Things to Do Denver: Art Gallery Openings and Exhibits February 11 to 18, 2021 – Westword

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Its a busy weekend for Front Range galleries, fueled by social justice dialogues, pandemic fallout, Valentines Day, the Lunar New Year and other themes or plain old good art, which is why these spaces exist in the first place.

Trudy Chiddix, Hope Hands.

Trudy Chiddix, Plinth Gallery

Trudy Chiddix: Flaming Fingers Plinth Gallery, 3520 Brighton BoulevardThrough March 27Plinth Gallery hosts a beautiful show of new work by ceramic artist Trudy Chiddix, who embellishes her folk-art-inspired hand series with metal flames and words of encouragement to pandemic first responders and hospital workers. Alongside the hands, Chiddix adds elaborately decorated vases in kimono forms with added fused-glass elements, as well as whirl-winding figures, standing disks and lamp-like works lit from within.

Jill Mustoffa, Blue Year of the Ox, hand cut and sewn vinyl fabric on wood panel.

Jill Mustoffa

Parad'ox: Chinese New Year InvitationalValkarie Gallery, 445 South Saulsbury Street, Belmar, LakewoodThrough March 7Opening Reception: February 12, 5 to 9:30 p.m.; RSVP in advance at Eventbrite for timed-entry slotValkaries annual Chinese New Year exhibition is back, this year celebrating the Ox a sign of the Chinese zodiac known for reliability, persistence and honesty with renditions in a wide variety of styles and mediums, from paint and mixed media to scratchboard and hand-stitched leather. Each artwork is eight inches square, and available to view and buy both in person and through an online store at Valkaries website.

Autumn T. Thomas, Necessary Beings (detail), 2020, padauk wood, resin.

Courtesy of the artist.

From This Day ForwardBoulder Museum of Contemporary Art, 1750 13th Street, BoulderFebruary 11 through May 31Opening Reception: Thursday, February 11, 4 to 8 p.m.Denver artist Tya Alisa Anthony, who herself works in a mixed-media mashup of photography, collage and sculpture, was tapped by BMoCA to curate From This Day Forward, an exhibition of artists working at the intersection of the Black Lives Matter discussion and the collective effects of living through a pandemic. The show, a varied body of work designed to get viewers thinking and talking, also brings forward underappreciated Colorado artists (and artists with ties to Colorado). Its an exhibition for the times that you wont want to miss.

Gabrielle Shannon and Jean Smith share D'art Gallery for From the Earth.

Courtesy of the artists

Gabrielle Shannon and Jean Smith, From the EarthVirginia Wood and Darlene Kuhne, Shared Spaces, in Gallery EastDart Gallery, 900 Santa Fe DriveFebruary 11 through March 7Valentine Celebration: Friday, February 12, noon to 7 p.m., and Saturday, February 13, noon to 5 p.m.Dart member artists Gabrielle Shannon and Jean Smith share the Main Gallery with a complementary exhibition of abstract paintings inspired by nature, and wall arrangements and columns of clay shapes reminiscent of stone cairns. Shared Spaces, in the East Gallery, doubles as a benefit for the Virginia Wood Fund for Artists in Need and Darlene Kuhne Charity.

A detail from Amy Hoagland and Jenny Cole's Scope of the Natural.

Courtesy of the artists

Amy Hoagland and Jenny Cole, Scope of the Natural, Main GalleryShelby McAuliffe and Molly Ott, Indoor Emergencies, South GalleryFirehouse Art Center, 667 4th Avenue, LongmontSecond Friday Exhibit Opening: Friday, February 12, 6 to 9 p.m.; RSVP online in advance for timed-entry slot at Eventbrite Longmonts Firehouse lets you attend this months Second Friday reception just the way you like it: in person, by timed entry, or virtually, with a live-streaming gallery tour and artist visit you can enjoy from home a useful opportunity, considering this weekends cold weather, not to mention COVID. Either way, youll want to see the site-specific art installation devised during the NEST winter residency by CU Boulder grad students Amy Hoagland and Jenny Cole, who melded art and science in an artificial natural environment. In the South Gallery, CU MFA candidates Shelby McAuliffe and Molly Ott address new routines developed under quarantine in the last year with a three-part video presentation.

