought and certainly the most provocative. Englander presented a more expansive view of his work at Denver's Illiterate Gallery in 2010, one that started to render a signature feel to his output, which consisted of almost microscopically detailed renderings of explosions (or "Growths" as the artist named them) as well as body parts and figures merging into one another. Englander has been involved in multiple performance works with his RMCAD compatriots and in 2011 started to develop national recognition for his music entity "Real Magic."
Donald Fodness, the lead inspiration for "Apocalypse? HOW!" has certainly achieved a level of distinction that is rare amongst emerging artists not only in Denver but anywhere in the county. Three of his last four exhibitions since 2010 were invitations from the areas most prestigious curators, including his major installation piece for last year's groundbreaking "Blink!" new media exhibition at the Denver Art Museum. Fodness was fresh from receiving his MFA in painting from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and showing all the brashness of youth with works that defied painting per-se and ranged more into the extraordinary, merging painting, installation, video, and just about everything along with the kitchen sink. But at the heart of his output are works on paper that read like high-school journals, featuring a largely indescribable random quotient. According to Fodness, "I use seemingly benign, somewhat enticing, imagery to draw my audience into a layered and unsettling world of complexities. Among the kitsch and banal I cram the gross, grotesque, obnoxious, and weird." That, along with a haze of spray paint, maybe just to affirm that it's use needn't be relegated to the sides of buildings.
Completing the quartet of Horseman are two of the more premier emerging artists on the national level, Albuquerque's Larry Bob Phillips and Chicago's Paul Nudd. With drawing as his primary medium for the last ten years, Phillips utilizes a mature cartoon-based language that responds to psychedelic impulses to "create a form that has plasticity and transformation as its explicit focus, allowing the viewer to experience the paranoid formalism of the image where nothing is anything, but everything is something." The result is a densely wrought explosion on paper and panel rendered in dark-black ink that has a steady focus positioning humanity at its most base instincts in natural settings that are no-doubt influenced by his New Mexico surroundings. Like many artists of today, Phillips has successfully expanded his context beyond the traditional "work on paper", having realized major installations and full-wall drawings that brazenly expound the surreal impact of his work. The psycho-sexual nature of his latest drawings for "Apocalypse? HOW!" affirm his desire to mimic the "violent pregnancy within modern painting" that French painters like Bonnard, Braque and Van Gogh instilled at the turn of the last century.
In less than ten years, Chicago artist Paul Nudd has truly pushed the envelope of the subversive in contemporary art, with a wide-ranging output that includes sculpture, video and works on paper of all dimensions and mediums. What pulls them together is their extremely grotesque nature that is densely wrought and successfully engages a wide-variety of colors and textures that have been aptly referred to as "icky." With solo exhibition titles such "Vomitromiton" and "Pus Lust," one might wonder what the visual appeal might be in the artists work, but there is no doubting the high artistic level that Nudd achieves in making the icky appealing. His 9' tall "Brainiac Cack" will stand perhaps as the ringleader of the apocalyptic vision put forth by the rest of the artists in the exhibition.
"Apocalypse? HOW!" will open with "Rapture," a public reception/celebration on Friday, January 27th starting at 6pm. We'll be pouring Great Divide "Hades" beer that night in celebration. Expect the unexpected!
The Ooey Gooey Aesthetics of Subversive Drawer Paul Nudd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPi8oXgr6BM
Donald Fodness in Blink!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xrc8QZJQciY
Larry Bob Phillips
http://larrybobphillips.com
SAVE THE DATE: MIKE WHITING IN GOCA EXHIBITION "SUBURBIA" OPENING FEB. 10TH IN COLORADO SPRINGS
In a place and time where suburbs are the norm, where generic is acceptable and conformity is all too often celebrated, GOCA presents an alternative view of 'burbs. This exhibition examines urban sprawl, the suburban landscape, urban fauna and domestic objects through found materials, sculpture and video. The work in this show uses humor and nostalgia to create a sense of place and familiarity in a cookie-cutter world.
Plus Gallery artist Mike Whiting joins two of the areas top artists Phil Bender and Christopher Coleman, along with national artist Michael Salter, for this special exhibition. Whiting has produced a number of new small-scale works for the exhibition, all in his clean, distinct style that has made him one of the most popular artists to collect from the Plus Gallery stable and beyond.
