King Tut Exhibition Debuts

The Denver Art Museum’s (DAM) highly anticipated summer exhibition, Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs, is showing through January 9. Featuring more than 100 treasures from the tomb of King Tut and additional ancient sites, the exhibition will make its debut and sole Rocky Mountain appearance at the DAM.

The exhibition is organized by the National Geographic Society, Arts and Exhibitions International and AEG Exhibitions, with cooperation from the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities. A portion of the proceeds from the tour will go toward antiquities preservation and conservation efforts in Egypt, including the construction of a new grand museum in Cairo.

“This is the culmination of months of preparation to welcome King Tut’s treasures here in Denver, and display some of the most exquisite art objects from ancient Egypt,” said Christoph Heinrich, director of the DAM. “The Museum’s expanded campus, complete with large exhibition galleries in the new Hamilton Building, provides the facilities to offer the community a wide variety of art experiences, and we are thrilled to be hosting this important King Tut exhibition.”

Visitors will have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to view more than 50 breathtaking objects from King Tut’s tomb, including the golden sandals that adorned the mummy and an intricate canopic jar that held the pharaoh’s mummified stomach.

Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs features striking objects from some of the most important rulers throughout 2,000 years of ancient Egyptian history, from the 4th Dynasty into the Late Period (about 2,600 B.C. to 660 B.C.). Derived from a variety of contexts, including temples and royal and private tombs, many of these artifacts had never before visited the United States prior to this exhibition tour.

This spectacular collection features the largest image of King Tut ever unearthed: a 10-foot statue of the pharaoh found at the remains of the funerary temple of two of his high officials. The statue still retains much of its original paint. The exhibition follows a storyline that explores the splendor of the pharaohs, their function in both the earthly and divine worlds and what “kingship” meant to the Egyptian people.

The DAM has dedicated two expansive Hamilton Building gallery spaces to the exhibition. The dramatic experience begins with a short National Geographic documentary narrated by award-winning actor Harrison Ford, continuing in spaces exploring some of the most important pharaohs throughout ancient Egyptian history.

The final galleries are dedicated to King Tut’s tomb, including an area devoted to its discovery by British explorer Howard Carter in 1922. Visitors encounter legendary artifacts from the tomb’s antechamber, annex, treasury and burial chamber in corresponding galleries, which include the pharaoh’s golden sandals, jewelry, furniture, weaponry and statuary.

“Denver has a history of embracing exhibitions surrounding ancient Egypt. This is the first time treasures from the tomb of King Tut, the most celebrated pharaoh of all, have visited Denver, bringing with them a whole new level of excitement and opportunity to learn about this enthralling era,” said John Norman, president of Arts and Exhibitions International.

New scientific discoveries providing insight into King Tut’s legendary life and death are also brought to light. The exhibition features the first 3-D CT scans of the great king’s mummy, which were obtained as part of a landmark Egyptian research and conservation project, partially funded by the National Geographic Society.

National Geographic Books publishes the companion book to the exhibition, written by Zahi Hawass. Tutankhamun: The Golden King and the Great Pharaohs is one of two National Geographic exhibitions dedicated to the remarkable treasures of Tutankhamun and ancient Egyptian royalty. DAM membership is the golden ticket to the best King Tut ticket price, with the added value of a year’s worth of art experiences.

For more information, visit denverartmuseum.org.

Artists’ Installations Explore Biennial

Walker Fine Art presents “Perceptions” featuring installations from Sabin Aell, Kim Ferrer, Emma Hardy, and Lauri Lynnxe Murphy. Each artist will address topics within three of the overarching themes of the Biennial of the Americas: innovation, sustainability, community, through the fourth theme: art.

An opening reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Friday, July 16, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the gallery in the Prado building on 11th & Cherokee in Denver’s Golden Triangle Museum District. The exhibition’s featured artists will attend the opening.

The exhibition runs through Saturday, August 28, during regular hours: Tuesday–Saturday, 11a.m. to 6 p.m., and First Friday, August 6, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information, call 303-355-8955 or visit walkerfineart.com.

Biennial Objectophilia at MCA

Capsule is proud to partner with the Biennial of the Americas and the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver to present “Objectophilia”, an exhibit examining our relationships to objects, and those objects’ relationship to the environment, curated by Lauri Lynnxe Murphy.

Objectophilia opened June 30, in conjunction with the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Energy Effects, in over 20,000 square feet in two main locations: 1490 Delgany, and 1900 16th Street. The exhibit runs through July 25. Hours are Thursday–Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays until 10 p.m.

Objectophilia is a love of objects so intense that individuals form emotional relationships with inanimate things. As fetishes go, this seems rooted in culture, drawing our obsession with over-consumption to its logical conclusion. We love our computers, find our cars sexy, and lust over shoes, while driving the economy and the planet to the brink of orgiastic collapse.

