Month of Video Debuts in Denver, Showcasing Motion-Based Work Throughout July

Adán De La Garza is a sight hound with a deep heart for experimental film and video as both an artist and a promoter. The longtime organizer of the Collective Misnomer video-screening series in Denver, he’s one of the region’s most dogged supporters of the medium, and works hard to see the public interact with video.
Together with project partner and fellow artist and video booster Jenna Maurice, De La Garza will launch a dream that’s been a few years in the making: Month of Video, an unofficial upstart companion to Denver’s Month of Photography and Month of Printmaking, offering screenings, events, receptions and gallery shows throughout July.

Brilliantly curated to expose viewers to the video underground and some of its stars, MOV opens Saturday, July 1, with a screening at the Denver Art Museum and closes with a party and reception for a high-profile exhibition at RedLine Contemporary Art Center on July 29. Behind the scenes, De La Garza and Maurice are adamant about offering all the programming for free to viewers, but also upholding compensation for the artists.

“We actually have a rule that no one can participate unless they are paid,” De La Garza notes. “It’s not that I think painters shouldn't get paid to show their work whether it sells or not. They should, but video is so uncommon.” MOV is able to pay the artists through personal fundraising, using venues with budgets for artist compensation and seeking help from such community nonprofits as Warm Cookies of the Revolution.

What’s important is the message it sends, De La Garza emphasizes: “We want to share more diverse video works in the city. Not many venues consistently see video work. This is a chance to see time-based works on a larger scale, celebrate community and make more opportunities so these artists can stay here.”

De La Garza is noncommittal when it comes to suggesting essential viewing during MOV: “We use the term video-curious. I’m not inclined to convince people that things are valuable. It all has the potential to channel other voices and ideas. I can show options and hope people are curious and want to join in."

And he's quick to share credit for the events he and Maurice are rolling out. “This is a shared labor,” De La Garza says. We have a small army of people putting this together. I'm constantly surprised how we can make these things happen collaboratively. There are a lot of people in Denver you can celebrate.”

MOV’s opening salvo is Local Accomplices, a classy screening of works by local video artists in the Denver Art Museum’s Sharp Auditorium. In addition to De La Garza and Maurice, the artists to be fêted are the cream of the Colorado crop, including a mix of motion-media educators and freelance artists. An RSVP is required for this free event.
De La Garza does mention some notable people and groups of interest who are contributing memorable work, such as New Red Order, the collective behind RedLine's New Red Order: Crimes Against Reality, which works to support Indigenous autonomy and remediation as well as expose the damages of colonialism while encouraging healthy collaboration between Native and ally communities. De La Garza says the show, which is on view through August 27, is "smart, super funny and intelligent, and our largest install in terms of scale.”

One video sequence in the show, "Crimes Against Reality," focuses on two works upholding white settlers' mythical image of America claimed by the late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century sculptor James Earle Fraser: "End of the Trail" (1894), depicting a defeated warrior riding back from battle, and a statue of Theodore Roosevelt (1939), which was recently banned from display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. RedLine will also host MOV’s closing party on Saturday, July 29, from 7:30 to 10 p.m., with two special screenings and food. (A donation of $5 from non-members is requested.)

Buntport Theater will open two attractions on July 8: A one-night screening of Sequence Break, a selection of videos curated by Nicholas O'Brien that utilize video-game engines, and Short and Sweet, an exhibition by Dizzy Spell of actual video games set up on computers for viewer interaction. Yes, you get to play with them. Short and Sweet runs on Fridays and Saturdays from 2 to 8 p.m. through July 22. Still craving sweets? The DIY space Glob will host three consecutive Video Brunch presentations on July 2, 9 and 16. We hear there will be pancakes.
De La Garza also recommends Understudy’s show, ActionHere/BeingThere, for an international palette of performative video. Curator Quinn Dukes has an impressive résumé that includes satellite shows for last year's Miami and New York art weeks as well as SXSW in Austin. The show opens on Saturday, July 1, and runs through July 31; attend a reception with a talk by Dukes on July 21, from 6 to 9 p.m.

These events represent just a small fraction of MOV’s impressive full slate. A complete schedule and description of screenings, receptions and events can be found on the website.