The Gallery of Contemporary Art will host an Opening Reception for the exhibition on Friday, February 10 from 6 - 9 pm.
Whiting is being honored for his merits and standout success as an emerging artist with an unprecedented exhibition later this spring at the BYU Art Museum in Utah. He'll have a solo exhibition of his large-format outdoor works on display for a year at the Museum, one of the most prestigious school museums in the country that will draw patrons from across the world for their upcoming NEA funded "Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture." We'll have more information and details relating to Mike's first Museum exhibition in an upcoming newsletter.
Plus Gallery artist Mike Whiting joins two of the areas top artists Phil Bender and Christopher Coleman, along with national artist Michael Salter, for this special exhibition. Whiting has produced a number of new small-scale works for the exhibition, all in his clean, distinct style that has made him one of the most popular artists to collect from the Plus Gallery stable and beyond.
The Gallery of Contemporary Art will host an Opening Reception for the exhibition on Friday, February 10 from 6 - 9 pm.
Whiting is being honored for his merits and standout success as an emerging artist with an unprecedented exhibition later this spring at the BYU Art Museum in Utah. He'll have a solo exhibition of his large-format outdoor works on display for a year at the Museum, one of the most prestigious school museums in the country that will draw patrons from across the world for their upcoming NEA funded "Beauty and Belief: Crossing Bridges with the Arts of Islamic Culture." We'll have more information and details relating to Mike's first Museum exhibition in an upcoming newsletter.
New Whiting sculptures ready for "Suburbia"
FINAL WEEK FOR FRANK T. MARTINEZ EXHIBITION "OUT / LINE"
This is the final week of Frank T. Martinez' solo exhibition "Out / Line," the artists fifth concise body of work and the fourth to be presented at Plus Gallery. Martinez has stepped forward with a solid new direction in structural abstraction that has a profound resonance in the gallery as a collection of works, exuding a distinct surface beauty that applies his long-standing context of layering in an original, remarkable way. These are works that have to be seen in person to fully appreciate, and as one recent visitor pointed out, "They feel so much like Denver." The exhibition will be on view through this Saturday during regular hours or by appointment.
Frank T. Martinez: Untitled 5-15
60 x 80 inches, acrylic on panel, 2011
60 x 80 inches, acrylic on panel, 2011
Thursday, January 12, 2012
SAVE THE DATE: OUT/FIGURED FEATURING JENNY MORGAN AND OTHERS AT CVA FEB. 2ND
The Metropolitan State College of Denver, Center for Visual Art presents Out FIGURED, an exhibition where emotive interpretations of the human figure are explored. The exhibition will feature 9 major paintings spanning the last four years by Plus Gallery artist Jenny Morgan, all from local collections. Other artists on view in this prestigious group exhibition include John Coplans (1920-2003), Corvo Brothers (Boulder, CO), Irene Delka McCray (Denver, CO), Marie Vlasic (Denver, CO) and Christina West (Atlanta, GA)
The exhibition will open with a reception on Thursday, February 2nd from 7-9pm. Jenny Morgan will be in Denver for the opening and will also be giving a brief talk about her work at the opening, not to be missed!
OUT FIGURED
February 2 - April 7, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 2, 7-9pm
CVA - 965 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204
www.metrostatecva.org
The exhibition will open with a reception on Thursday, February 2nd from 7-9pm. Jenny Morgan will be in Denver for the opening and will also be giving a brief talk about her work at the opening, not to be missed!
OUT FIGURED
February 2 - April 7, 2012
Opening Reception: Thursday, February 2, 7-9pm
CVA - 965 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204
www.metrostatecva.org
Jenny Morgan: We are all setting suns, 2010
MAJOR BILL AMUNDSON INTERVIEW "GRAPHOMANIACAL" JUST PUBLISHED IN OPEN LETTERS MONTHLY
A new interview with Plus Gallery artist Bill Amundson was published earlier this week in Open Letters Monthly, available for your viewing and reading pleasure at:
http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/
http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/graphomaniacal/
http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/
http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/graphomaniacal/
GET YOUR RESERVATION NOW FOR JANUARY 18TH ABSTRACTION FORUM AT PLUS GALLERY
Plus Gallery will host the forum "New Abstraction Today: Four Essential Plus Gallery Artists" on Wednesday, January 18th beginning at 7pm. The forum is presented in conjunction with the Clyfford Still Museum's community wide celebration of the recent opening of the prestigious museum. Come listen to four of our represented artists who have consistently upheld new methods of abstraction within the Denver community and beyond. Frank T. Martinez, Kate Petley, Bruce Price and Dave Yust will discuss their place and what abstraction means in the contemporary milieu.
