P I R A T E • R E V I E W S

October 2006
Michael Brohman • Pieces of Me
CBS News • September 13, 2006

Some Residents Disapprove Of 'Offensive' Sculpture

(CBS4) DENVER Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder when it comes to art, but some residents of a north Denver neighborhood don't see the appeal of an attention getting display.

In fact, they say a statue being exhibited at a gallery near 37th and Navajo is downright offensive.

Michael Brohman has been sculpting art for the past 12 years but he's never created a piece that's drawn as much attention as the statue on display in the Pirate Art Gallery window.

Barbara Iacovetta said the statue of a nude man with an erection is down right offensive even for an art gallery. To make matters worse, the display is just a block away from the Catholic Church where she works.

"Have it in the gallery, be my guest, but not out where everybody sees it," Iacovetta said.

"I wanted some sort of reaction, I didn't care what kind of reaction, I wanted people to think about it," Brohman said.

He said, ironically, the sculpture represents his relationship with God and how he was shunned by the church as a gay Catholic man.

"So I think it is appropriate that it's by a church, it's not intentional that it's by a church but it just happens to be the church is a block away," Brohman said. "And I wouldn't change anything because this is my experience with the church."

Brohman said he won't take the sculpture down and that it should be used as a teaching tool for everyone who walks by.

"Maybe they can, in their own way, somehow be more inclusive," Brohman said.

The sculpture isn't for sale and will remain in the window until Sunday. That's when his exhibition is scheduled to close.

September 2006
Tiffany Kennedy Carroll
Not real, two-dimensional annoyances of the sky, rather images of pigeons fat as happy cats, or skyward birds mimicking angelic doves. These are the images of Denver’s Tiffany Kennedy-Carroll.
Tiffany studied at Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, which is where she met show-mate Alicia Ordal. “Alicia and I shared a studio last year so I guess we’ve really influenced each other quite a bit. I think we both have some similarities in our work, especially formally—we tend to both use a lot of repetition in our work, and our use of line, and in subject/subject matter.” The collaboration of the women’s art is chock full of whimsy and beauty, honesty and wonder.

Tiffany’s paintings capture icons in moments of vulnerability and sheds light on the individuals through use of subdued color, imagery and humor. Most of the paintings use images of hands and pigeons to convey a common message. This message and the repetitions give the show a flow, and an overall calling to see diamonds in the coal. Tiffany explains, “The pigeons exemplify this; they represent both the highest forms of meaning in society and also the lowliest part of society.”
Her painting entitled, Feed the Birds, Walt (Tuppence) was inspired by a documentary on the movie Mary Poppins. As it turns out Walt Disney saw doves in mere pigeons when he hired actors, choreographers and songwriters with little experience to make this movie. Tiffany’s painting, Joan of Arc (1928), was inspired by the Carl Dryer film entitled, The Passion of Joan of Arc. This painting is the darkest in the room; almost an entirely black canvas with bright white pigeons scattered in a small pattern. A symbolic glimpse of eternal hope perhaps for a woman trapped in a flame.

On a lighter note, the work of Alicia Ordal makes people smile. Her representation of the human body as it truly is, is stunning. These pieces are thought provoking in that they seem to balance our animated desires with the reality of our perceived flaws. In her artist statement Alicia writes, “They (my drawings) are exploring and questioning, like all art does, our interaction with our surroundings and how we categorize the whole experience…The work breaks the boundaries of the frame on a canvas and lies somewhere in between painting, sculpture, and installation.”

Be sure to check out this show before September 17, and feed the birds!
Pirate Gallery 3655 Navajo Street, Denver
Gallery Hours: Friday 6-10 pm Sat and Sun 12-5 pm
-Leanor Ortega Till

Rocky Mountain News Spotlight - Mary Voelz Chandler
May 2006 - Craig Robb / Claudia Roulier

AS AN ALTERNATIVE: The co-op scene in Denver is one of the great continuing vaults of surprises in terms of the art community here. You never really know what you're going to find at a co-op until you walk in the door.

