Past shows 2021
Gina Smith Caswell & Sam Smith
December 3 — December 19, 2021
In the Annex:“Fun Size!” by Reed Weimer & “Shafts of Grace” by Jeff Hersch
New Works - Gina Smith Caswell
Gina Smith Caswell has the incredible ability to capture still life in oil paint while still maintaining an exquisite painterly effervescence. In her latest body of work, she takes floral and fruit motifs to an ethereal conclusion. While paying homage to the masters of painting, she makes deeply personal work that celebrates the beauty to be found in everyday objects used in our everyday living. To experience true craftsmanship by a highly skilled painter making her best work yet, look no further.
Spazzing Out on a Cosmic Level - Sam Smith
Sam Smith's maximalist collage work celebrates unhinged excess. He creates an alternative universe of known structures diced up into little bits, then reassembled in multiple layers of pattern, drips, scribbles and explosions. It is an attempt to reconcile a hyperactive world of boundless information within the constraints of the human mind. Smith's latest work is rich in overstatement, busy and intricate, bold and redundant. It's also fun as hell to look at. Welcome winter with a loud blast of abstract noise and catch Sam Smith's first CORE exhibition as a full member.
In The Annex
“Fun Size!” by Reed Weimer & “Shafts of Grace” by Jeff Hersch
Former CORE artist, Reed Weimer will be exhibiting small works, including prints, drawings, watercolors and collages. Both framed and bin work at affordable prices to take home for the holidays! Photographer Jeff Hersch will be displaying images of everyday life in different countries, different cultures, people and places, all, “when I saw them, illuminated by shafts of grace”.
WOW! Wide Open Whatever
Nov. 12 - Nov. 28, 2021
In the Annex: Katelin Geman, “Life, Still.”
In The Annex:
“Life, Still.”- Katelin L. Geman
Katelin L. Geman is a classically trained Representative Artist specializing in realism. Her unique style and artistic abilities make every piece both enjoyable and immediately recognizable. A Colorado native, Katelin draws from her surroundings using brilliant and vivid colors to create her art. Working with graphite, charcoal, and oil paint, Katelin invites her audience to share in an authentic experience, bringing meaning and hidden beauty to the forefront of still life during these unprecedented times.
Claudia Roulier, Michelle Lamb,Susie Biehl
October 22 - November 7, 2021
Opening Reception: Oct. 22nd 5-10pm
First Friday: November 5
Moving On - Claudia Roulier
In a year already fraught with immense changes, Claudia Roulier moved from where she was born and raised, had children and grew older, to a brand new place. Changes and challenges naturally kept her on an emotional rollercoaster and Roulier's latest work is a residual reflection of her recent experiences. The move rewired her head and upended every aspect of her daily life, from what she does in the morning to how she structures her days. "Everything is new, exciting, scary, and different." Actually a fitting way to describe her outrageous must-see art that has always been a crowd pleaser.
Pareidolia - Michelle Lamb
Michelle Lamb devises a world where hardware fasteners form jellyfish, typewriter innards constitute birds, and adding machines and kitchen gadgets generate exotic fish. This psychological phenomenon or tendency of perceiving a specific image in an unrelated medium is called “pareidolia” and Lamb explores its outermost limits. Recontextualizing the symmetry of shapes or repetitive pattern designs of the most common items, Lamb transforms them into Native American inspired totems, Eastern temples or mythological pagan-like shrines, figures and artifacts. Self described as “industrial baroque” her curious kind of alchemy upcycles that which is base into something rare, refined and remarkable.
Revived - Susie Biehl
Susie Biehl's latest collection is an explosion of color, pattern, energy and beauty. It is an eclectic mix of assemblage, collage, exploration and accumulation. Biehl has a knack for combining rejected debris people leave behind for future cultural anthropologists and the stunning beauty of objects only Mother Nature herself can create. Much of what is manufactured today serves but a single use and is designed for an ephemeral existence before heading straight to the landfill. Biehl seeks to find beauty in these discarded objects, and thus "revive" them, bringing them back to life and into a new, elevated state as fine art. Her work is imaginative, surprising and beautiful. In its own way it bridges consumerism and environmentalism into what modern life has effectively wrought: a compromise between the forces of human progress and the natural world.
