CURRENTLY ON VIEW AT PLUS GALLERY

FINAL WEEK TO VIEW/BID ON SHANNON NOVAK'S "SOUND FRAGMENT" AT PLUS GALLERY

The third phase of New Zealand artist Shannon Novak's global art project "Sound Fragments" ends on May 2nd,  so there are only a few days left to bid on the fragment "A Flat Minor 7 negative" we have on view here at Plus Gallery, the current bid clocking in at $100.  All proceeds from the sale will go to PlatteForum, one of our favorite organizations that supports disadvantaged youth through arts education and mentorship.  This is a very unique endeavor, we highly encourage everyone to consider visiting and acquiring a very rare artwork with global impact.

Select galleries around the world are participating in Novak's endeavor with images of their installations posted on Shannon's website, we encourage you to take a look and see what's happening in Iceland, Nigeria and some of the other exotic locations have done with their fragments.  A few samples are here, but you can see more at http://sites.google.com/site/soundfragments/photos

KATE PETLEY'S WEATHER BALLOONS GO ON VIEW IN COLORADO SPRINGS MAY 7th

Plus Gallery artist Kate Petley will have her fantastic, large-scale weather balloons on view in Colorado Springs for the exhibition "4x4: 4 artists, 4 curators" at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs.   The exhibition commences with an Opening Reception May 7th  from 6-9 PM.

4 artists, 4 curators developed out of a series of conversations between four local contemporary art curators. After many informal discussions about artists and exhibitions we decided to explore further the similarities and differences of our curatorial approaches by collaborating on a project featuring four Colorado artists.

While the artists are diverse in their chosen media and conceptual choices, taken asa whole, 4x4 challenges the viewer to consider space, scale and stories and ask questions about the relationships between objects, between object and space and between local visual arts institutions.

CURATORS: Caitlin Green (GOCA), Blake Milteer (Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center), Jessica Hunter Larsen (The I.D.E.A. Space at Colorado College) and Holly Parker (Smokebrush Gallery & Foundation)

ARTISTS: Andrew Beckham, Carol Golemboski, Kate Petley, and Stacy Steers

Kate Petley's enormous balloons

ROBIN SCHAEFER TO EXHIBIT NEW WORKS AT THE MEADOWLARK OPENING MAY 6TH

Plus Gallery artist Robin Schaefer will unveil some small-scale experimental works, along with a few of her recent paintings at our neighbor and favorite bar up the street The Meadowlark.  We invite everyone to come out for the opening of the show on Thursday, May 6th starting at 6pm.  If you haven't been to the Meadowlark, you are missing out on the coziest  and coolest bar in all of Denver, so nows a great opportunity to see Robin's new work and enjoy a night out.  The Meadowlark will feature live music after the reception with four great bands taking it to the people in raucous fashion.  The Meadowlark is located at the corner of 27th and Larimer just two blocks north of Plus Gallery, we hope to see you there.

New works by Robin Schaefer at Meadowlark

CRASH INTO THE ART WORLD WITH THE DAM CONTEMPORARIES THIS SUMMER!

The DAM Contemporaries will be hosting a number of exceptional programs for those who collect, consider and appreciate contemporary art.  To announce their upcoming spring and summer programs, the group will host a free reception for those interested in becoming members or getting involved next wednesday, May 5th at the Robischon Annex at 1732 Wazee Street from 6-8pm.  Meet artists, museum luminaries, gallerists, and movers and shakers who all contribute to the vibrancy and impact of Denver's contemporary community.

Besides complimentary drinks and food that night, you can reserve your tickets for Summer programs or buy a membership and be entered into a raffle to win an original piece by Embrace! artist Rupprecht Matthies, Embrace! catalogs, a hard hat signed by DAM architect Daniel Libeskind, as well as bottles of special edition wine. You are invited and encouraged to bring your friends!

Contact Jessica Brunecky at jbrunecky@denverartmuseum.org for additonal information.

DINNER AND THE AVANT - GARDE MAY 8th AT OBJECT + THOUGHT

Win Wear will host an inaugural film showcase May 8th at O+T -- Dinner and the Avant - Garde - an evening of experimental cinema curated by local experimental filmmaker Rett Rogers and generously supported by Denver's epicurean community.

The screening will explore the diverse aesthetic methodologies of essential avant-garde cinema through the work of its most celebrated artists, including Stan Brakhage, Bruce Conner, Phil Solomon, Gunvor Nelson - and more. The films will explore land-and-dream-scapes, dance and sex, and utilize found footage and chemical manipulation, objective representation and holy abstraction. The program is designed towards sensorial and experiential discovery, academic familiarity is not a qualification for appreciation.