In the case of Pirate a Contemporary Art Oasis, through May 14, the answer is small, beautifully crafted work by Craig Robb and Claudia Roulier.

Robb again turns his attention to the combination of wood and metal to portray issues of domesticity and conflict. Bands of steel curl around and over these wall-hung works, which include various permutations of chairs and houses (the simple, stylized shapes familiar from Monopoly) arranged on layers of wood. In Breadth, for instance, Robb lines up six of these domiciles, one of which is turned in a different direction and all of which are cradled by three loops of metal. He also has included a quartet of floor pieces, but it is the dozen-plus small gems that circle the space that hold a viewer's attention.

In the associate's gallery, Roulier continues the focus on the specific and the precious with a series of shrines and assemblages. A portion of her show includes anatomical drawings, but the heart of it is the carefully composed combinations of found objects and curios that hint at the past in unusual ways.

Pirate is at 3655 Navajo St.; information: 303-458-6058.

April 2006 - Debra Sanders

DEBRA SANDERS Sanders is best known for her magical installations in recent years at Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis, 3712 Navajo St., especially "Slide" (2001), a dream-like work with projections.

While that medium is clearly her forte, the Wheat Ridge artist takes a fascinating if not completely successful detour with her latest Pirate show, the provocatively titled "Intimate Portraits Obscurely Assembled In a Detached Manner."

These 10 computer-generated compositions are primitivist, heavily manipulated works that draw on a host of sources, including photos and even a painting by Gustav Klimt.

The exhibition runs through April 23. Hours are 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. 303-458-6058.

-Kyle MacMillan - The Denver Post

November 2005 - Jenny Morgan / Laurel McMechan

Mine not yours / Two Trains of Thought
by Michael Paglia - Westword
article published Nov 24, 2005

Twenty-something artist Jenny Morgan is surely one of the most serious and ambitious young painters around. She's practically right out of school, having graduated only a couple of years ago from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design. There she was a protegée of Irene Delka McCray, and, like her mentor, Morgan is a representational painter who's very good at conveying the human figure.

Despite her tender age, she's already represented by the respected + Gallery downtown. Her work is also included in New American Paintings, a juried exhibit catalogue that's filled with the work of some of the hottest talents across the country -- which means she's in very good company.

In her current exhibit, Mine not yours, at Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis (3655 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058), Morgan continues to use the self-portrait as her principle vehicle. With a great deal of painterly skill, she meticulously captures her own image -- or parts of it -- employing amazing attention to detail.

All pieces involve a nude Morgan interacting with a piece of fabric, a classic combination for traditional realism. She adds contemporary content by cutting up the figure and placing it against a solid-colored background. By doing this, the figures are abstracted by implication, if not in actuality. In a number of cases, as in "Fallout" (above), Morgan paired two panels to make a single piece.

The show looks very good, which tells me that Morgan can not only paint, but also hang a show -- which is an entirely different skill. Her paintings, mostly in exaggeratedly vertical shapes, handsomely take over the recently reconfigured Pirate, which though now somewhat smaller, is still very large.

Two Trains of Thought, a solo of Laurel McMechan's painted portraits, is ensconced in the Associates Space and works well with the Morgan outing. These McMechan paintings have a photographic -- or maybe even telegenic -- quality and a rich, dark palette. Some are surrealistic, but the best are not. The promising McMechan is developing her artistic ideas along some very interesting lines.

Both shows at Pirate run through Sunday, November 27.

October 2005
"FIGURE AS MEDIUM" Wondering where the young talent is in Denver? Take a look at Tiffany Kennedy\'s ambitious exhibition on view through Oct. 16 in the Associate Space at Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis, 3659 Navajo St. Still a student at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design, she has to be the most promising young figurative artist in the area. In these 21 works, she demonstrates a strong sense of draftsmanship and moves easily from painting to drawing to printmaking. 303-458-6058 or pirateart.org. -Kyle MacMillan

July 2005
Westword / Artbeat
Michael Paglia

artbeat.1
There are big changes afoot at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058). The most important one is that the co-op's longtime home has gotten substantially smaller. Landlords Chandler Romeo and Reed Weimer are remodeling the space, putting in new walls, new doors and a new entrance. As a result, Pirate is losing about half of its floor space, but the rent is not being adjusted downward.

