Saturday, July 14, 2012

COME MEET JEREMY BAILEY THIS FRIDAY AT PLUS GALLERY / 12Noon

Come meet one of the most sensational forces in New Media art today: Toronto-based artist Jeremy Bailey makes a stopover at Plus Gallery this Friday July 13th at Noon.  He'll be on hand to talk about this work, sign autographs, play with glowsticks and interact with Denver fans before heading off to Boulder for BMOCA's MEDIALIVE 2012 weekend symposium.


RICK SILVA INAUGURATES NEW DTD SERIES "FRIDAY FLASH" JULY 13TH AT 6PM

The Denver Theatre District in conjunction with Plus Gallery curators Ivar Zeile and Ryan Pattie launch an exciting new series on the 14th and Champa LED screen this Friday evening at 6pm.  "Friday Flash"  will be an ongoing 30 minute showcase for motion-based artworks for public viewing on select Friday's throughout the year.  Rick Silva initiates "Friday Flash" this Friday evening with two sublime works, his ten minute "Massif" followed by "Phil Morton Colorful Colorado (Rick Silva's 2011 Remix)"  which clocks in at 24 minutes.  Both works will highlight the possibilities of this new paradigm for public art that is based on new media and motion-based art.  Rick Silva was born in Brazil, is currently based out of Canada, and soon to be splitting his time between Oregon and Colorado. He's also one of the featured artists in the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art's current exhibition "Visual Rhythm," on view through September 9th, 2012. In other words he's the perfect artist to initiate our series. Visit Denver's most impressive outdoor viewing screen at 6pm on the street and sidewalks of 14th and Champa in downtown Denver to see, in the most luminous fashion, where new-media art is today.


CAN YOU SPOT THE JENNY MORGAN PAINTING IN THE NEW ISSUE OF ART LTD?


The latest issue of West Coast arts publication Art Ltd. arrived at the gallery today, boasting a special section of Critic's picks highlighting what is happening in the Denver scene.  Jenny Morgan's current exhibition "Kith and Kin" happens to be one of the prominent features in the story, along with a great picture of exhibition show-stopper "Bunny."  Pick up a copy at newstands such as Tattered Cover now, select copies are available at Plus but will go quick.

"Kith and Kin" is officially scheduled to close this Saturday, July 14th.  Plus Gallery will be extending the exhibition into the following week with regular hours on Thursday and Friday, July 19th and 20th for a last chance to see the show.  Plus Gallery will be hosting a private event on Wednesday, July 18th and will be closed that day during regular hours.

NEW GABRIEL LISTON PAINTINGS GO ON VIEW AT PORTLAND'S FROELICK GALLERY - WE ARE IN LOVE!

Portland, Oregons prestigious Froelick Gallery will be hosting a solo exhibition of new works by Plus Gallery artist Gabriel Liston titled "I Know Who's Drowned - It's Us" from July 19th - September 1st.  Froelick will host a reception for Gabriel on Wednesday, August 1st from 5:30 - 8:00pm.  Our advance viewing has left us completely in love with Liston's new paintings, ones he developed in conjunction with a succeseful kickstarter campaign earlier this year (which hopefully some of our readers might have contributed to).


Gabriel Liston: "You will pay for this"


Froelick Gallery releases the following statement about the exhibition:


I Know Who's Drowned- It's Us aptly borrows its title from a line in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Highly accomplished in a range of techniques, Liston here exhibits oil paintings alongside monotypes and small sealed, primed and painted books which resemble Delft tiles.


An inveterate sketchbook keeper, he works from a large collection of on-site landscape drawings and the recorded activities of his three young daughters and their friends. Translating these sketches in to other media, Liston populates his outdoor settings with children at play- they seem to be engaged in adventures that the viewer is granted only a glimpse of. They are seen leaping in to the air, balancing on logs, peering in to culverts, and adopting the strange poses of their pretend enterprise. Liston's lushly rendered urban waterways, canopied woods and coastal rock formations are templates for his characters' vast imagined realities.


MIKE WHITING' SCULPTURES GO ON VIEW IN NEW YORK GROUP EXHIBITION AT CAUSEY CONTEMPORARY JULY 20TH

Plus Gallery artist Mike Whiting seems to be much in demand across the country these days. Just over a year ago he was picked up for representation by Edward Cella Gallery in Los Angeles, which quickly led to placement in some exceptional collections in the LA area.  That was followed by his inclusion in this year's terrific "Suburbia" exhibition at Colorado Springs Galler of Contemporary Art, then his spectacular year-long solo exhibition now on view at the BYU Museum of Art that we shared last week. Up next for Whiting is the group exhibition "Boys with Toys," at Causey Contemporary in NYC from July 20th through August 26, 2012. An opening reception with the artists will be held on July 20th from 6-9 p.m. Additionally, a panel discussion with the artists on sculpture in the public realm will take place on August 10, 2012, from 6-9 p.m. Gallery hours for this exhibition will be Wed-Sun, 12-6 p.m.