This exhibition asks artists to examine their relationship to these commercially manufactured items and icons, and the impact on the world around us. The flip side of love is hate, and creation is destruction: where do our objects exist on that continuum? Themes explored in Objectophilia include hoarding, consumerism, commercial signage and found objects.

Objectophilia represents the largest concentration of Colorado artists in the Biennial, and also brings in some special guests from throughout the United States. Forty-four artists will participate in Objectophilia, representing some of the best creative talent in the region in a wide variety of media.

For more information, contact 720-984-9852 or L@Lynnxe.com.

Covering Ground Photography at Robischon

In conjunction with Denver’s Biennial of the Americas, Robischon Gallery presents “Covering Ground,” a group exhibition of photography and video installation by nine regional, national and international artists.

The exhibition includes photographic works by two artists featured in Energy Effects at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver; Washington, D.C. artist Jim Sanborn and Guadalajara-based Gonzalo Lebrija.

Also invited are New York artists Jeanne Liotta and the collaborative duo Gibson + Recoder presenting video installation works and English-born Richard Pare exhibiting large-scale photography alongside Colorado artists Chuck Forsman, Kevin O’Connell and Gary Huibregtse. Covering Ground addresses themes relating to humankind’s relationship to the land propelled by the primary quest to harness its natural energy resources.

From the topical to the timeless; from the BIG science of the nuclear age to posing the question of how “green” is green energy; the exhibition offers a view of the ground already covered and territory yet-to-be-pursued.

For more information, contact 303-298-7788, debra@robischongallery.com or robischongallery.com. 1740 Wazee St.

Justice Center Gets New Artwork

The Denver Office of Cultural Affairs (DOCA) Public Art Program is installing two large interior public-art commissions for the Denver Justice Center Courthouse. Artist Ralph Helmick is installing a stunning sculpture in the atrium of the new building and artist Catherine Widgery is creating a sculpted glass wall for the Jury Assembly Room.

The new Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse on the Denver Justice Center Campus is located between Colfax Ave. & W. 14th Ave. at Elati St.

Sculptor Ralph Helmick (MA) has been working on site for the installation of a suspended work of art titled Convergence. The 56-ft-high laser-cut steel sculpture will be created from over 1400 interwoven portraits depicting 12 Denver citizens. These portraits are distinct and recognizable as individuals at the base and widest point of the sculpture, but as the sculpture narrows at the top, the portraits overlap and interlock into an indistinct whole—a metaphor for the jury process.

Artist Catherine Widgery (MA) is also on site to complete her installation of Cloudbreak, a floating sculptural glass wall which will serve as a backdrop for the important activities of the new Cisneros Jury Assembly Room. Widgery’s translucent wall is constructed of a layer of stained glass depicting a light bursting through clouds in a colorful Colorado cloudbreak, in front of which a framework holds thousands of clear glass tubes.

This undulating glass surface captures and refracts the light and color in spectacular ways that changes with the light and movement of the sun outside. Widgery worked on site with a group of art students from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design to install the glass tubes by hand.

For more information, call 720-865-4313 or visit denvergov.org/publicart.

Perceptions Celebrates Biennial

Walker Fine Art presents Perceptions featuring installations from Sabin Aell, Kim Ferrer, Emma Hardy, and Lauri Lynnxe Murphy. Each artist will address topics within three of the overarching themes of the Biennial of the Americas: innovation, sustainability, community, through the fourth theme, art. Using these topics as a springboard, the result will be a visual integration of concepts.

Sabin Aell: “Today more than ever society is faced with the challenges of sustaining a quality of life unprecedented in human history. How do we celebrate what we have? What makes for a healthy and flourishing community and economy?”

Utilizing both traditional artistry materials and industrial, raw materials, Aell will create a visual representation of The Genuine Wealth Model, which provides an alternative to the tired economic growth and accounting models, and it accounts for what we value most. “Only when we measure the real determinants of well-being and happiness will we be able to measure true progress.”

Kim Ferrer: Inspired by Curator Paola Santoscoy’s title “The Nature of Things” Ferrer’s work is a response to this contemporary metaphor for how we perceive the world and make sense of the world through our perceptions. Through a combination of raw and live materials, Ferrer’s work is a collection of an original object and deviations from it that will depict how perceptions are constantly shifting and influenced by our experiences of growth and change.

Emma Hardy: Packages is a collection of life-sized sculpted figures [and sound installation] modeled from people living within Hardy’s community of Jamestown, Colorado, and created entirely out of brown packing paper. “From a town population of just 260, I selected members who reflect a range of ages, situations, and body types. My intention is that an observer can relate to and find some commonality; perhaps they will find a reflection of themselves, a friend, a daughter, or parent.”