Chuck McCoy, Barbara Veatch and Tracey Russell
October 1 - October 17, 2021
First Friday Reception, October 1, 5:00 – 10:00PM
Artist Reception: Friday, October 15, 5:00 – 10:00PM
in the Annex: Carol Bivins
Always Underfoot - Tracey Russell
I explore the beauty and complexity of expressive, deliberate and subconscious mark making. Spontaneously following these suggestions of line, pattern, color and texture, I create an abstract narrative with a subtle hint or implication of a thought or experience.
I am an abstract expressionist painter. I use oil paint and mixed media on canvas. In the morning when walking the dog through the foothills of Boulder, Colorado, I contemplate life and art. This show is about gravity and millions of years of the living and dead matter falling to the ground that is under our feet.
Form Follows - Chuck McCoy
In this series of new abstractions, Chuck McCoy builds on a rationally proportioned foundation layer by layer, reworking that form until it’s something more expressive and spontaneous. The form begins from a gridded framework followed with intuitive decision making in how he layers materials, sands down and reworks the layers, then adds more layers and materials. He is aiming for a final piece that seems rational but evokes a certain nostalgia combined with forward looking techniques. This back and forth and holding multiple concepts at once is also manifested in the materials and techniques he is using. He is using paper, paint and wax on panels with allover inkjet printing in multiple layers. Reliable old-school materials along with new contemporary techniques.
The rational forms start in the computer taking tatami mat layouts that are combined and set as a template. Then other forms, colors and marks are added expanding the look. The software is used the same way as a brush or a pencil, it is a tool. These are images created wholly in the computer, not photos of existing work. The images are then printed over the prepared panels and then reworked again before adding final coats of wax. The context of the images comes about from the exploration of how things are seen, what happens when vision is impaired, when images are hidden or revealed and what is revealed when a viewer contemplates the work.
DRIFT: Abstractions from Nature - Barbara Veatch
“The closer you look at nature, the more abstract it becomes.” Barbara Veatch
In her latest explorations of elements found in nature, texture, color, line, and movement, Veatch suggests a moment, memory, or a feeling. Whenever a single element is contemplated, a new way of seeing awaits. Veatch exploits the textural interest found in plywood, and creates crosscurrents of color intended to direct the eye and pull you into the flow.
In The Annex:
Ten: Works on Paper - Carol Bivins
Carol Bivins is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work can be found in private collections across the U.S. and in the United Kingdom. Whether working in acrylics, oils or clay, she has always been influenced by the natural environment and events taking place around her. These works represent her exploration of oil and cold wax on arches oil paper. Carol usually begins by mark-making and painting in images or color fields. Once a satisfying series of marks is laid down, she begins layering with oil and cold wax. Her mark-making approach is both additive in the way they overlay on top of the surface and subtractive in the way they scratch through that surface and reveal earlier marks, exposing the history of the painting’s development. Initially, her color choices are negotiated intuitively. As the painting develops, and using a form of painterly logic that is intrinsic to the work, those choices become more and more analytical. For Carol, painting serves as a means of wrestling with and expressing her emotional reactions to the world at large. With the dynamism of a colorist, her process-driven, intuitively developed abstract works investigate both the play and the tension created by marks, gesture, line and the cacophony of color as they compete for pride of place.
Lost And Found
September 10 - September 26, 2021
Artist reception: Friday, September 10th 6-10pm
While "Lost & Found" brings to mind a hodge podge of things left behind awaiting reclamation, we encourage you to think outside that box. You can approach this theme literally or figuratively. Be profound or light-hearted. Be sincere or ironic. For example, during the pandemic had you lost your mind or just your marbles? Maybe you lost your sense of security, confidence, or connection --- or worse, literally lost your home, job, or a loved one. Maybe you have found your voice, your feet, a happy medium, a sense of peace, or common ground with another. We encourage you to find and explore a way of playing off this theme through whatever visual media you choose: assemblage, found imagery, painting, drawing, clay.