Most of the Pirates are philosophical about the changes, and Phil Bender, the group's representative on Earth, is grateful for all that Romeo and Weimer have done for the co-op over the years. Others, however, have gotten hot under the collar: Jason Appleton had an intense argument with Weimer, and things got so heated between them that Weimer threatened to call the police on Appleton -- who, by the way, is an imposing 6' 4". The situation quickly defused when Appleton stormed off. Things have calmed down now, and Appleton laughed the whole thing off when he told me about it.

Appleton was understandably upset, because his show, Jason Appleton: Paintings and Ceramics, is one of those being inconvenienced by the construction. The exhibit is made up of an installation of paintings on vertical planks that surround three sides of the room. The paintings are slap-dash abstracts, mostly based on the female nude. On bases filling the middle of the room are dozens and dozens of decorated ceramics, which are the show's real attraction. Using enamel glazes, Appleton paints greenware with retro modernist decorations that bring to mind high-end '50s ceramics from Europe. In some, Appleton uses what he calls a "language" of abstract forms that he developed himself, as shown off in "Species #3," a handsome square charger (left).

Appleton will host a closing reception on Friday, August 12, from 7 to 10 p.m. His show comes down a couple of days later, on Sunday, August 14.

I well recall the first time I saw Warren Kelly's work. It was the summer of 2002, and I had found myself at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis. In the main space was a thoroughly amazing and absolutely unforgettable painting solo. I thought to myself, Whoever did these pieces has to be considered Denver's worst living artist.

There was only one thing to do: get out before I was spotted. Alas, it was too late. As I headed for the door, Kelly came through it and asked, "What do you think of my show?" I gulped hard and tried to think of something polite to say, but he took me off the hook almost immediately by adding, "It's in the back."

Thank God.

I followed Kelly to the Associates' Space, where I was immediately surrounded by urbane abstractions riffing on the style of the mid-twentieth-century transcendentalists who worked in Taos, the artist's home town. As I look back, I'm surprised that my eyes didn't explode from the radical optical adjustment required to shift from the homely and ineptly done brown daubs in the front to the masterfully lyrical compositions done in brilliant colors in the back.

Kelly is still working along these same lines, but he's gotten even better at it, believe it or not. Original + Digital: new work by H. Warren Kelly is, like that first effort, installed in the Associates' Space at Pirate and grew out of the Taos transcendentalist tradition.

The title refers to the fact that Kelly combines traditional one-off methods such as paintings and drawings and puts them together with computer-generated imagery produced in multiples, such as digital prints. The different types of work are stylistically related, though the paintings and drawings are more minimal and are lighter in mood and tone, while the prints are richly dense in both color and detail.

There are only two paintings in the exhibit: "Another Roadside Attraction 1" and the closely associated "Another Roadside Attraction 2." The two works are hung side by side on the west wall, so it's easy to see how similar they are. Both are quite large, and each is crowded with a wide assortment of arching, swirling and looping lines done in an astounding array of vibrant hues on a field of essentially unadorned primed canvas. The lines are meant to convey the landscape around Taos, but you really have to use your imagination to see it: Other than in some kind of bare-bones way, the paintings include no obvious references to the scenes they purportedly depict.

These works have a structural component in the black enamel lines that define their pictorial elements. The lines correspond to the graphite in two drawings, called "Roadside Sketches," that are the preliminary studies for the larger works.

It would be easy to conclude that the paintings and drawings anticipated the digital pieces, but that would be wrong. It was only a couple of weeks ago that Kelly created the drawings and paintings -- long after he'd finished the masters for the prints. Kelly began using computers and high-tech printers because he liked the way his slides looked when scanned and printed out. The digital pieces at Pirate, though, are not simply scanned paintings and drawings. Kelly first creates drawings the old-fashioned way, with pencil and paper. He then refers to those sketches as he "draws" in a newfangled way, using Photoshop and a mouse. "If I simply scanned paintings, there'd be pixelization when I enlarged them," Kelly explains. "This way, the files are so big, there's no pixelizing no matter how big I make them. I start by putting in horizontal lines -- like the lines on a piece of ruled paper -- and then I hang the compositions off them."

