Welcome to DARIA: Denver Art Review, Inquiry, and Analysis, a publication devoted to art writing and criticism focused on the Denver-area visual art scene. DARIA seeks to promote diverse voices and artists while fostering critical dialogue around art.
Guest curated by Sarah Magnatta, Spirit Resonance celebrates the medium of printmaking and features six artists who channel their energy to create poignant, primarily abstract works. The artists—Taiko Chandler, Catherine Chauvin, Marie-Dolma Chophel, Angela Craven, Jade Hoyer, and Sangeeta Reddy—use collagraphy, lithography, monotypes, and screenprinting to open up a personal conversation with viewers through evocations of nature, language, and the emotion of color, form, and design.
Featuring work by four artist/curatorial groups—Birdseed Collective, Hardly Soft, Odessa, and Pink Progression—the aim of Dearly Disillusioned is to commemorate the centennial of women’s suffrage in the U.S. (although notably this is not the centennial for all women) and to expand on the Womxn’s March mission to end inequality and discrimination based on gender identity. Throughout the exhibition, the four segments draw upon societal and environmental concerns, championing shared power, celebrating the vote for women across the country, and the rule of law applicable to all people in equal measure.
To celebrate Denver’s Month of Printmaking this March, the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities is the place to go if you want to see a dizzying assortment of prints. The two exhibitions on display, Imprint: Print Educators of Colorado and 528.0 Regional Juried Printmaking Exhibition, showcase works that demonstrate a plethora of printmaking techniques—many using a variety of materials outside of paper—and even include a few installation pieces. Everything from engraving, intaglio, and lithographs to screenprinting, woodcuts, and more are on display in these wide-ranging surveys.
Near in the Distance, the annual resident artist exhibition at Redline, is the first show in the Afrofuturism series. It includes eighteen current resident artists and recent alumni who respond to the theme authentically and responsibly. Some artists use the prompt as an opportunity to explore the topic of possible futures more generally, while others choose to engage directly with issues of white privilege, gentrification, surveillance, and social justice.
In her most recent body of work, which focuses on the delta of the Rio Grande and the border towns of Brownsville and Matamoros, Ayala questions the existing violent narratives associated with that area through a meandering approach that mirrors the ever-evolving path of the river.
Despite the sizable number of creative graduates who have called and continue to call Boulder, Colorado home, there is a notable lack of alternative spaces in the city where local artists and curators can show their work and experiment with new ideas. A new residential arts space called Maybe Blue is slowly changing this.