Juror: Deborah Jang, sculptor and poet, earned her BFA from University of Colorado Denver. Her art and design pursuits span 40 years and she's been in numerous exhibitions, public installations, and galleries. Her work can be found in corporate and private collections regionally and nationally.
Earl Chuvarsky and Christine O'Dea
August 20 - September 5, 2021
In The Annex: S. Garvin, AKA “Nobody Special”
"Ghosts of Old Denver" - Earl Chuvarsky
Denver has always been a city of booms and busts, Chuvarsky explores this idea through portraiture and landscapes by painting historic people and places that have a connection to Colorado, but with a contemporary twist. Chuvarsky recalls "While working on this new series it got me pretty nostalgic about what has been lost as the city expanded. The pandemic seemed to only intensify what I view as an homogenization of the city. Pretty much all of my old haunts from a year ago are gone- either directly because of the pandemic or because of rising property values. And while I understand and embrace the impermanence I still wanted to honor and acknowledge the sense of strangeness, the sense of wild west that made the city interesting."
Continuum - Christine O’Dea
In the past year or so, most of us have experienced much love, loss, luck, and lessons. We find ways to carry on, move forward, heal ourselves and others. Sometimes the shifts are gradual and accumulative…like the way each generation carries the gifts and wounds from the generation before. We continue—hopefully clearing what is no longer useful or healthy--and share and grow in ways that expand wellness.
This new body of work carries over parts and pieces from my last installation, and joins with new pieces, new insights to the continued story of it all.
There are three sides 2 every coin
“Nobody Special and Friends” in the Annex
“i” don’t understand. And I can’t explain
Chris Hudson And Danid Karim
July 30 - August 15, 2021
Opening Reception: Friday, July 30
First Friday: August 2
"Ambiguously Defined" - Chris Hudson
Chris Hudson's debut exhibition features new work which dives into the veiled lines between ambiguity and clarity. These pieces reflect a theme of camouflaged images and fleeting statements. His work involves peeling back layers of paint to represent what's below and above; some have harmony, while others have agitation. Curious figures and creatures emerge from within, often unintentionally. Chris prefers the viewer to have their own interpretation, rather than steering one's perception with fancy words.
"Perception, Inspiration, Beauty" - Danid Karim
Danid Karim believes art permeates all aspects of being and is interested in the pursuit of beauty, the simple forms of daily life, nature, our planet and all in it. “It is the beauty around us that inspires me to create paintings which reflect my perception of those artistic qualities”. Karim’s sumptuous and classically styled paintings capture that grace and serenity, whether found in the simple forms of everyday life, in humanity or in the realm of nature.
THE GREEN SHOW
July 9 - July 25, 2021
Artists Reception, Friday, July 9 5:00 - 10:00 pm
The Green Show
The color green; changeable and mutable. Is it the color of new love, life and youth, plants and nature; or is it the shade of envy, sickness and irresponsibility. Does it bring to mind recycling, conservation and the environment or the color of money, ambition and greed? Whether a soothing forest green or shocking acid green, the range is widely varied and we encourage entries of various forms and interpretations. This juried exhibition is open to all media except video/large installations.
Juror, Denise Demby is a contemporary abstract painter, glass artist and gallery owner who lives in Arvada Colorado. Denise earned a BFA from Metropolitan State College of Denver studying printmaking, painting and ceramics. Self-described as a modern neo-minimalist, she has extensive knowledge of many mediums and has exhibited locally and in national juried and invitational shows.
"Art is an extremely important aspect of our society and we must continue to work to communicate its message, in its many forms and to support artists in their efforts." http://towersandlandarts.com
Deborah Abbott and Kathryn Cole
June 18 - July 4, 2021
In the Annex: Michelle Lamb and Family
"Color Fields" - Deborah A Abbott
Abbott's work is on a mission to save items from the landfill through reducing, reusing, and upcycling material to make sustainable eco-conscious art. All the materials used in the making of my art were saved from entering the waste stream. The work is based in color theory and fields from the myriad of meanings of the word field and uses material in their natural color state.
"Just Life" - Kathryn Cole
Cole's most recent works are her explorations of relaxing into life's adventures and choices.
A cursory glance tells us something about the scenes: from body confident beach goers, adventurers and simple everyday interactions with others & occasionally chickens. Cole is interested in the basic realities of everyday life.