Curator, Tracy Causey-Jeffery selected the eight artists included in this exhibition after viewing portfolios of the 500 plus members of the International Sculpture Center organization. Having worked with sculptors over the course of her eighteen-year career as a gallery owner and director, she has come to understand that male sculptors who often work monumentally view their equipment and indeed sometimes the products of their creation as their toys, thus the name of this summer exhibition. Ms Causey-Jeffery's other criteria were that the works included in the exhibition be fabricated by the sculptor's own hand and made in large part from steel. Other additional materials were allowed if used to enhance the fundamental steel structure.

The artists featured in Boys with Toys include three New York based artists, Norman Mooney, Arthur Mednick and Gunnar Theel; two artists from the Maryland-D.C. Area, Alan Binstock and Steven Dobbin; two artists from the Midwest, Bob Emser and John. J. Richardson and our own Michael Whiting from California.

For more information visit  http://www.causeycontemporary.com/

BILL AMUNDSON LOGAN LECTURE SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 28TH, 2012!

It won't ever get better than this:  Save the date for Bill Amundson's fall Logan Lecture at the Denver Art Museum November 28th. Information was recently posted on the Denver Art Museum's website last week:
http://www.denverartmuseum.org/es/node/446

We can think of no greater cause for celebration this winter, make sure to reserve your spot for this momentous occassion.  Plus Gallery will have other Amundson related happenings in the works to coincide.


Detail from Bill Amundson's "Store with Sign - Hard Time VI"

STEEL GUITAR FANS - JULY IS YOUR MONTH!

Susan Alcorn will be visiting Denver at the end of July to participate in Denver's "Steel Guitar Jam" on July 29th downtown at Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret.  She'll also be taking the opportunity to celebrate Plus Gallery's 11 year anniversary with a special performance on Saturday, July 28th at Plus Gallery along with Denver's own Janet Feder.  Don't miss out on both of these exclusive events.


JENNY MORGAN "KITH AND KIN" EXHIBITION WILL BE EXTENDED THROUGH JULY 20TH AT PLUS GALLERY JOIN US FOR EXTENDED FIRST FRIDAY HOURS TONIGHT THROUGH 7PM

If you have not yet visited Plus Gallery to view Jenny Morgan's current exhibition "Kith and Kin" we encourage you to do so and be part of a very special moment in Denver's contemporary art history and one of the most riveting exhibitions of the year.  A single visit might not prove enough to pick up on all of the nuance and depth that make this Jenny's most mature and singular body of work to date, and also the most successful in Plus Gallery's 11 year history.  We predict major moves in Jenny's career to transpire soon as a result, so we'll be extending the exhibition through July 20th (previously scheduled to conclude July 14th).

Plus Gallery will be open till 7pm this Friday, July 6th for Denver's First Friday gallery stroll.

Read the new interview with Jenny Morgan recently posted on "Empty Kingdom"

http://www.emptykingdom.com/main/featured/ek-interview-jenny-morgan-2/

Jenny Morgan - "His Return"

MIKE WHITING'S "8-BIT MODERN" IN EXTRAORDINARY VIEW AT BYU MUSEUM OF ART THROUGH MARCH 2013

We traveled through the devastating fires blistering through both Colorado and Utah earlier this week to get to Provo, Utah just to see the full glory that is Mike Whiting's first major outdoor museum exhibition of his large-scale works "8-Bit Modern" at the BYU's Museum of Art.  The show is a tour-de-force for Whiting's work, something that would not at all be out of place at Denver's Botanic Gardens or any number of prominent settings throughout the country.  Whiting's first museum solo exhibition takes place at his undergraduate alma-matter, coinciding with a point in his career that is thoroughly in high-stride.   Whiting's signature works are thoughtful, playful and thoroughly sublime, particularly when viewed at the large scale that has found a place in many public collections across the country.  Views of the show are now posted to Plus Gallery's facebook page and will be added to his artists page on the Plus Gallery website next week.

https://www.facebook.com/PlusGallery


Mike Whiting - "Pretzel"

Mike Whiting - "Duck and Birdie"

ALLIE POHL'S "FUSCIA CHROME CARYATID" NOW ON VIEW IN LOS ANGELES GROUP EXHIBITION "SPACE ODDITY" THROUGH AUGUST 26TH

Last night marked the opening of the group exhibition "Space Oddity" in the new Laguna Beach contemporary art space S Cube Gallery, notable for the gallery's wise inclusion of Plus Gallery sensation Allie Pohl's newest Fuscia Chrome Ideal Woman Caryatid!  The exhibition, which opened last night, also features works by Elyse Graham, Lisa Tchakmakian, Francesco Polenghi, Elizabeth Orleans, Catherine Nelson, Jorg Dubin, Francisco Esnayra, Anuar Maauad, Cynthia Minet, Kate Shaw, and Pamela Grau.   Pohl continues to attract interest in her work from all corners of the country, which is why we think she is one of the hottest prospects currently on the national scene.