Lauri Lynnxe Murphy: by juxtaposing an installation of Gyre Stones and her Plastic Nature photographs, Murphy’s work comments on the ubiquitous manifestation of plastic in our environment, and its connection to our need of oil. “In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and now in the Atlantic, churns an enormous gyre filled with plastic debris.

In the Gulf of Mexico, an unknown quantity of oil spews from a broken pipe and forms itself into ten-mile long plumes. The connection between both is plastic, which is made from petroleum…the difference between the two is really only a few steps of process. Both cases illustrate how plastic has infested our environment.”

An opening reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Friday, July 16, from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the gallery in the Prado building on 11th and Cherokee in Denver’s Golden Triangle Museum District. Featured artists will attend the opening. The exhibition will continue through Saturday, August 28, during regular gallery hours.

For more information, call 303-355-8955 or walkerfineart.com.

PISMO Features Works of Lino Tagliapietra

PISMO Fine Art Glass, Colorado’s foremost gallery for glass art, will present its sixth solo exhibition of new works by internationally-renowned glass artist Lino Tagliapietra.

Lino, now 75, has long been considered one of the premier glass artists in the world. The show’s opening will be July 17, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at PISMO in Cherry Creek North. The exhibition runs through September 17.

Born in 1934 on Murano, a small island in the Venetian lagoon, Lino has been surrounded by glass his entire life. He left school at age 11 to begin working in the glassmaking industry, mastering the age-old techniques and working his way up to maestro by the time he was 22.

In 1979, at the age of 45, Lino came to the United States for the first time to teach at the newly-created Pilchuck Glass School founded by American artist Dale Chihuly near Seattle. He spoke no English, but wanted to explore the artistic opportunities available in America where the American studio glass artists were eager to expand their technical knowledge and skill.

Lino shared his extensive knowledge, returning each summer to the school. He continued to collaborate with various artists and designers until the mid-1990s, when he decided to concentrate on his own work.

Lino Tagliapietra is, without question, one of the most important glass artists of our time. He has had a major and historical impact and influence on the world of glass art. His work is shown in museums throughout the world; the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum hosted an exhibition of Lino’s work in 2008, the first major solo exhibition of a non-American artist at the Renwick.

For more information, visit pismoglass.com.

Treasures Great and Small at Great Western Art Gallery

Showing through August 13 are landscapes and still lifes by feature artist Jessica Wicken, who paints a spectrum of subjects including landscapes, still lifes and people in a variety of sizes from miniatures to mammoth, all with bold imagination and color.

For more information, call 303-396-2787. Great Western Art Gallery, 1455 Curtis St.

Biennial Event Canada, Colorado at Habitat Gallery

Canadian and Colorado artist Georgia Amar exhibits her landscapes and abstracts in oil, print and laminated stained glass at Habitat Gallery, opening Friday, July 16, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. as part of the Art District’s Passport to the Arts gallery tour, a Denver Biennial of the Americas 2010 event.

Many of the works on display were created as part of the artist’s 30-year observation of her landscape overlooking Lake Ontario, first from her hand-constructed A-frame fabricated from the trees on her land and later in a multi-structure residence and art camp.

The art camp was designed by Ms. Amar for maximum viewing of her landscape and it’s dramatic, shifting lighting caused by the sun’s rays refracting off of the omnipresent lake-effect moisture. Other works displayed are studies for the artist’s 60 feet of layered and laminated stained-glass windows for a major sanctuary in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

For more information, contact Jack Douglas Pappalardo at 303-534-9740 or HabitatGallery@Earthlink.net.

Abend Gallery Landscape Show Slated

Abend’s Landscape Show debuts on July 23 with an opening reception from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 2260 E. Colfax Ave. on the corner of York St. and E. Colfax. Abend Gallery is also proud to present four new works by Bruce A. Gómez.

Participating artists: Daniel Amoroso, Jen Arribau, Dan Beck, Jim Beckner, Josh Been, Norman Cable, P.A. Canney, Lorenzo Chavez, Nancy Condit, Stephen Day, Tim Deibler, Harold Deist, Marin Dobson, Kim English, Jane Ford, Ernie Gallegos, Bruce A Gomez, Lindsey Bittner Graham, David Harms, Jeanne Hougen, Nicole Hyde, Benjamin Kelley,

Ramon Kelley, Terrie Lombardi, Jennifer McChristian, Carolyn Miller, Warren Neary, Mikael Olson, Tammi Otis, Sandra Pratt, Connie Renner, Nicholas Reti, Elizabeth Sandia, Jean Shom, Jeff Slemons, Nathan Solano, Rita Spalding, Robert Spooner, Cheryl St John, Gary Steffen, Ken Valastro, Teresa Vito, Lani Vlaanderen, Zhaoming Wu.

For more information, call 303-355-0950 or 800-288-3726.