All films will be projected in 16mm (!) by Jacob Barreras, Head Projectionist for the Film Studies Program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Preceding the screening will be a three course spring meal using locally sourced ingredients from In Season market paired with beer from our friends at Great Divide brewery.

"Dinner and the Avant-Garde" is the first in Win Wear's continuing series of events exploring canonical and contemporary Avant-Garde cinema. The seating will be limited, for reservations and more information
contact Rett Rogers at sirstarrett@gmail.com or call 303.887.5157.

Vegan and vegetarian meals will be offered, please specify in your reservation request. $15 suggested donation.

Plus Gallery has a new exhibition installed called "Excellencies" that features exceptional new works by select artists in the main exhibition space, coalescing into a greater view of what's hot at Plus with recent selections from the stable and some new surprises on both the 1st and second floors. Here's a quick rundown of what's on tap and why you should come visit now:

Fans of Susan Meyer's highly involved, beautiful installation works from the last decade need to consider "Ojo Caliente" or "Hot Springs," both the perfect distillation of her utopian concepts into a compact sculpture, suitable for all environments.

Tsehai Johnson has installed "Spill #4" in one corner of the gallery, a visual masterpiece of domestic fluidity and dynamic shadowplay.

Peter Illig's latest painting "Blue Spark" carries his signature style forward in a very exciting rendition of our technology obsessed society.  Peter comments on his latest painting in a youtube clip you can view at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3dbenN8JOo

Frank T. Martinez new painting is a major departure into the figurative realm, taking on the subject of youth and its many subtle complexities.

Dave Yust makes a heroic return with a new painting that simply dazzles.  "Chromaxiologic - Inclusion with 5 catenary curves VII" continues the artists long-term focus on cantenary curves and their relationship to our natural world.  Hear him talk about the effects of gravity on his latest and future works, not to mention the color pink in a short video discussion at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCf9hA1tHTY

Jenny Morgan's "I am but one small instrument" may be one of her greatest paintings to date, fans of her work should definitely make the trek over to see one of the largest paintings by the artist on view in Denver in the last three years.

Karen McClanahan graces us with four brand new small-scale panels that push her dramatic juxtaposition of color and spatial form, continuing her legacy as one of the best painters to come out of Denver this century.  She has also brought three unique "cigar-box" works that show how effective she can be on all scales, these are absolute treasures and very affordable as well.

Kate Petley's latest body of work is her strongest to date, her latest "At that time" finds her pushing in a ultra-contemporary framework that is complex in its execution yet resoundling soothing in its visual effect.

Bill Amundson's "Joe Joe Pop" will delight anyone perplexed with the political landscape of the last decade, kicking off a new series of "American Dickheads" the artist is now developing.  His "Worried man with happy cam" further riffs on the extraordinary times we live in and how they effect the national psyche, continuing Bill's string of excellent self-portraits.

Mike Whiting's latest "Skull" is just a small-scale sheer delight, delivering another minimal form with high-impact and great presence.

Finally, Riva Sweetrocket delivers a rare "one-off" painting, though explicitly tied to the visual motifs of her most recent body of work.  "Preserve" is a sophisticated painting exuding the artist's highly nuanced subtlety and symbolic virtuosity.  To hear Riva talk about her work and the recent painting visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kqRcNexLoM

Upstairs we are introducing artwork by three exceptional new artists:

Austin Parkhill is not the next Jenny Morgan, but he's certainly exudes the same raw talent and understanding of the human form that is already causing jaws to drop in the presence of his work.  His paintings promote a signature "Snap-shot" style that are impressive in scale as well as technical virtuosity, we expect great things for him stemming from his inclusion in the second iteration of the Outwin Boochever Portaiture Competition currently on view at the National Gallery in Washington DC.

Nick Museilian is another highly skilled painter who melds intellectual sophistication with visual panache.  We are featuring two paintings from his "Little Nietzsche" series that simulate an alternate universe where Playmobile characters act out heroic scenes straight from Zarathustra.

Last, but not least, we just brought in one of Allie Pohl's ultra-now "Ideal Woman" sculptures, a touchable form that allows the viewer to size themselves up to society's conclusive ideals of femininity.  This young artist has taken Denver by storm, her recent thesis exhibition at Hinterland one of the most ambitious installations since Colin Livingston's "The Big Idea" here at Plus.

We encourage everyone to make some new discoveries, and highly encourage acquisitions by these and the rest of the terrific artists in the Plus Gallery stable.