For the Pirate show, Kelly has done eleven prints: five from the "Arroyo Seco Theme Park" series and three each from the "El Prado" and "Rinconada" series. The spectacular colors he selects and juxtaposes -- like orange and pink with purple -- are absolutely right on.

Kelly's repetition of the imagery combined with toned-up color schemes seems to be a tip of the hat to late pop-art pioneer Andy Warhol, the most important mentor for cutting-edge contemporary art right now. Warhol strikes me as an unlikely New York-based source of inspiration, considering the Southwestern flavor of Kelly's vision. But there's no denying that this Warholian aspect is the perfect counterpoint to the overriding expressionism of these pictures, giving them a marvelously contemporary feel.

Pirate's back room seems like a weird place to find a display as drop-dead elegant as Kelly's. What makes it even stranger is that Kelly is represented by Denver's + Gallery, so it's a mystery why it wasn't presented there, a much more appropriate venue for it. No matter, Original + Digital is a great show right where it is -- beautiful, intelligent, coherent and completely consistent, with high quality being the hallmark of everything in it. You'd be foolish to miss it -- but hurry, because it comes down this weekend.

June 2005
Westword / Artbeat
Michael Paglia

Westword / Artbeat
Michael Paglia

A detail from Marie E.v.B. Gibbons' "Float" at Pirate a Contemporary Art Oasis.
On exhibit through July 3, 2005 with Jimmy Sellars' "Dive" in the associate gallery,
and Haley Mariahs' new paintings in the Treasure Chest

Typically, the show in the main room at Pirate: a Contemporary Art Oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058) has nothing to do with the one in the associates' space. That's not the case this time, though. Pirate member Marie E.v.B. Gibbons is a friend of Pirate associate Jimmy Sellars, so the two have coordinated their exhibits. Not that there's anything about Gibbons' ceramics that's remotely like Sellars' photos -- it's that both artists used water as a metaphor.

For Float, Gibbons created a group of installations. Hanging on the walls are small, beautifully glazed bas-reliefs depicting fanciful sea creatures. On the floor is the title piece, "Float" (detail above), an evocation of a swimming pool filled with bathers -- fifty self-portrait heads. Gibbons chose the number fifty because that's her age, and each head indicates a different stage of her life. She's "submerged" the heads at various "depths," though it's all an illusion since the "water" is made of tile and nothing will actually sink into it.

In Dive, Sellars continues his exploration of gay politics through GI Joe action figures photographed in sexually evocative poses. Sellars uses a black background in these works that, when combined with the gray color of the figures, results in an extremely dignified presentation despite the inherent levity of beefcake shots of dolls.

Sadly, these may be among the last shows in what Phil Bender, the co-op's guiding light, calls "Big Pirate" -- as opposed to the "Little Pirate" that is coming on line. Landlords Chandler Romeo and Reed Weimer are reconfiguring the space so they can rent out the portion beyond the current front door as a separate unit (at a jacked-up rent). Too bad.

Float and Dive are on view through July 3 at what's still the Big Pirate. See it -- and them -- while you can.

Voelz Chandler
Rocky Mountain News

Rocky Mountain News - Recommended, July 25
ART

• "Float," "Dive": Pirate a Contemporary Art Oasis is a pretty cool place right now, devoted, as it is, to all things aquatic. That entails "Float," a show of work by Marie E.v.B. Gibbons, in which she uses ceramics to evoke the worlds of pool and beach, and "Dive," in which Jimmy Sellars depicts swimmers in various actions by posing manikins as models for photographs. The duo is on view through July 3, at 3659 Navajo St. Information: 303-458-6058.

Phil Bender
May 2005

Voelz Chandler
Rocky Mountain News

A CHANGE AT PIRATE: To fully grasp the history of Pirate, a Contemporary Art Oasis, it is necessary to visit during the annual show by one of its founders. Phil Bender is one of the key players in the art community here, known for his iconoclastic approach to just about everything and his role in promoting and refining the use of the found object in art.