An rsvp by January 14th is necessary to attend the event, please contact ivar@plusgallery.com or call 303-296-0927
Martinez, Petley, Yust and Price
An rsvp by January 14th is necessary to attend the event, please contact ivar@plusgallery.com or call 303-296-0927
KATE PETLEY'S "GLINT: TIME AND LIGHT" VIDEO NOW ON YOUTUBE
Kate Petley's "Glint: Time and Light", included in 'Specific Environments: Landscape as Metaphor" curated by Leanne Goebel
http://youtu.be/0Ge0A6n5BBE
http://youtu.be/0Ge0A6n5BBE
THE FOUR HORSEMEN - PART 4 (The Final chapter)
A smile breaks out on Death's face as Abjection quietly glides in on her tendrils, followed by their sister Carnival. They're tall, like their brothers, but Abjection is the oldest, and makes the siblings behave. Carnival is the most mischievous of them all and playfully pounces on Conquest-she's a big girl, all fleshy bulges and throaty laughter. Her brother calls for War to help him since she's already got him pinned to the ground, but Abjection throws out more warning tendrils to make them stop the horseplay. The colors of her robe change from grey to green to black as she glides towards the open door, followed eagerly by Death and the others. She is the connection between them and the world, between the self and other, and even the Fates cannot bind or harm her in any way. It was by her guile alone that the brothers escaped to this place, this sacred space where they could become something more than those dreaded mythological horsemen. They had painted the grotesque visions with which their mothers had tortured them, tinged with the echo of Carnival's laughter and sticky slime that stained the places where Abjection had been. The brothers couldn't wait to show the patrons below those beautiful nightmares. After all, the apocalypse was coming. Oh yes, as surely as the sun rose every morning over the horizon, it would happen. But exactly how-that was the question to which they had few answers, only a vague uneasy feeling that perhaps it was coming sooner than they had thought.
- Nancy Hightower, 2011
- Nancy Hightower, 2011
The Four Horsemen Part 3
They huddled in that upper room for more than a month, almost driven mad with the visions of merciless chaos that their mothers had left them. One morning they found a stack of canvasses, paints, and pens by the door - the door that would remain locked during their stay. Show us, the note on top of the pile had said. Death nodded and picked up a canvas, thankful to finally have something to do with his hands. Hot tears stung his eyes as he began to paint, and the interwoven lives and deaths began to take shape in images and story. Finally, he could see meaning and how he was related to birth and creativity in all of its forms. War and Conquest were slower to join in-they missed going about to the ends of the earth, wreaking havoc, but all of that had been at their mother's bidding. Once they began to draw, ah, they discovered just how blinded and used they had been, thinking all this time they were part of some majestic destiny when really their actions had been dictated by petty human greed and nationalistic pride. But soon all accounts would be settled, for at last the hour is come, the knob turns, and the door opens.
The Four Horsemen, Part 3 - by Nancy Hightower, 2011
The Four Horsemen, Part 3 - by Nancy Hightower, 2011
The Four Horsemen, Part 2
The hour passes too slowly, and now Famine looks towards the door with a lick of his lips. His belly shamefully protrudes over his belt. He is walking paradox-always fat yet famished, for it is the greed of others that feeds his hunger and denies any satiation. Death looks at his brother with pity, for he knows neither hunger nor desire. He was the hardest to convince to leave their mothers-the Three Fates-when the time came. Death was a momma's boy after all, tall and awkward, never knowing what to do with his hands. But it sickened him to sit at his mother's feet and catch the lives she cut. It wasn't until after they snuck away in the dead of night, asking anyone for sanctuary and finding none, that the gallery owner opened his doors and said, come and see.
The Four Horsemen, Part 2 - by Nancy Hightower, 2011
The Four Horsemen, Part 2 - by Nancy Hightower, 2011
THE FOUR HORSEMEN COMETH......
