Now Showing

Face East. Gallery co-directors Jim Robischon and Jennifer Doran usually go the extra mile to put together a great show, but in this case they went an extra few thousand, traveling all the way to China to pick out pieces for Face East, their salute to contemporary Chinese art. In many cases, they selected works right out of the studios and foundries where they were produced. The show includes more than fifty paintings, prints and sculptures by several of the biggest names in Chinese art as well as promising newcomers. Several of the artists do work that comments on Chinese politics, such as Sui Jainguo's untitled fiberglass Mao jackets or Suo Tan's "Fashion and Mao" busts, while others are more sociological, doing pieces that refer to the collision of East and West in today's China. There are some great sculptures by the Luo Brothers that pair traditional depictions of babies with cases of Pepsi, and the fabulous monumental striding peasant with a sow over his shoulders by Chen Wenling. In a quieter mood are He Jian's paper pieces about the life of Chinese youth. Through March 1 at Robischon Gallery, 1740 Wazee Street, 303-298-7788. Reviewed February 7.

Grounded. This good-looking exhibit pairs recent landscape-based abstract paintings by Lui Ferreyra with photos recording roadside landmarks by Peter Brown. Ferreyra fractures the imagery in his distinctive work by reducing it to non-repeating patterns of geometric shapes. There are reverberations of cubism in this, as well as references to digitization and, believe it or not, paint-by-numbers. The forms, in this case mountains, are merely suggested as opposed to being literally defined. Different shapes are carried out in different colors, with the artist turning to these colors (more than to their shapes) to distinguish features of the landscape. Brown, whose large-format Cibachrome prints capture the vanishing rural life of the West, uses a deep focus, which brings viewers into the pictures. He often looks for minimalist scenes like a tabletop-flat field plowed into straight furrows, unfolding beneath a crystal-clear sky. In others, he appropriates the informal monumentality of boarded-up stores or rusting farm buildings. Through February 23 at Sandy Carson Gallery, 760 Santa Fe Drive, 303-573-8585. Reviewed January 17.

Impressionist and Modern Masters. This large show has been installed in the second-floor galleries of the new wing at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. A traveling endeavor, the exhibit is meant to bring attention to the beleaguered New Orleans Museum of Art by showcasing its collection and to get a good deal of it out of town while the building undergoes reconstruction necessitated by the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. Rather than a look at 19th-century impressionism and 20th-century modernism, as you'd expect, this blockbuster is more broadly based, constituting a greatest-hits survey of the NOMA's collection that also includes pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries. That's why the show represents a solid offering with a lot to teach about the art of Europe and the United States over the last several centuries. And the intelligent installation, which is based on a historic perspective and divides the material into three distinct phases, underscores the sequential nature of the development of art as it inevitably marched toward modernism. Through March 9 at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, 30 West Dale Street, Colorado Springs, 1-719-634-5581. Reviewed January 24.

The Nature of Things. For its first show of the new year, Havu Gallery is presenting a duet dedicated to recent creations by painting pair Sushe and Tracy Felix. The couple's works have almost always been presented together during their twenty-year-plus careers. Both artists look to the art history of the region — in particular, the transcendentalists working in New Mexico and the early modernists in Colorado. Both do landscape-based abstractions, but their styles are distinctive and individualistic. Sushe's abstracts are non-repetitive patterns that evoke the land via simple shapes and elements suggesting the trees, the sky and even birds. Tracy, on the other hand, directly references specific mountain views but conventionalizes the elements of the landscape so that they look like vintage cartoon images, à la Jellystone Park. As a bonus, Havu is featuring Erick Johnson, a display of abstract sculptures by this well-known Colorado artist. Through February 23 at the William Havu Gallery, 1040 Cherokee Street, 303-893-2360. Reviewed January 17.