For more information visit http://www.SCubeGallery.com

Allie Pohl - "Ideal Woman - Caryatid (Fuscia Chrome)"

FRIDAY, JULY 13th at NOON PLUS GALLERY TO HOST INTIMATE GATHERING WITH INTERNATIONAL NEW MEDIA SENSATION JEREMY BAILEY

Plus Gallery is supporting the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art's fantastic summer symposium MEDIALIVE 2012 which runs Friday July 13th through Sunday the 15th (Full schedule of events posted at end of this newsletter).  MEDIALIVE 2012 brings together artists who explore emerging forms of live audiovisual performance. The very notion of what it means for a work to be live, the interplay between modes of perception such as sight and sound, and the entanglement of human interaction with technology all come into focus as artists investigate the elasticity of form and content, bridging the analog and digital realms. This three-day symposium presents a variety of approaches, discusses the technology and underlying theoretical, formal and conceptual considerations, and offers opportunities to explore live media tools first-hand.


Plus Gallery is working at the forefront to develop community interest in new media and motion based arts through our curatorial efforts with the Denver Theatre District as witnessed recently with this year's Create Denver Week program "SightLine" as well as last year's CDW platform "Frame of Mind."  The interest and spectacular resonance of those programs has convinced us that a new dynamic for engaging with visual art is currently sweeping across the globe, though few locations have as distinct and ongoing a platform as the infrastructure and directive that is supported by Denver's Arts and Venues through the Denver Theatre District.  Our latest projects are in support of like-minded showcases such as BMOCA's MEDIALIVE 2012, which commences with a full slate of activities next Friday the 13th in Boulder.

Those who want to get into their new-media groove early that day can visit Plus Gallery at 12 noon on the 13th for an intimate get-down with international sensation Jeremy Bailey, who is visiting Colorado for the MEDIALIVE symposium.  Jeremy provided one of the highlights of our latest curatorial effort "SightLine," closing out the program with a digital dance performance of rare sophistication and tongue-in-cheek reverie.  In keeping with his uber-star mantra, the gallery will be bursting with glowsticks and a presentation of Jeremy's web-based works that have exploded virally across the world.


Jeremy Bailey is a Toronto-based new media and performance artist whose work explores custom software in a performative context. "His work is often confidently self-deprecating in offering hilarious parodies of new media vocabularies." (Marisa Olson, Rhizome) Recent projects include performances for Transmediale, FACT, the Tate Liverpool and the New Museum.

https://vimeo.com/44178071


FRIDAY JULY 13TH AT 6PM RICK SILVA ARTWORKS TO BE PRESENTED ON DTD'S 14TH AND CHAMPA LED SCREEN IN CONJUNCTION WITH MEDIALIVE 2012

The Denver Theatre District also comes out in support of BMOCA'S MEDIALIVE 2012 program with a special Friday evening presentation of two quintessential Rick Silva works that will take our outdoor public screenings to new levels.  Silva is one of the featured new media artists on view in BMOCA's recently opened "Visual Rhythm" exhibition this summer and also a participant in MediaLive.  His most recent works explore landscape, remix and glitch in an awesomely spectral way that make us very proud to inaugurate the DTD's new monthly series of Friday night digital "Happenings" on the 14th and Champa LED screen, presenting a half hour or so of some of the most amazing motion-based works being created across the globe as well as in our own backyard.


Silva initiates the program with two sublime works.  "Massif" is a 10 minute HD video work created using a combination of traditional photography and 3D animation software. Over the course of the video a mountain peak form cycles through 18,000 variations. All the while a digital sun completes one slow geocentric circle around the peak. The structure of the work is remeniscent of a spinning record or hard drive. It will be followed by Phil Morton "Colorful Colorado (Rick Silva's 2011 Remix)," a remix of Phil Morton's 1974 video "Colorful Colorado." In some ways the video work further abstracts Phil Morton's abstraction of the landscape, in other ways the work reclaims a sense of the Colorado terrain.


Silva was born in Brazil, is currently based out of Canada, and soon to be splitting his time between Oregon and Colorado.  In other words he's the perfect candidate to initiate this series.  Come join us at 6pm on the street and sidewalks at 14th and Champa to see in the most luminous fashion why Silva has been tapped as one of the featured artists at BMOCA this summer.



