This will be a great show - opening tonight.

Habitat: Exploring the Relationship Between Our Natural and Manmade Worlds
Featuring Artists: Ricky Allman, Chris Ballantyne, Molly Dilworth, Christina Empedocles, Gregory Euclide, Evan Hecox, Tat Ito, Paul Jacobsen, Josh Keyes and Jean-Pierre Roy
Foothills Art Center
January 21 - March 13, 2011

• Opening Reception: Friday, January 21, 6:30–8:30pm
• Gallery Talk with Molly Dilworth: Saturday, January 22, 2pm
• In the Gallery with Molly Dilworth: Visit with artist Molly Dilworth while she creates a site-specific painting in our front gallery during regular hours, January 22–24
• Gallery Talk with Paul Jacobsen: Thursday, January 27, 6:30 pm (MEMBERS ONLY EVENT. Space is limited! RSVP to: michael@foothillsartcenter.org by Monday, January 24)
• SCFD Family Free Day: Saturday, February 26, 11am–2 pm; Kids create their own unique habitats

Through the art of 10 nationally-ranked artists working throughout the United States, Habitat will become a tour- de-force presentation of the rapidly evolving world we all live in. Through painting, installation, graphite drawing, found object sculpture and more, these artists conceptually reflect upon how technology, development and consumerism has created a compelling human occupation of the earth’s once rudimentary habitat. A far cry from the “traditional” portrayal of environmental subject matter, Habitat will explosively, yet intelligently, examine the sophistication that is the modern world, and its undeniable effect upon the planet’s natural state. This exhibition becomes a unique opportunity to support a dialogue that is extremely contemporary, relevant and overflowing with passionate opinions and perspectives.

Some of the artists that have come together for this exclusive show have never before exhibited in Colorado, and all are beginning to make signifcant impact on the national and international art scenes, with several showcasing works in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

Foothills Art Center, 809 15th Street, Golden, CO 80401
Mon-Sat: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm, Sun: 1:00 - 5:00 pm
303.279.3922
michael@foothillsartcenter.org

"Stark" opens tomorrow

Sorry I've been away folks. I've been working hard preparing for the "Stark" show at Foothills Art Center. I will have ten works in the show -most of which are new or have never been exhibited before. The group show consists of all black-and-white works and includes my first site-specific wall painting since moving to Denver. I've also been spending the last few days helping Mindy Bray work on her monumental wall painting (sneak peek above). She's been up on scaffolding and ladders for over a week now with a rotating cast of assistants like myself - it is a very impressive work and her largest yet. If you are in the area don't miss it. I'll post photos on Saturday. The details for the exhibition are as follows:

Join us at Foothills Art Center for the STARK opening reception on Friday, May 14 from 5:30 pm to 8 pm. An exhibition of photography, painting, drawing, video and installation, STARK is an unmistakably candid and personal look into the beauty and intrigue of our world simplified to black, white and the grey areas found in between.

Found Friday

This photo was my great find at the flea market this last Sunday. It's a big print too - approximately 9x12". It was in with a lot of other photos of this kid and his family in Germany during WWII or shortly after the war. This shot was the best of the bunch.

Mia Mulvey at Vertigo Art Space

After the Biographic opening on Friday we walked down to the opening at Vertigo Art Space (also on Santa Fe Dr.) where we saw a great show by Mia Mulvey. It was exceptionally installed - balancing areas of gridded patterning (see above) with more lyrical, curvy positioning on the wall (as seen with the giraffe skulls). Her use of color was restrained - consisting of mostly monochromatic skulls placed on the walls and on the floor. While the subject of extinction has been explored in a variey of ways, I found her approach to be quite fresh. I'm really glad to have caught the show - it will be up September to October. Her statement on the work is as follows:

"This body of work is taken from 3-dimensional prints of actual biological specimens. Replicating anatomy that is "true" and tied to a once-living, individual animal has been central to this work. These animals exist as X-ray CT scans of specimens in the Digital Morphology Library at the University of Texas in Austin. The 3-D scans were then printed on a 3-D printer and/or CNC milled out of foam and reproduced in porcelain.

The animals I have chosen to work with are all protected and thus threatened in the wild. They represent a larger population of animal species and their current status in the world. As humans, our views of these animals, and all of nature, is most often as a place “out there”, limitless and enduring. Our views are also often cluttered with romantic notions of exotic travels and attractive museum displays.

Our world's animal population is dwindling due to the fragmentation and loss of habitat from deforestation, farming, human encroachment, hunting, and climate change. These works deal with the ideas of beauty, collection, extinction, death and ultimately our relationship with nature."

Art and Film Friday; Vol. 5 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

This week I'm putting stills from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind by Michel Gondry with the work of several painters. While Matt Bollinger's work isn't exactly similar in terms of subject matter, the color use is very similar to that found in the film. The other artist comparisons are a little more direct.

Stills from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Matt Bollinger, My Face is a Veil (after Suspicion), oil on canvas, 37” x 47 1/2”, 2007

Matt Bollinger, Collective (Act II), oil on canvas, 20" x 24", 2007

Matt Bollinger, The Glass Heart Clinking, watercolor and gouache, 22” x 29 3/4”, 2007

Still from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Francis Bacon, Untitled (Study for Portrait Looking Right), Oil on Canvas, 14x12", 1962

Still from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Gerhard Richter, Ice I, Oil on Canvas, 200 cm x 160 cm, 1989

Art and Film Friday; Vol. 4 - Twin Peaks; Fire Walk With Me

still from Twin PeaksUntitled, 26.5” x 18.5", by Tiffany Bozic

still from "Fire Walk With Me"

“Disguised in Perham”, 2003 by Franco Angeloni. - found at vvork.

still from "Fire Walk With Me"Tim Hawkinson, Balloon Self-Portrait, inflatable latex sculpture, life size, cast from the artist's body, turned inside out, then inflated by an air compressor, Ace Gallery, NYC.

still from "Fire Walk With Me"

John Hathorn, "Grammar of Water 12th State", 60" X 56", oil on canvas

still from "Fire Walk With Me"Balthus

Agent Dale Cooper in a still from "Fire Walk With Me"William Betts, Following, 2007, Acrylic on canvas, 40 x 54 inches

still from "Fire Walk With Me"Marloes van Doom photograph from the Nightmarry series

more "Fire Walk With Me" stills here and here.

Film Still Friday: Captain Scarlet - part 1

Here are some of my own screen-caps of one of my favorite tv shows; Captian Scarlet -a Gerry Anderson series from the 1960s. These landscapes are fantastic. Some of these shots look a little like my paintings. I found so many great shots from the series I'll be (auto)posting a 'part two' tomorrow.

Big Openings Tonight

Rex Ray - Public Reception

The Promenade Space · 6 pm at the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art

Step into the multi-hued world of Rex Ray to experience a fresh breeze of color and organic shapes with a nod to mid-century modern art and design..

PLUS GALLERY RE-OPENS AT 2501 LARIMER; PUBLIC GRAND OPENING AND

ARTIST'S RECEPTION FOR KAREN McCLANAHAN FRIDAY, MARCH 13TH AT 6PM

My friend Bill Amundson will have new work at Plus as one of the gallery's most recent additions.

also RMCAD's student show opens tonight, and loads more art/openings of can be found at the always-great denverarts.org.