And the 2005 edition of Bender's work is no different. Through Sunday, at 3659 Navajo St., Bender is riffing off the theme of springtime in Paris (and a few other European cities, too, actually) in using material he picked up on trips to Paris. That includes grids of many types of objects, including postcards (some of the racy historic variety) and cigar bands. Everything is wall work, rather than the mix of hung and pedestal pieces Bender usually shows.

Also on view at Pirate are paintings by Lenore McKerlie, in which she continues her exploration of the link between humankind and cattle (and not as food), as well as paintings by Letha Sandison in the Treasure Chest area.

In the adjacent space, the co-op The Cache has almost doubled in number, and is featuring a group show with work by new members Carolyn Naiman, Charlene Harlow and Randy Garcia.

"Short-lived" may be the term for the Treasure Chest - which was always sort of a surprise area on a visit to Pirate - because Bender says the building's owners, artists and art "landlords" Reed Weimer and Chandler Romeo, have plans to reconfigure the interior of the space, perhaps beginning later this summer.

That includes dividing the space down the middle, adding a separate door for Pirate, and dedicating the current door to the space now occupied by The Cache. Weimer says the space that now is the Treasure Chest may be incorporated into that space.

Information: 303-458-6058.

Craig Robb
May 2005

Westword
Art Beat, Michael Paglia

There's an interesting sculpture show now at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058) called Sanctuaries. The abstract wall and floor works by Craig Robb are made of steel, wood and plastic. Some include recognizable things, such as tiny chairs and houses, but the best ones are completely non-objective. A compelling aspect here is movement: Several of these pieces rock, while others have swinging parts.

Sensitive viewers might want to skip the untitled show by the artist known as Orpheus, which is crammed into the Associates' Space in the back. First, it's installed storage-shed style; second, the paintings and watercolors in it are dreadful. They fall into three distinct categories: hideous, vulgar and, finally, hideous and vulgar.

In Cache, an independent co-op within Pirate, there's a quirky and whimsical presentation called Favorite Places, featuring recent work by Marie Frances Quinn. In what can only be called Catholic-school cursive, Quinn has written across the floor a breezy essay about her favorite places. On white-painted stands scattered around the room are small constructions made of metal that depict these places. The little towers, the bed and the carousel are as much like jewelry as they are like sculptures.

Debra Sanders, Conor King
April 2005

AND AT PIRATE: Pirate a Contemporary Art Oasis is looking good this month, with installations in the members and associates spaces, plus a small snapshot-based piece in the Treasure Chest by Michael Chavez that investigates sexuality, the body, and the effect of shadow.

In the front space, Debra Sanders has given her show of shaped-paraffin work the title "Crudely Formed," though I would disagree. These sensuous organic forms - mounds, drooping appendages and tablet-shaped pieces - glow, thanks to her use of interior lights in each piece. Sanders notes that the works grew out of an experiment in which she covered marshmallows with wax, producing tiny translucent globes. Her shift into another scale - and such emphatic use of material - shows that art and science do mix.

And in the associates' space, Conor King again presents a photography-based piece, where technology serves to support both content and concept. "Hidden Landscape" includes one rear-screen projection: an array of hot-air balloons symmetrically placed over what appears to be several mobs of people following their progress.

Last year, King filled that space with a show of backlit photographic shadow boxes - "Sentience" - that relied on the play of light and dark to showcase people in odd situations. In "Hidden Landscape," where King used computer manipulation to turn 30 photos into one, he again finds the balance between presentation and meaning.

Meanwhile, in The Cache Gallery space tucked into Pirate, Agnes Kunz Vigil takes her photographic interpretation of sexual imagery a step further in "American Slang: Literal Photographic Interpretation of Sexual Slang."

Though that title sounds a bit dry - think: a paper read at a linguistics conference, without slides - Vigil's work is extremely funny, using props to act out slang certainly in common use, but perhaps not ready to find their way into a general-interest publication.

