I was recently asked to contribute a few pieces of work to a group show being curated by Andrew Hoffman in collaboration with Bomb Snow Magazine and PBR. Unfortunately the paint was still drying on my pieces when I turned them in so I wasn’t able to peel off any snaps before handing them over. A huge shout out and a healthy thank you is in order to Mr. Hoffman for allowing me to show alongside some of my favorite artists from Denver, but more importantly for putting in extra hours in order to make the show happen.
Denver artists: Amanda Marie, Andrew Hoffman, Chris Huth, Josh Wills, John Fellows, Max Kauffman, Melanie Pruitt, Matt Scobey, Rob Mack, Sandra Fettingis, Scot Lefavor
Bozeman artists: Adam Schwankl, Dalton Brink, John ‘Dizmal’ Warren Jonathan Raney, Rachel Driscoll, Tanner Billis, Wilson Raska
Vast Gallery : March 24th : 410 N. Broadway. Bozeman, MT
Armed with a fresh body of work Mario Zoots has a new show opening March 9th at Super Ordinary Gallery appropriately titled New Gothic. New Gothic will mark a shift in Mario’s approach to creating his collaged work, reflecting a transition away from appropriation and moving towards creating pieces that are assembled using original content: photography, artwork, etc.
Though Mario’s approach towards shifted his works has changed, his intent still remains intact. Through his collage work Zoot’s exploits the human belief in the photographic image to make his surreal assemblages plausible on a certain level. Photographic snippets of the real world are extracted from their original contexts and rebuilt into a dream-scape of absurd juxtaposition. By doing so Zoot’s photo-collages have an authority and power that challenges perception in a way that would be difficult to achieve in traditional painting.
Mario Zoots : New Gothic
March 9th : Super Ordinary Gallery : 6PM – 10PM
3126 Larimer Street. Denver, CO
A little over a year ago I was given the opportunity to create an identity and plant the seeds of brand for Proper Barber Shop based here in Denver. The shop is ran by master barber, craftsmen, and good friend Jordan Weinstein. Recently Sailor Jerry featured Jordan in an installment of their Hold Fast series. In the video Jordan discusses his take on tradition and dedication to craft. Taken from personal experience Jordan is an extremely skilled craftsmen and a very passionate one at that. Jordan broadcasts ‘barber shop banter’ over twitter and facebook, though nothing replaces spending a half hour or so at Proper talking shop with the boys.
Denver based artist, tattooist, and all around rad maker Sandi Calistro will be showing new work at Super Ordinary gallery, the show entitled ‘Times are Hard for Dreamers’ will open on January 14th. Her work has been recognized nationally by juxtapoz and high fructose both online and in print. Keep tabs on Sandi and her daily doings via twitter and tumblr… she will be in attendance the night of the opening, drop by for a chance to see Sandi’s work in person and also possibly talk a little shop.
SANDI CALISTRO : TIMES ARE HARD FOR DREAMERS
Super Ordinary gallery : January 14th : 7pm – 11pm
3126 Larimer Street : Denver : Colorado
10 Years ago Ray Young Chu quit his day job to pursue what he felt he was put on earth to do… Create. 10 years before that I met Ray in elementary school and then was later reintroduced to him in High school. Over the years we’ve shared many things including graffiti crews, bourbon, and a love of art. Like many friends it was sad to see him leave Denver, but it has been even more fulfilling watching him flourish and crush new opportunities that wouldn’t have presented themselves had he not done so. I try to catch Ray every time I’m out in his hood, but am even more excited to have him back in ours.
December 3rd at Super Ordinary Gallery, Ray will be opening his first solo show in Denver since moving west. The show entitled ‘Beginning Before’ will be filled with work that spans a ten year career as a professional rad maker. Work from his early days created in Denver, after making a transition from being a fairly prominent graffiti artist. Work that was made in collaboration with others under ‘The Yummies’ moniker. Work from his design art collective ‘Chule’. And newer pieces created while the oceans breeze blew threw his magnificent hair along the coasts of southern Cali. Ray’s work has always made me laugh, made others laugh, and in a few rare but highly calculated instances pissed a few people off. Ray’s work is created with his heart, using his head and hands. His art is witty and sarcastic while still being fun or more often humorous. Beginning Before is just as much a visual journal as it is an artshow. Many of the pieces have not been exhibited publicly before, including photographs and other odds and ends that document his travels, adventures, and pursuits of the last ten years.
Beginning Before : Compilation artwork by : Ray Young Chu Official Opening : December 3rd 7:00pm – 11:54pm Super Ordinary Gallery : 3126 Larimer Street Denver, CO
Proper Barber Shop has joined forces with PBR to bring all of the best art from the PBR Colorado art shows under one roof. This Friday night join the gents from Proper along with DJ Ginger Perry and buckets of free PBR for the opening reception highlighting the best of the best. Featuring artwork by Josh Holland, Jouvelt, Absinthe Photography, and more.
Proper Barber Shop : Friday November 4th : 7pm – 10pm : 3923 Tennyson Street
Jessica Hische is a letterer, illustrator, and self-described “avid internetter”, best known for her personal project Daily Drop Cap, she will be speaking at the Denver Art Museum on October 18th as part of the AIGA Colorado Speaker Series. Having found success in a variety of side projects outside of her daily grind, Jessica will touch on the genesis and process that fueled some of her most recent successes, she will also share some recent work and expound up her love of typography while discussing the differences between lettering and fonts.
Smash Collective is the collaborative show between two Denver based designers/artists Ryan Lee and Eric Wedum. Their process is self described as being “free-formed and organic. Each addition to every piece was done in a silo away from the others opinion and art direction. Only coming together to decide on photos to be used and color choices. We were interested in exploring where each of our styles would collide with the others. The series grew and evolved as the months past, it melded and turned into something cohesive.”