The paintings present us with an intimacy and earnestness of the subject's humanity. A snippet in time. Viewers are encouraged to make a connection with the scene, imagining that particular moment, creating their own narrative.
in the Annex
"It's All Relative" - Michelle Lamb & Family
CORE member Michelle Lamb has invited her extended family to display their various artistic talents in this art show featuring a wide array of disciplines. There will be detailed assemblage sculptures, elaborate handblown and flame worked glass merged with figurative ceramics, intriguing water media and oil paintings, plus a compelling assortment of mixed media creations and drawings.
Jude Barton and Richard Neff
May 28 - June 13, 2021
Opening Reception, Friday, May 28
“First Principles” - Jude Barton
Barton's latest work explores the beauty of point, line, and arc and the elements of First Principles in a new collection of simplified minimalist drawings on a colored background of softly burnished oil washed paper. "There is an almost ephemeral quality to the space between the lines that draws me into a contemplative mindset - as if I could sit and rest there and just be."
She describes First Principles as that upon which all other theories and practices are built. They are foundational to design, to art, to music, to language. It is a culling down before we can build upward and outward. It is the base of a pyramid, a square foundation for an edifice. It is the perfect cornerstone that keeps true all other stones that are built upon it. It is parallel lines reaching into infinity never touching never crossing paths. Out of First Principles come rational thought and reason. It is the architecture of form.
“Shape Shifting” - Richard Neff
Richard Neff translates the geometry of reality into shapes that build, tumble, balance and expand into impossible depths. Visually enchanting, Neff’s endless pathways and constructs are both challenging and enjoyable to view. Using bold color and unapologetic shape to communicate what he says is inside his head, Neff’s artistic statements are fun to behold.
Kathy Mitchell-Garton and Julie Vaught
Show Runs May 7 - May 23, 2021
Opening Reception, Friday, May 7, 5-10pm
“Personal Landscapes” - Kathy Mitchell-Garton
In "Personal Landscapes," Kathy Mitchell-Garton presents work created over the last several years that explores her unique perspective on the natural world and built environment around her. Using a variety of materials, including beads, thread, photo snapshots, maps, and cloth, she investigate the patterns, colors, and forms that make up her Colorado home. The specific vegetation and landforms are integral to the work. Recently, she has begun incorporating into the work fabrics handed down from her grandmothers, which she has dyed with plants grown in her garden, opening new avenues of feeling and abstraction that allow exploration of inner as well as outer landscapes.
“Deer : Eilid” - Julie Vaught with special guest artists, Nobody and Tamara Mahoney Kneisel
In Julie Vaught's upcoming show, "Deer : Eilid", she explores the sacred meaning of the deer through creating an immersive exhibit featuring paintings and video art surrounding a modern interpretation of the mystical symbol of the deer. In many cultures, spiritual traditions, and beliefs across the world, the deer has been a powerful symbol representing and mirroring the deeper spiritual aspects to our human lives. The deer, specifically the female deer (also known as the "doe" or "hind"), roams wildly, touching the hearts and minds of all that she encounters in the presence of a spirit animal. The show is conceptually built around this gentle spirit of the doe, calling into our present day, the deep meaning and history of this animal and its spiritual representation, asking the viewer what she could mean for us today. Instagram: @vaughtjulie79
A THOUSAND WORDS
April 16 - May 2, 2021
Opening Reception, April 16, 6 - 9pm
This juried exhibit displays artwork that tells a story. Art can be realistically, abstractly or expressionistically inspired by literature and legends, poetry and parables, novels and narratives, myths and metaphors. These pieces exhibit their own fiction, fable, folklore or fairytale. Think mystery, love story, comedy, tragedy and science fiction. This show presents art worth a thousand words.
About the Juror: Richard Chamberlain
You’re likely to run into Rich Chamberlain’s work in galleries throughout the Denver metro region. He pursues several lines of work, including figure drawing, photography, sculptural assemblage and acrylic painting. His abstract and non-representational work expresses a particular interest in color and form. He is also a published poet and occasional actor on film and stage.
