Spent the past week in Denver, Colorado exploring the city's visual art scene. It was an incredible week. I visited at least a half a dozen museums and probably three times as many private galleries.
There is no way to sum-up the art scene in a particular city in just a few sentences, but in Denver the two main "arts" areas are Santa Fe Avenue and the neighborhood known as River North or "RiNo." These two areas seem to be where most of the galleries are.
A couple of the main highlights of the trip:
Denver Art Museum - I gave myself three hours to explore this seven-story museum and it still wasn't nearly enough time. Absolutely incredible collection of artifacts and "art objects" from ancient civilizations of Southeast Asia and Central / South America.
Metropolitan State University of Denver BFA Thesis Exhibition - This is a great exhibition if you're looking to get a sense of what's on the cutting edge in art right now. The academic/university setting is always an interesting "vanguard" in the art world, in which young artists are truly vying to advance the ball. Heavy on conceptual and interactive "installations" with some kind of social or political context. 2D painting for painting's sake does not seem to be where it's at right now in the academic setting.
Floyd Tunson at Michael Warren Contemporary - Discovering a new (to me) artist like Floyd Tunson is 100% the reason why I make my personal quest to see as much new art as possible. His painting puts me in mind of de Koonig, but 1-to-1 comparisons like that are always a bit too easy and I say that just for reference. Tunson's work with fluorescent colors goes far beyond a simple comparison.
Tadashi Hayakawa - Another find I never would have made without getting off my *ss and getting out into the world, Hayakawa is a true master of abstraction. I found myself almost standing on my head while looking at his work.
