“Aging Bodies, Myths and Heroines,” East Window Gallery, through Feb. 28.
Boulder’s East Window Gallery has ensconced itself as a major player in the Front Range arts scene, not an easy task in a region full of established, and ambitious, gallerists and curators. But exhibitions like this are hard to ignore.
As its title boldly suggests, this group photography show looks at perceptions of human aging though a series of “playful, critical and tender images” created by 11 national artists, each with their own perspective on what it means to get older.
The checklist, put together by curator Todd Edward Herman, has names from near and far and includes Danielle SeeWalker, André Ramos-Woodard, Sherry Wiggins and Luís Filipe Branco, and others. There is also a list of promising coordinated events — talks, screenings, panel discussions — that deserve consideration.
Info: eastwindow.org. Free.
“Culture Cloth,” McNichols Building, through Jan. 14
This exhibit is one of the best surprises of the fall season, a collection of textiles from Asia, Africa and the Americas that show how cloth is central to the customs of different and diverse cultures around the globe. The work on display comes from the collection of Paul Ramsey, co-founder of Denver’s Shaver-Ramsey rugs, who has been traveling and acquiring textiles for decades.
Ramsey has an eye for both the beautiful and the functional, and the rugs, coats, dresses and other items on display come together to explain both the craft aspects of weaving and sewing and how they play their part in daily life. There are prayer cloths from Afghanistan, huipil shawls from Guatemala, Kente cloths from Ghana and kilim rugs from Turkey.
McNichols can be a challenging place to see art. There are lots of distractions from the other things that go on in the busy public building. But shows like this bring the community together in worthy ways. Shanna Shelby and Ramsey co-curated.
Info: mcnicholsbuilding.com. Free.
Julie Buffalohead and George Rodriguez, Visions West, through Dec. 22
Visions West closes out the year with combined solo shows from two of its most interesting artists. The better-known is Julie Buffalohead, whose show “Decolonize Indigenize” features a series of monotypes she made during a recent artist residency at Anderson Ranch. The visuals depict simple animal forms, referencing Native American stories and children’s books, which are used as a way of talking about social and political issues.
Rodriguez makes a unique brand of ceramic figures that are more complex than they appear on the surface. The forms in his show, “Embellished Creatures,” are familiar — bears, owls and snakes — but his techniques reference both social history and the diverse use of textiles and other artist media he has encountered within his own Texas/Mexican culture. The pieces, as the gallery’s statement promises, “pull the viewer into the world of magical realism, a place where animals talk and humans dream.”
Info: visionswestcontemporary.com. Free.
Through Flesh to Infinity, Union Hall, through Jan 6.
Union Hall has been coming on strong as a nonprofit art gallery lately, with a series of well-curated exhibitions featuring regional artists who deserve wide attention.
The current show pairs painter Vinni Alfonso with 3-D object maker A Grix for a two-person exploration about the duality of the human experience and how opposing ideas of free spirit and confined physical existence work out their contradictions within all of us. It’s a complicated topic, murky and mysterious, and the objects in the lineup reflect that. Neither artist is known for making things that are easy to read but both indulge in creating works marked by both rich color and free-wheeling form that get the conversation going. Esther Hz curated.
Info: unionhalldenver.org. Free.
Five from the roster, Robischon Gallery, through Dec. 30.
This sort of high-level group outing is exactly the reason Robischon continues to be Colorado’s most dependable commercial gallery for art fans. It’s full of treasures pulled from Robischon’s deep roster of talent.
Kim Dickey, a veteran ceramics maker, takes the lead with a new series of large-scale ceramic and cast metal sculptures that combine both landscape and figurative portraiture to show how wildlife, birds in particular, have long been used to evaluate the health of the environment. (More to come on this exhibition later).
Kiki Smith is back with her large-scale Jacquard tapestries that blend images and materials for a look at the natural world. Stephen Batura, known for his wide-angle historical paintings, gets up close and personal on the topic of chandeliers. There is a lot to see here.
Info: robischongallery.com. Free.
“Amoako Boafo: Soul of Black Folks,” Denver Art Museum, through Feb. 19
Ghanaian artist Amoako Boafo is just 39 and already emerging as a significant figure in international art. This show offers a deep look at his perspective on Black identity, displaying 30 works he has created over the last seven years.
Boafo is a portraitist mainly with a liberal idea of how color and texture can come together in an attempt, as this exhibition’s title suggests, to revel in the “soul” of humans living in a complicated, contemporary world. His subjects come in different shapes, shades and dispositions, but they share a way of gazing at the viewer that invites long looks and genuine curiosity. Larry Ossei-Mensah curated.
There is a bonus at this show, a music playlist created by Boafo featuring some of the pop tunes that inspire his work. You can download it via DAM’s website using Spotify and listen while you wander the exhibition.
Info: denverartmuseum.org.
Ray Mark Rinaldi is a Denver freelance writer specializing in fine arts.