A rubber chicken with a man's hands around its throat is the image on the card, and it sort of goes up (or down) hill from there.

All four shows are on view through May 1. Pirate and The Cache are at 3659 Navajo St.; information: 303-458-6058.

ANDY MILLER - JANUARY 2005

Westword Feb. 3,2005
Top Marks
Abstraction lights up Sandy Carson, while postmodern is displayed at a darkened Pirate.
BY MICHAEL PAGLIA

ampress
Andy Miller: "When Does Something Qualify as Being Alive?"

Considering how outré his work is, it may seem strange to say that I think Andy Miller has good taste, too. Some evidence of this is his remarkable attention to detail, his fine craftsmanship and his innate understanding of filling space. But his works are more than beautiful; they also relentlessly address big ideas, most often difficult or troubling ones, such as life-and-death issues.

Currently, Miller is the author of a remarkable show, Andy Miller: When Does Something Qualify as Being Alive?, at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis. The show is spectacular, transforming the space so utterly that visitors enter a completely contrived world. It's a tremendously ambitious effort for an alternative space, and it demonstrates that there's still life in that old warhorse of a co-op.

Miller was an associate member of Pirate for a time; he was invited to become a full member this past summer. Despite the brief tenure, this is Miller's second smash hit at Pirate. The first was last year's installation of four monumental suicide sculptures from his "A Deconstruction of Life" series. The use of male and female figures in Being Alive is reminiscent of Miller's "Bathroom People," a two-part outdoor sculpture also representing male and female, which was installed at Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art a few years ago. These previous efforts are the direct predecessors to the Being Alive installation now at Pirate. Like those earlier pieces, the newest work is comprised of simplified figures made of fabricated metal, though the Being Alive figures are more naturalistic than the earlier ones, if you can call solid silhouettes naturalistic. Being Alive goes beyond strictly formal concerns and delves into the realm of thoughts and feelings -- another similarity to the older works.

Pirate's main room is lighted with tubes of blue neon, giving it an ethereal and otherworldly atmosphere. The neon hangs by wires from the ceiling, and it's arranged at angles in something like a loose herringbone pattern that runs over the main part of the installation. The blue light creates an actual visual impairment for viewers, because no other illumination is employed. It's pretty dark in there.

The walls are gleaming white, with the monumental figures done in black or dark brown -- it's hard to tell in the blue light. The figures are truly gigantic, with their heads almost hitting the ceiling. (I thought about how hard it must have been to get them though Pirate's door.) The man and woman face one another across the room, but they are placed so far apart they seem to be more about aloofness than connection. The only thing that actually links the two figures -- at least metaphorically -- is a series of small chrome balls that hang from the ceiling on nearly invisible wires and catch the blue light beautifully. The balls are arranged in a Braille pattern to spell out the sentence "When Does Something Qualify as Being Alive?" The question is provocative and fairly open-ended, suggesting a variety of meanings when seen in relation to the male and female figures.

Andy Miller: When Does Something Qualify as Being Alive? demonstrates something that people often forget: Alternative spaces like Pirate are places where some of the best art shows in Denver can be found.

The Denver Post
January 28, 2005

In April, Andy Miller presented an installation of four 12-foot-tall figurative sculptures that incorporated neon in provocative ways. It demonstrated again that he is among Denver's most original and innovative sculptors. He has returned this month with a new body of work.|through Feb. 6; 7-10 p.m. Fridays, noon-5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays|Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis, 3659 Navajo St.;

Rocky Mountain News
Mary Voelz Chandler

AS AN ALTERNATIVE: Denver's co-op galleries are known for surprises, though when it comes to work by Andy Miller, perhaps I should just expect something rich in content as well as daring in execution.

That holds true with Miller's current installation in the soaring front space of Pirate a Contemporary Art Oasis, the subject of which is in line with an apparent riff into the theme of life and death. Miller's last show here presented four giant metal sculptures, international symbols for men, each demonstrating a method for suicide. The weapons were created in neon.