ARCHITECTURE OF FORM II
March 26 - April 11, 2021
Artists Reception: Friday, Apr. 2nd 4-10pm
Architecture of Form II
Conceived and curated by Jude Barton, this exhibition honors the self-referential vocabulary of geometry. Geometry intrinsically rejects socio-political and cultural involvement as well as the interpretive bias of the viewer. Barton believes geometry is the purest form of egalitarian expression making it accessible to all. The shape, color, composition, and form emerge through the artists’ own inner dialog and interaction with the vocabulary of geometry.
In its second year, the Architecture of Form exhibition, hosted by Core New Art Space, Jude Barton presents the work of sixteen accomplished Colorado artists who are sympatico with their commitment to structure and form. J. Bruce Wilcox, once again brings his installation expertise to the table, creating dynamic relationships among the work to present a cohesive and energetic environment for the viewer.
This group exhibition represents the robust community of Colorado artists and co-ops including artists from Core, Next, Spark, D’art and Pirate as well as individual studios scattered in the 40 West and Denver area art districts. Participating artists: Steve Austin, Jude Barton (curator), Richard Chamberlain, Virginia Coleman, Leo Franco Evette Goldstein, Andrew Libertone, Chuck McCoy, Tim McKay, Richard Neff, Roger Rapp, Craig Robb, Craig Rouse (graphics), Annalee Schorr, Jean Smith and J. Bruce Wilcox (installation).
Robert Davis Garner & Fred Voigt Becker
March 5th - March 21st, 2021
Opening: First Friday, Mar. 5th 6-10pm
“Cardboard Brothel” - Robert Davis Garner
Robert Davis Garner continues his powerful theme of childhood experiences in this second exhibit that features an installation along with select artwork created over the past year. The painter delves deeper into those personal experiences and also into society's changing attitudes. Big dark dramatic canvases encompass what could be considered an homage to the nomadic nature of the homeless plight. Mixing found objects with intensely vibrant portraits and religious iconography, Mr Garner creates a symbolic image of the despair and tension of living on the streets, while conjuring an almost temple like illusion. His mighty scale and subject matter compels a must see in-person experience.
"Paintings That Paint Themselves" -Fred Voigt Becker
Fred Voigt Becker explores the relationship between painter and paintings in his show, "Paintings That Paint Themselves." He asks us, in the spirit of Zen inquiry, "Who is it that paints?"
Fred's work displays the influence of abstract expressionism and color field painting. Each of these pieces began as one thing, one idea, but through the process of painting became something else entirely. For Fred this is how it works. Conceptualization must ultimately yield to the act: up to and including complete absorption.
This is the Way.
Fred Voigt Becker made fifteen paintings and prints in 2020, yet he says, "I felt compelled to include one that dates back to 1978 just for fun." Included in his show are several new serigraphs that render the gestural qualities of expressionism in the flat smoothness of screen printing.
LOVE........OR SOMETHING LIKE IT
February 12 – February 28, 2021
Artist reception: Friday, February 12th 6-9p
Love embraces a broad range of strong emotional states, from the most sublime to the simplest pleasure. We love at first sight, fall in love, become addicted to love. Romance looms large in our natures. This open call exhibit has a variety of mediums and was juried by Dana Cain, owner of www.danacainevents.com. Cain is an art collector and event planner and cheerleader for the Colorado creative community.
WOMEN'S CAUCUS FOR ART
Jan. 22nd - Feb. 7th, 2021
Opening Reception; Jan. 22nd 6 - 9 pm
First Friday Art Crawl: Feb. 5th 6 - 9 pm
Artist/Visitor Interactive Event in the courtyard at 7:00 p.m*
*subject to changes from Covid restrictions
BEYOND THE SURFACE
“Beyond the Surface” is a celebration of the visual language of art. Whether it be an inherent quality of the artist’s medium or is a result of the artist’s process, this exhibition hopes to incite the viewer to look for the deeper and more profound sense of what each piece is offering. These artworks are full of decisions — whether approached by the artist instinctively or deliberately. Because there is always a suggestion of mystery in a work of art, this exhibition endeavors to act as a guidepost for the viewer to delve into what is beneath and beyond.