Justin Beard Member ShowHart Krypilo, Strong Female LeadPirate Contemporary Art, 7130 West 16th Avenue, LakewoodFebruary 12 through February 28DIY forager and outdoor guy Justin Beard, whos mum on what hes creating for his member slot at Pirate, and Hart Krypilo, whos not, open shows on Friday that last through the end of the month. In Strong Female Lead, goth-connected Krypilo will present cut-tin sculptures paying homage to the female protagonists of sci-fi and horror stories. All in all, you cant go wrong.

It's lights out at Edge Gallery for Lighting Our Way: A Collaboration in Illumination.

Gayla Lemke, Wynne Reynolds, Stephen Shugart and Faith Williams

Gayla Lemke, Wynne Reynolds, Stephen Shugart and Faith Williams, Lighting Our Way: A Collaboration in Illumination Edge Gallery, Art Hub, 6851 West Colfax Avenue, LakewoodFebruary 12 through February 28Four Edge members Gayla Lemke, Wynne Reynolds, Stephen Shugart and Faith Williams put their heads and chosen art mediums together for a four-way sculptural installation dealing with the convergence of light and art, for a show one might enjoy viewing in the dark.

Michelle Lamb, Mrs. Fish's Bait Shop, mixed-media assemblage.

Michelle Lamb

Loveor Something Like ItCore New Art Space, Art Hub, 6851 West Colfax Avenue, LakewoodFebruary 12 through February 28Artist reception: Friday, February 12, 6 to 9 p.m.Core mounts one of two Valentine-inspired shows opening this weekend at the Art Hub in Lakewood, with a hearty display juried by Denver art maven and event promoter Dana Cain, who says she was literally crying a little about having to narrow 216 entries down to the sixty pieces youll see in the gallery. The things we do in the name of love.

Dark Heart 2021Kanon Collective, Art Hub, 6851 West Colfax Avenue, LakewoodFebruary 12 through February 27Opening reception: Friday, February 12, 6 to 9 p.m.Also at the Art Hub, Kanons Valentines Day entry covers the darker and funnier side of love with a varied show juried by Denver power couple and horror-flick fans Merhia Weise and Andrew Novick.

Jono Wright, "Leaves."

Jono Wright, Bleue Tile Gallery

Show Number OneBleue Tile Gallery, 3940 South Broadway, EnglewoodThrough February 26Red Mask Soire/Opening: Friday, February 12, 5 to 9 p.m.To visit the gallery, RSVP online in advance for a timed-entry slotBleue Tile Gallery in Englewood, the studio space of artists Helene Strebel and Courtney Cotton, announces its debut with Show Number One, presenting an eclectic group show including work by some local luminaries and national artists. This weekends opening wont just be reception; Bleue Tile is instead throwing a Red Mask Soire, and we suppose that means your COVID face gear ought to be red.

Raafi Rivero, Custom Jersey for Sean Bell, 2021, armature, yarn.

Raafi Rivero

Unarmed Artist PanelSaturday, February 13, 2 to 3:30 p.m., via ZoomRegister online in advance for Zoom linkIn conjunction with Raafi Riveros Unarmed, currently turning heads and starting conversations at Leon with its social justice themes and sports jerseys memorializing Black victims of police violence, a panel moderatedby Donna Bryson with artists Rivero, Tya Alisa Anthony, Narkita Gold and Edgar L. Page will shed more light on the discussion that starts in the gallery. Its free, but youll need to register in advance. Before or after, see the exhibition for yourself through February 27.

Brian Rattiner, Snow Day, 2021,high-flow acrylic, fluid acrylic and salt on muslin.

Brian Rattiner, David B. Smith Gallery

Brian Rattiner, HummingbirdChristine Nguyen, Lightness Within the Cosmic Universe David B. Smith Gallery, 1543A Wazee StreetFebruary 13 through March 12Brian Rattiner brings liquid-looking abstracts in rainbow colors to David B. Smiths main gallery from his Brooklyn studio, while Christine Nguyen helps celebrate Month of Photography 2021 with mixed-media cyanotypes and photo-based paintings in the project room.

Interested in having your event appear in this calendar? Send the details to editorial@westword.com.

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Susan Froyd started writing for Westword as the "Thrills" editor in 1992 and never quite left the fold. These days she still freelances for the paper in addition to walking her dogs, enjoying cheap ethnic food and reading voraciously. Sometimes she writes poetry.

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Things to Do Denver: Art Gallery Openings and Exhibits February 11 to 18, 2021 - Westword