September 29, 2014-Autumn in the Denver art scene-RINO

Sorry for the long absence for which I have no excuse except being buried in the studio.  This weekend, however, was glorious in Denver and my husband and I got out to gallery-hop downtown in the River North (RINO) neighborhood.  

The Ice Cube gallery was featuring two solo shows by Regina Benson and Ray Tomasso who often show together due to their shared sensibilities and interest in natural phenomena.  Regina's show, Catching Fire, is her second showing inspired by Colorado’s devastating wildfires.  Her monumental pieces, made from rusted, discharged, re-dyed and manipulated fabric is even more successful than the first, with the pieces illuminated from within by various intensities of flickering light.  You could almost hear the flames crackling.

Detail of texture

Tomasso’s exhibit, Wind and Storm; New Works In Paper, shows his mastery of cast paper in large very textural pieces implying the weathering of the earth through the forces of nature.

Detail

A group show at Helikon Gallery, a wonderfully large and very open exhibition space, featured the work of three artists in a group show, Great Plains Three Point Perspective, which included painting, photography and ceramic work.  Reed Weimer, one of the artists who happened to be at the gallery, generously shared information about the background of his work as we walked around.  I found his painting, The History Hole, very mysterious with many possible interpretations.

Patricia Barry Levy’s work, accomplished through digital collage and printed on canvas, was quite whimsical and evocative.  Two somewhat different approaches are seen in Tethered Depot and Silo #2.

The Tethered Depot

Silo #2

In the smaller back gallery, Chandler Romeo’s beautifully rendered ceramic pieces occupied an entire wall.  They were part of an enormous installation, Urban Abstract Rural Grid, earlier this year at the Museum of Outdoor Arts.  I was glad I’d seen them in the larger context.

Reid Weimer was at Helikon with a mutual friend, Rex Brown, whose gallery/living space, The Pattern Shop, was also open Saturday for a very different exhibit, Rivers Alive, work by Wogo Hollup.  Her paintings in Japanese leaf and ebony pencil on denril paper were beautifully rendered, and shimmered in the changing light.  Inspired by satellite images of rivers, the floor to ceiling length scrolls moved very slightly in small breezes and represented abstractly bodies of water and clouds from various parts of the world.

Clouds Over Estes Park

Detail

East River To Long Island Sound

Last stop for the afternoon was at Plus Gallery.  In the downstairs space, Jenny Morgan, originally from Colorado but now a New York artist, was showing a series of paintings called The Golden Hour.  Mysterious and somewhat mystical, they seemed to use a kind of exterior portraiture to speak of interior spaces.

Psychic Heartbeat

Breakthrough Sharona

Various gallery artist had work in the upstairs space at Plus.  One painting that had me in front of it for some time was work by Xi Zhang.  What held me there was the tension between the foreboding content and the absolute lusciousness of the paint strokes. 

Permanence Within #01-E04

Detail

It was hard to believe that he also had two smaller pieces so different in mood and execution.  I went back and forth several times to convince myself that both were done by the same artist.

The Bath #4