Now, just in time for the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Miller has placed two figures at either end of the gallery, one male, one female, connected by lines of metal balls that read, in Braille, "When does something qualify as being alive?" It is the eternal question when it comes to the debate over reproductive freedom, though in this case between one man and one woman, looming above a viewer, in solitude rather than a political setting. The gallery glows from the blue neon tubes suspended in diagonal lines; "When . . . " is blunt and chilling, hot and cold, all at the same time.

The same cannot be said for the installation by Luzia Omelas in the associates space. Utilizing the subject of the homeless in art is not new - witness work by Annalee Schorr and Michael Ensminger, even Andres Serrano - but it also can prove troubling. In "ripped off," Omelas hired homeless people to be filmed - and either acquired or reproduced representative cardboard signs - for her version of a reality show. Talk about a quandary: Using art to shine light on a social issue is one thing, but such work also raises issues that nag every show on the homeless I've ever seen. This breaks little new ground.

Both installations remain on view through Feb. 6 at Pirate, 3659 Navajo St. Information: 303-458-6058.

25bottles72
25, 25-year old Mexican Coke Bottles - Phil Bender

From westword.com
Originally published by Westword Jan 13, 2005
©2005 New Times, Inc. All rights reserved.

Artbeat
Brief sketches of what's happening in the Denver art scene.
BY MICHAEL PAGLIA

It's hard to believe that Pirate: a contemporary art oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-456-6058) is a quarter of a century old, but since exhibition titles don't lie -- and the current one is 25 Years of Pirate: Past and Present -- it must be true. The venerable artists' cooperative debuted on New Year's Day 1980, just a few months after Spark opened. Thus, even though Pirate is often thought of as the city's oldest alternative space, it isn't.

Pirate has always reminded me of one of those Andy Hardy movies from the 1930s, where a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs pull off some big gig. Only in the case of Pirate, instead of Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland putting on a show, it's been Phil Bender, an artist and arts advocate. He's almost single-handedly kept the whole thing together from the beginning.

Bender is among a large group of Pirates and Pirate alums -- approximately seventy of them -- showcased in the birthday bash. His "25 25-Year Old Mexican Coca Cola Bottles" (detailed above) represents just one of the latest entries into his conceptual trip of arranging found objects in rows. It's the kind of thing he's been doing as long as there's been a Pirate.

As the only artist in the show who was there from the start, Bender spans the many different eras in the co-op's history. Among the dozens of other artists who came and went over the years are Dale Chisman, Jesus Polanco, Gary Sweeney, Martha Daniels, Stephen Batura, William Stockman and David Zimmer.

That's a lot of talent, but with their work haphazardly thrown around (and with plenty of terrible things mixed in), the show is a disaster. This anything-goes approach is indicative of the prevailing attitude at Pirate, which is why there has never been a proper exhibit dedicated to the best that has gone through its doors. Worse, right now would have been the perfect time to do it.

Despite all my serious misgivings, 25 Years of Pirate is an absolute must-see. It closes this Sunday, January 16.

25 YEARS - PIRATE: a contemporary art oases

Article Published: Thursday, January 13, 2005
An oasis for artists who don't fit in anywhere else

By Kyle MacMillan
Denver Post Fine Arts Critic

Just inside the door to Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis stands what looks like a mast from an old sailing ship complete with a crow's nest.

This relic from a seafood restaurant seems bizarrely out of place. Yet its very incongruity makes it a perfect fit for this alternative art space, which for a quarter-century has been a haven for artists who haven't fit in anywhere else.

The venerable artist cooperative at 3659 Navajo St. is celebrating its 25th anniversary with a special group exhibition continuing through this weekend with selections by 70 past and present members.

Though not the oldest artist cooperative in Denver - Spark predates it by about six months - Pirate remains the most important and most widely known locally and nationally.

If the rise of new commercial galleries and other art venues has somewhat diminished its influence on the Denver art scene in recent years, it played a pivotal role in the 1980s and early '90s, launching or advancing the careers of some of the state's top artists.

"There was a time when it was the center of everything," said Louis Recchia, a Berthoud artist who joined six months after the cooperative opened.