Rick Silva - Still from "Colorful Colorado"

Stay tuned for more updates on our DTD related curatorial happenings and major events, including a rescreening of the full "SightLine" program in conjunction with the September 29th all-day multi-media event "Blacktop."  A new website for keeping up on our digital activities is currently in the works and will be unveiled shortly.

FRIDAY JULY 27th 7-10PM PLUS GALLERY ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION - MAJOR SURPRISES AS THREE TERRIFIC ARTISTS "MERGE" IN THE GALLERY.

On July 27th, Plus Gallery celebrates 11 years of showcasing some of the most progressive and celebrated contemporary art for the Denver community.  Join us from 7-10pm as we launch our anniversary exhibition "Merge" featuring recent small-scale works by Denver artists Eric Shumake, Matt O'Neill as well as New Zealand artist Shannon Novak, a major contributor to our 10-year anniversary last year.  Three completely distinct styles will merge together on the walls of the gallery, all super affordable and universally engaging in their own rights.  We'll have more details soon to explain how this trio of talent came together for this event, so stay tuned but save the date now for a summer celebration that you will resonate for years to come.





Eric Shumake - "Charnival"

SATURDAY JULY 28TH @ 8PM JANET FEDER AND SUSAN ALCORN MUSICAL PERFORMANCE AT PLUS GALLERY

Plus Gallery's 11 year anniversary festivities continue on Saturday July 28th when we host a musical performance by local musician Janet Feder and renowned Pedal Steel Guitar musician and composer Susan Alcorn at 8pm. Definitely a night that will capture the dynamic acoustics and intimacy of the gallery in the way no other commercial art venue in Denver has even ventured to explore in the last 11 years!   More details to follow, learn more about these artists by visiting their websites at


http://www.janetfeder.com

http://www.susanalcorn.net

SUNDAY JULY 29TH @ 2PM IVAR ZEILE TO BE FEATURED GUEST AT DENVER FILM CENTER FOR "TASTEMAKERS ON TASTE" PROGRAM


On Sunday, July 29th the Denver Film Center will host "Tastemakers on Taste" at 2pm. Three of Denver's best-known art gallery owners join Cinema Salon curator and host Robert Denerstein for a look at movies that shed light on the aesthetic standards by which they approach their jobs. Robin Rule of Rule Gallery, Tina Goodwin of Goodwin Fine Art and Ivar Zeile of Plus Gallery will be on hand to discuss film, art and aesthetics. Each of Denerstein's guests have selected two films that come closest to reflecting his or her taste and sensibilities. The program, with clips, provides a rare opportunity to learn how these leading gallery owners evaluate and appreciate art.


Most everyone familiar with Plus Gallery owner Ivar Zeile knows that his deep engagement with the visual arts began in the realm of film.  Zeile has one of the most unique histories with cinema for a contemporary art dealer, a passion that continues to propel him today.  Zeile's first college job was dishing popcorn at the Student-run movie theater at the University of Utah back in 1986.  But Popcorn was not enough, the advent of Apple computers found Zeile utilizing early design software on the mac platform to create crude yet bold advertisements for the theaters program, leading to his taking curatorial helm in his second year at the university.  From there he learned the intricacies of reel-to-reel 35mm film projection, which led to over a decade of experience as a projectionist at the local art-house cinemas, ones more seedy than anything found in Denver and with ancient equipment and complex histories that are still revered today to audiences throughout the region.  Zeile's interest in film led to writing gigs as a critic for the University student newspaper, bleeding outward for many years as a reporter covering international film festivals and special interest programs for the Tower-prevue. His Sundance Film Festival years started as a volunteer runner, quickly progressing to a managerial position with the film-traffic department and ultimately to the presentation manager during the festivals hey-day as a harbringer of today's top talents (including damage control during multiple breaks in Quentin Tarrantino's debut of "Reservoir Dogs" amongst others!).  All of this led to Robert Redford and the Sundance Institute commissioning Zeile to produce and direct three festival trailers for the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. And then it all suddenly stopped in 2001 when Zeile moved to Denver to open a contemporary art gallery.  But not really, as many who have followed our newsletter now know why there is so much coverage of select films as well as the Denver Film Festival over the last ten years, and on up through Zeile's present curatorial assignments with motion-based art through the Denver Theatre District.


Yes, Zeile has something to say about film and its influence on contemporary art and life.  Come find out what two films Ivar picked to highlight and hear for yourself on Sunday afternoon, July 29th at the Denver Film Center on Colfax at 2pm to cap a weekend-long stint of Plus Gallery anniversary activities.

The Film/Center Colfax is located at 2510 E. Colfax Ave.