They sit in a poorly ventilated upstairs room, inhaling fumes of paint and pen while smearing their canvasses with the story of the world. They do not foretell doom or bring about the destruction of any-those were lies spun by their mothers-but merely record what is happening, seeing the unseen causes and effects, drawing conclusions that never occur to the guests celebrating downstairs. Conquest stares bemusedly at his pastels and wishes he could be drinking wine with the patrons below, but it is not allowed, as his brother War reminds him every time he makes for the door. The twins Famine and Death paint in silence, biding their time till later tonight when the door will be opened. And then the festivities would truly begins......
..........to be continued
..........to be continued
2011: PLUS GALLERY YEAR IN REVIEW
2011 was undoubtedly a tremendous year for Plus Gallery artists and our internal endeavors to positively shape the face of Denver's contemporary landscape. We'd like to share a quick recap of some of those moments, ones that many might not be aware of and those that anyone following our weekly news and program would already have discovered. But we'll start with the largely unknown:
In 2010 we started posting what works have sold through the year on our Facebook page, we feel that it's a positive way to share information about our program and develop a certain sense of transparency. We don't always update it readily throughout the year, but we've recently posted the majority of our second half of the year sales:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.175243182512019.31084.113473022022369&type=3
Our facebook page doesn't necessarily supplant our weekly newsletter, but we are developing it as a source for exciting reports, photographs and other opportunities that our patrons might enjoy, please join us there or recommend to anyone you know who is using facebook.
One of the most pleasing reports of the year that we would like to share are the exhibitions that have officially achieved "Sold Out" status in 2011. Those that hit the mark this year are:
In 2011, Tsehai Johnson was included with a major installation in the Denver Art Museum's exceptional and unprecedented exhibition "Overthrown: Clay Without Limits," and Xi Zhang became the youngest artist ever to deliver a Logan Lecture this fall, two very rare honors that we hold in highest regard. Many of our artists have been featured in Museum exhibitions in the past but few as prestigious as the DAM. We don't expect this to be a rare occurrence in the future as our artists across the board are gaining ground in their careers and reputations, not just in the region but throughout the world. In 2012 we'll see our first International Museum presence with William Betts' inclusion in the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart's group exhibition "Tracing the Grid." Jenny Morgan will have an exquisite display of recent and some of her best works from solid local collections on view at Denver's Center for Visual Arts in early 2012 in the group exhibition "Out-Figured" which will include local as well as internationally renowned artists. Mike Whiting returns with new works in February for an exhibition at Colorado Spring's Gallery of Contemporary Art alongside local luminaries Phil Bender and Chris Coleman. And later in the Spring he'll be featured at BYU's prestigious Museum of Art in Utah with a solo exhibition that will include major outdoor works. Finally, in the fall of 2012 Dave Yust will be given some due for one of the longest and most prolific careers in contemporary art by a Colorado Artist when the Loveland Museum hosts "Dave Yust: 40 Plus years of Printmaking."
Happy Holidays to all!
In 2010 we started posting what works have sold through the year on our Facebook page, we feel that it's a positive way to share information about our program and develop a certain sense of transparency. We don't always update it readily throughout the year, but we've recently posted the majority of our second half of the year sales:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.175243182512019.31084.113473022022369&type=3
Our facebook page doesn't necessarily supplant our weekly newsletter, but we are developing it as a source for exciting reports, photographs and other opportunities that our patrons might enjoy, please join us there or recommend to anyone you know who is using facebook.
