Upstate road trip

 Sponge Bob and Patrick hitching a ride on the back end of a tractor trailer.

Yesterday, Mark DeLura, Peter Acheson and I made a road trip up to Saratoga Springs to visit the Jewel Thief exhibit at the Tang Museum and then to Greenwich, NY to visit Martin Bromirski's studio.  I'll focus specifically on Martin's studio visit in an upcoming post.  For now, here are a few images from the rest of our day:

 Images of the Saratoga Diner where we enjoyed an excellent breakfast for lunch.

two "disorienting" images of Richard Woods' "wood" flooring and Jim Hodges' greyscale camo.

The Jewel Thief exhibit at the Tang is co-curated by Jessica Stockholder and Tang curator Ian Berry features the work of 60 artists.  There are a handful of short videos of the artists and the curators speaking about their work on the museum's website.  The exhibit will remain on view through Feb 27.

"Art" as poor imitation of life

I'm currently wrapping up my Christmas sojourn in great plains country. Making my way out here last week, I was struck by the proliferation of windmill turbines in western Iowa. I find their presence to be elegant. These turbines were not moving when I passed by. The pairings of these towers share certain characteristics with Jonathan Borofsky's dancers sculpture in Denver; they're towering, slender and white. The shared qualities, however, end with those basic elements. The self concious artsy-ness of Borofsky's representation of dance/movement renders the work lame while the stately and graceful turbines, even when still, speak to the potential of motion, implicating the whole of the Earth's invisible breath in their raison d'etre. These fine, utilitarian forms demonstrate what the Borofsky might have been: strong, rythmic, and profound in their presence.

How I spent my last ten days

I left Beacon on Tuesday, Oct 23. Pennsylvania looked incredibly primordial in a dramatic mix of fog, rain and fiery foliage. I wish I had snapped a pic. Early the next morning in Eastern Iowa clouds of birds far denser than I’ve ever seen danced beside and across I-80. I snapped a few pics, but they didn’t look so cool.

I rolled into Denver Thursday night and met up with Marc at an Old Chicago to touch base on preparations for the exhibit. An extremely friendly and inebriated gal sitting next to me at the bar took great interest in our conversation and scribbled notations. We told her about the exhibit, and where it would be held. She said “Oh I live down there.” It turns out she graduated from Littleton High eight years after I did.
Exhibition Battle Plan.

Here is the map she drew for me of the art rooms at LHS, and the path she’d take to sneak into her ceramics class when she was running late:

The rest of the time from that point for the next straight week - day and night until Friday afternoon, was spent preparing artwork and installing the exhibit at Curtis.

The in-progress wall building for the installation at the Curtis Center.


Day of the Dead at CHAC.

Art-O-Mart at Capsule.

Sidewalks of Santa Fe Dr.
On Friday evening I headed up to Santa Fe for First Friday. Friday was Day of the Dead, which augmented the usual carnival aspect of the gallery walk along that corridor.

Michael Zansky at Sandy Carson .

I stopped into several places. I was primarily interested in heading to the Sandy Carson Gallery for Michael Zansky’s exhibit. I had misunderstood when the opening was scheduled, and was expecting it to be that night, and that Michael would be there. Unfortunately, I was a couple of weeks late on that score, and he was no longer in Denver.

Sandy Lane at Sandra Phillips.
From Santa Fe, I headed over to the comparatively sedate Golden Triangle and stopped in to visit with Michele Mosko at her newly opened gallery on 12th and Bannock, Michele Mosko Fine Art. Michele and I met in Peekskill, NY when we were both invited to join the Advisory Board of the HVCCA. We quickly developed a connection as we’re both from Denver, and at the time we were both frequently travelling between NY and CO. Angelika photographed Michele for one of the portraits in her Menschenkunde series. Michele made a permanent move back to Denver earlier in the year, and opened her space last month. After visiting at the gallery for a while, I headed for home and stopped by Jerusalem for a “Super Dish” and a baklava. I just now went to the restaurant’s website for the first time. Next time I get take out, I’ll be sure to load up the site to better replicate the auditory experience that is had when dining in. Jerusalem’s is my treat to myself, at least once when I’m back in Denver. I’ve been twice this week, and I still have four weeks here in town.