Gallery Sketches: Five New Shows in Denver for the First Friday in May

Spring weather and fresh ideas mark First Friday explorations on May 1, with art opportunities both rare and thought-provoking. Here are a few lucky trails to follow as you meander through Denver’s art districts tonight. Bill Stockman: Someone Called Me By My Name Gildar Gallery, 82 South Broadway May 1...

By Susan Froyd

May 1, 2015

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Spring weather and fresh ideas mark First Friday explorations on May 1, with art opportunities both rare and thought-provoking. Here are a few lucky trails to follow as you meander through Denver’s art districts tonight.

Bill Stockman: Someone Called Me By My Name
Gildar Gallery, 82 South Broadway
May 1 through June 5
Opening reception: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 1
303-993-4474
Simon Zalkind curates a solo from Bill Stockman, an old Denver favorite whose gestural charcoals and mixed media works, often built upon random imagery culled from newspapers, are fleeting, subjective and one-of-a-kind. It’s a rare occasion to make what you will of Stockman’s primitive marks, and the artist’s first exhibit at Gildar Gallery.

Reciprocal Space: New Works by Norman Broomhall
The Shed, 3324 West 24th Avenue
Reception: 6 p.m. Friday, May 1
Exhibits by Norman Broomhall are also few and far between; this one focuses on work that combines modern digital photography transfers on hand-silvered glass. The result of his experimentation is a glowing, translucent image floating on a mirrored background that reflects in mind-blowing ways when a light shines through the glass.

Kym Bloom: The Persistence of 8-Bit Memory
Kanon Collective, 766 Santa Fe Drive
May 1 through June 1
Opening reception: 5 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 1
Artist's reception: 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, May 15
Kym Bloom’s candy constructions riff off of the iconic 8-bit imagery of classic video games, using Chiclets to convey their basic pixel pictures. Though it’s hard to imagine, their construction is a bit of a science, which Bloom masters in whimsical style. These affordable works fly off the wall; get yours while you can.

Stefan Chinov: Some Ideas Perceived by Mediation of Others
Vertigo Art Space, 960 Santa Fe Drive
Through June 20
Opening Reception: 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, May 1
303-573-8378
Kara Duncan brings artist Stefan Chinov from Wright State University in Ohio to town for a solo blending pinhole photography and sculpture in an exploration of the desolate and impersonal landscape of Antarctica. Meet the artist at tonight’s reception, and learn more about his eerie reconstructions from the bottom of the earth.

Brandon Finamore, Still Life
Super Ordinary, 3550 Brighton Boulevard
Opening reception: 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, May 1
Brandon Finamore’s work originates in the specimen drawers of natural history collections, specifically focusing on tagged and closely examined ornithological samples. Finamore paints with a scientist’s eye, studying and resuscitating the life of the bird in hand in the process.

Want more? See the Westword art event listings to learn more about current gallery and art museum exhibitions and openings in the metro area.

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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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