Smash Collective opens Friday August 5th at The Infinite Monkey Theorem
931 West 5th Avenue. Denver, CO : 5pm – 10pm
Bordo Bello is back for the fourth straight year and looking for artists, designers, and other creative types interested in designing decks for the skateboard art fundraiser.
Visit the Bordo Bello website for more details on how to go about getting your hands on a blank shred stick: www.bordobello.com
Curated by artist Jeremy “THINKMULE?” Pruitt and presented by Illiterate Gallery, Jolly B 13 explores our personal affinity for symbolic value, contentious associations with specific numbers and objects of superstition. An exhibition of 13 artists, each will lend their own varied association and unique perspective to the number 13.
New works by: Ryan Bubnis • Bill Dunlap • Mike Egan • John “YOYOGI” Fortes • David “MEGGS” Hooke • Travis Lampe • Jason Limon • Jeremy “THINKMULE?” Pruitt • Melanie Pruitt • Brian Raszka • Jesse Reno • Gabriel Shaffer • Betsy Walton
Mike Egan
Jason Limon
John ‘Yoyogi’ Fortes
Jolly B 13: Curated by THINKMULE? Opening Reception: May 6th | 7PM-11PM Illiterate Gallery: 82 S. Broadway | Denver, Colorado | 80209
This Saturday Super Ordinary x Bored of Directors are putting on an Earthquake & Tsunami relief poster show featuring limited edition prints and one-offs created by a small group of hand selected national & local artists + designers. All proceeds from this show will be donated to redcross.org. Pictured above are a couple sneak peeks from a few of the submissions. Up top is Cypher13’s contribution and immediately below is a glimpse at Gneural’s one-off hand cut poster. Music will be delivered to your ears courtesy of The Postman and sweets for you mouth/tummy by PASTEL.
Featuring the work of: Berger & Föhr {Cypher13 Design Studio} : Ray Young Chu : Katrin Davis : Sandi Calistro : Elena Stonaker : Sandra Fettingis : Debbie Clapper : Rob Mack : Tony Farfella : Matt Scobey : Chris Van Nguyen : Mike Scarano Who:Super Ordinary x Bored of Directors What: Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Poster Show When: April 9th, 6-9PM Where: 3126 Larimer Street, Denver
Two of my favorite Colorado artists / people, husband and wife duo Jeremy Pruitt (THINKMULE™) and Melanie Pruitt (Deadly Daisy) will be showing new works this Friday as part of their show titled Crawlspace, which runs April 1st through April 29th at The Black Book Gallery here in Denver.
Melanie will be showing a fresh round of highly intricate black & white ink drawings inspired by the human form and organic patterns, Jeremy will provide a nice balance with his bold, layered, type and folk inspired sculpture work. I get geeked out every time these two show new work in public, notoriously reclusive, it’s always a treat to see how they explore and evolve as artists.
Crawlspace at Black Book Gallery opens April 1st @ 7PM : 555 Santa Fe Dr. Denver, Colorado 80204
To all of our friends, family, and community in Denver we regret to inform you we are no longer associated in any way shape or form with The Shoppe: Cupcake and Cereal Bar on Colfax. We’ve been silently attempting to resolve conflicts with our former business partner in the background while they have continued to manage the day-to-day operation of The Shoppe for a little over a year now.
While trying to sort everything out we were advised to remain silent, which we respected. Over this past year we’ve had multiple people approach us with negative experiences and comments in regards to doing business at The Shoppe, and as a result we felt it was our responsibility to come forward in public and announce that we are no longer affiliated with the business. We had a very specific vision for The Shoppe, that image was part of everything we did during our control of the business from customer service, the environment, down to the music that was played and art that hung on the wall. We know that many of you showed your patronage at The Shoppe because we made it a priority to provide a positive experience with good vibes every chance we got, we cannot thank you all enough for the support and encouragement you showed us during that time. We are extremely fortunate to have been a part of the community and family along East Colfax and are both very proud of what we all accomplished. We apologize to anyone that has had a negative experience during our absence and want you all to know that moving forward, The Shoppe is no longer owned, operated, or managed by either of us. The current owner continues to do business under the name, idea and branding we created without our consent. If you continue to enjoy the service and experience The Shoppe provides, so be it, to each their own, we just want you all to know if The Shoppe seems to be a little off as of late, different, or not quite the same, there is both a rhyme and a reason.
Though saddened by what has went down over the past year, we will not let this slow us down. We believe in the Denver community that has shown us nothing but love for the past several years, as a result we are currently focusing and putting our positive energy into our newest venture Super Ordinary, a gallery/community creative space in the Rhino District off 31st and Larimer. We will have monthly shows every second Saturday featuring work from established and emerging local, national, and international artists. The space will also hold other events, classes, lectures, and happenings throughout each month. We also continue to collaborate with other passionate small business owners in and around Denver on a variety of projects from creating fashion and art events to bed and breakfast’s and barbershops. We will do our best to create other spaces and experiences around town that honor everything we have all been building together for the past 7 years.
Alright Denver kiddies, I don’t necessarily condone the unpaid, anything route… But, knowing how hard it can be to get into the Denver creative community, I figured it doesn’t hurt to spread the word.
Changethethought is looking for two unpaid interns for 12 weeks. It sounds like their open to full time or part time and are looking to fill a Motion Designer position and a Producer position. For more information on what they’re looking for, jump over to the original post on CTT.
Mike Egan
Jason Limon
John ‘Yoyogi’ Fortes