One of the most pleasing reports of the year that we would like to share are the exhibitions that have officially achieved "Sold Out" status in 2011. Those that hit the mark this year are:
- Xi Zhang's "Dream Dusts" (2010/2011)
- Ali Pohl's "Mirror, Mirror" (2011)
- Bruce Price "Full" (2005)
And there are three that are very close, with only single works left from each:
- Frank T. Martinez' "Complex Conformity" (2006)
- Robin Schaefer's "Mimesis" (2008)
- Jenny Morgan "This too Shall Pass" (2009)
In 2011, Tsehai Johnson was included with a major installation in the Denver Art Museum's exceptional and unprecedented exhibition "Overthrown: Clay Without Limits," and Xi Zhang became the youngest artist ever to deliver a Logan Lecture this fall, two very rare honors that we hold in highest regard. Many of our artists have been featured in Museum exhibitions in the past but few as prestigious as the DAM. We don't expect this to be a rare occurrence in the future as our artists across the board are gaining ground in their careers and reputations, not just in the region but throughout the world. In 2012 we'll see our first International Museum presence with William Betts' inclusion in the Kunstmuseum Stuttgart's group exhibition "Tracing the Grid." Jenny Morgan will have an exquisite display of recent and some of her best works from solid local collections on view at Denver's Center for Visual Arts in early 2012 in the group exhibition "Out-Figured" which will include local as well as internationally renowned artists. Mike Whiting returns with new works in February for an exhibition at Colorado Spring's Gallery of Contemporary Art alongside local luminaries Phil Bender and Chris Coleman. And later in the Spring he'll be featured at BYU's prestigious Museum of Art in Utah with a solo exhibition that will include major outdoor works. Finally, in the fall of 2012 Dave Yust will be given some due for one of the longest and most prolific careers in contemporary art by a Colorado Artist when the Loveland Museum hosts "Dave Yust: 40 Plus years of Printmaking."
Our own schedule for 2012 holds great anticipation and excitement for us, we'll be celebrating the end of times in January 2012 with a mind-boggling exhibition of works on paper by two very excellent local emerging artists Drew Englander and Donald Fodness, alongside two national artists of amazing talent and visceral visual intensity Larry Bob Phillips and Paul Nudd. Expect lots of surprises as we look to see if the Rapture is really upon us. Things get down to serious business thereafter as we host solo exhibitions by three of our top artists Xi Zhang, William Betts and Jenny Morgan. The fall will include the next solo exhibition from Karen McClanahan, an artists who has been with us from almost our very beginnings in 2001, and the rarest of rare a new solo exhibition by Susan Meyer.
2011 had so many great moments for Plus Gallery, from our first exhibition of the year by Melissa Furness that featured a full-wall video installation and some of the most intricate and genre expanding paintings of any year, to our most recent solo by Frank T. Martinez, his fourth and absolutely finest body of work yet. In between we hosted our first photography show in our current space featuring Patti Hallock's timeless, playful, stunningly composed "The West Is Here" in conjunction with Denver's Month of Photography celebration, followed by our only group exhibition of the year, the highly praised "Peaking the Edge" which featured not only some of the best talent from around the US but two terrific artists from New Zealand Shannon Novak and Sara Hughes. The exhibition ended up being wonderfully redefined following our Broadway Corridor Public Art Celebration as a team of young artists led by Liz Greene presented one of most memorable performances in recent memory. But even that couldn't prepare us and the city for what followed: Allie Pohl's debut solo exhibition at Plus "Mirror, Mirror." Allie created one of the most breathtaking and magical installations in the history of the gallery, progressing her "Ideal Woman" theme further with a floor-to-ceiling caryatid form in chromed resin, surrounded by mirrors that reflected the ideals of the online dating scene. Oh, and there was her neon and video loop too that accompanied the show. We could have just ended our careers there, going out on a high note, but nevertheless we continued forward and hosted our ten year anniversary in conjunction with a new set of paintings from Gabriel Liston. Liston presented his best work to date with an intimate collection of full-color and striking black-and-white scenes depicting youth at its finest and most real. The show and our anniversary also found us with one of the best gifts we could ever receive, a site-specific exterior graphic application for our canopy developed from across the world by Shannon Novak, an artist whom we've grown to admire quite a bit since striking up a relationship in 2010. After some well-needed time off at the end of the summer, we returned in our finest form yet with Robin Schaefer's latest highly nuanced and thoughtful body of work "Unlearning the Differences." We'll never forget the pairing of sister and brother that month in the space as Kagen Schaefer unveiled a work of the most extreme detail, beauty and inspiration to a select and appreciative crowd, his one of a kind desk commissioned by legendary contemporary film director Darren Aronofsky. And of course that was followed by the return of Bill Amundson in October with "Blurred Vision," an exhibition that broke many records for the gallery including the first time ever having to turn people away at the door for his unprecedented artist talk. And of course none of this would have been possible without our terrific team of interns, who supported the gallery program and helped us get through all of the exciting (and not-so exciting) times.
2011 had so many great moments for Plus Gallery, from our first exhibition of the year by Melissa Furness that featured a full-wall video installation and some of the most intricate and genre expanding paintings of any year, to our most recent solo by Frank T. Martinez, his fourth and absolutely finest body of work yet. In between we hosted our first photography show in our current space featuring Patti Hallock's timeless, playful, stunningly composed "The West Is Here" in conjunction with Denver's Month of Photography celebration, followed by our only group exhibition of the year, the highly praised "Peaking the Edge" which featured not only some of the best talent from around the US but two terrific artists from New Zealand Shannon Novak and Sara Hughes. The exhibition ended up being wonderfully redefined following our Broadway Corridor Public Art Celebration as a team of young artists led by Liz Greene presented one of most memorable performances in recent memory. But even that couldn't prepare us and the city for what followed: Allie Pohl's debut solo exhibition at Plus "Mirror, Mirror." Allie created one of the most breathtaking and magical installations in the history of the gallery, progressing her "Ideal Woman" theme further with a floor-to-ceiling caryatid form in chromed resin, surrounded by mirrors that reflected the ideals of the online dating scene. Oh, and there was her neon and video loop too that accompanied the show. We could have just ended our careers there, going out on a high note, but nevertheless we continued forward and hosted our ten year anniversary in conjunction with a new set of paintings from Gabriel Liston. Liston presented his best work to date with an intimate collection of full-color and striking black-and-white scenes depicting youth at its finest and most real. The show and our anniversary also found us with one of the best gifts we could ever receive, a site-specific exterior graphic application for our canopy developed from across the world by Shannon Novak, an artist whom we've grown to admire quite a bit since striking up a relationship in 2010. After some well-needed time off at the end of the summer, we returned in our finest form yet with Robin Schaefer's latest highly nuanced and thoughtful body of work "Unlearning the Differences." We'll never forget the pairing of sister and brother that month in the space as Kagen Schaefer unveiled a work of the most extreme detail, beauty and inspiration to a select and appreciative crowd, his one of a kind desk commissioned by legendary contemporary film director Darren Aronofsky. And of course that was followed by the return of Bill Amundson in October with "Blurred Vision," an exhibition that broke many records for the gallery including the first time ever having to turn people away at the door for his unprecedented artist talk. And of course none of this would have been possible without our terrific team of interns, who supported the gallery program and helped us get through all of the exciting (and not-so exciting) times.
MARTINEZ IMAGES POSTED ONLINE FOR CURRENT EXHIBITION "OUT / LINE"
All of the major paintings in Frank T. Martinez' new exhibition "Out/Line" are now posted on the Plus Gallery website, we encourage taking a look and paying a visit to see them in person, there is no way to replicate the surface quality of these works in an online image. The layout of the exhibition also makes a major statement in regards to this latest body of work by Frank as well as his working method, the variety in scale and color composition resonates as much as anything on view at the gallery all year. Plus Gallery celebrated the opening of the exhibition last Thursday evening with a highly enthusiastic response. The exhibition will be on view through January 21st, we'll have a reduced schedule of hours between December 23rd and January 1st, which we'll post in next week's newsletter.
JON RIETFORS INTERVIEW FROM LOVELAND SHOW
The Loveland Museum of Art opened up a solo exhibition of works by Plus Gallery artist Jon Rietfors last Friday. In conjunction with the exhibition the Museum posted an interview with Rietfors online at
http://www.ci.loveland.co.us/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=8833
http://www.ci.loveland.co.us/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=8833
ALLIE POHL'S LATEST EXHIBITIONS AND INTERVIEW FROM LA
Allie Pohl has been making quite a dent in the LA scene already since moving there last year, with inclusion in a number of group exhibitions including the current "Tender Is the Night" now on view at Marine Contemporary as well as "Daybreak" at Emma Gray which opens today. A new interview with Pohl was posted last week on the art blog Argot and Ochre, check it out online at
http://argotandochre.com/2011/12/interview-with-allie-pohl/
Pohl Installation at Marine Contemporary in LA
http://argotandochre.com/2011/12/interview-with-allie-pohl/
Pohl Installation at Marine Contemporary in LA
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