He witnessed Pirate's clout firsthand, when the Denver Art Museum purchased two works by him from exhibitions there, including a nearly 20-foot-long relief painting titled "There's a World Going on Underground" (1988).

Selections by eight current and former Pirate members were among the 74 works included in "Scene Colorado/Sin Colorado," a 2004 DAM exhibition focusing on artists who have lived or worked in Colorado.

"It's been just a very important organization and driver of the alternative art scene in Denver," said Cydney Payton, director-curator of the Museum of Contemporary Art/

Denver. "Since there wasn't a contemporary art museum, the alternative art community took over - Pirate being a leader in that."

To be sure, no one would mistake the artist cooperative for a streamlined Chelsea gallery in New York City.

It does have a phone now, but the wood floors are worn and the bulky, loose-fitting door seems more like something one might find on a barn.

Tall visitors still have to duck to view art in an alcove under a backroom loft office, and a ceiling heater in the front room makes so much noise that it's almost impossible to talk when it's running.

Pirate's offbeat character appeals to Recchia, who likes the freedom it affords.

"It gives you a way to show your work the way you want to show it," he said. "Nobody is telling you, 'We want to show this but not this' or 'We want your work framed a certain way' or anything like that."

Pirate was founded by seven like-minded artists who were all recent graduates of Metropolitan State College of Denver, except for Jennifer Mel-

ton, a self-taught artist then married to one of the alumni.

"They were young, thinking they were avant-garde. I don't know, looking back, if that was true," Melton said of the founders. "But you know, a little on the crazy side, a little outrageous. We had some pretty crazy shows."

The gallery opened its first exhibition on New Year's Day 1980 in a space at 1410 16th St. It moved briefly to another downtown building before settling in February 1983 into its present north Denver home, a former dry-goods store next to Patsy's Inn Italian Restaurant.

Co-founder Phil Bender labeled it "A Contemporary Art Oasis," because that's essentially what Pirate was. There were just a few commercial galleries at the time showing contemporary art in Denver.

"In those days," he said, "we were the only place that I knew of in town showing student work, experimental work, whatever."

Openings were rollicking events that often included live music, particularly bands playing then-innovative punk and new wave music.

"They were really wild, and that's one of the things that drew me to it," Recchia said. "You'd see all these real punked-out kids there, and that was before everyone knew what that was, and at the same time, there'd be guys in their suits, their minds pretty blown at the scene."

Melton recalls an opening for a show titled "April in Paris" that included miniature Christmas lights hung in the shape of the Eiffel Tower, can-can dancers, accordion players, french fries and a fashion show.

Although Pirate's openings are more sedate than they once were and monthly dues have increased from $10 to $30, the cooperative's basic mission of showcasing contemporary art and giving young artists a chance remains unchanged.

The other constant is Bender, the last original member.

"He's kind of the glue that holds it together," Recchia said. "If he wasn't part of it, I don't think it would have lasted this long."

Bender is already contemplating Pirate's 50th anniversary, and there's no reason why the cooperative couldn't make it.

After all, new generations of artists continue to eagerly seek memberships, and Bender has no plans to give up his role as its guiding spirit.

Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pirates made good

Here are some notable members and alumni of Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis:

Stephen Batura. This up-and-comer was named The Denver Post's artist of the year in 2004. His year started with a solo exhibition sponsored by the Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver and culminated with a $216,000 mural commission for the Newton Auditorium.

Dale Chisman. He ranks among most Denver's most widely known abstract painters. He was one of five veteran Colorado artists included in "5 Abstract," a 2002 group exhibition at the contemporary art museum.

Martha Daniels. This nationally known clay artist was featured in a solo exhibition in the Denver Art Museum's Close Range Gallery in 2000. Her sculptures can be found in numerous collections around the world.

Margaret Neumann. Neumann creates moody, semi-abstract compositions that incorporate vaguely defined figures. She was the subject last year of a small solo exhibition on the mezzanine of the contemporary art museum.

Louis Recchia. The Denver Art Museum owns two of his works, including a boisterous, found-object relief painting nearly 20 feet wide that was included in the institution's 2002-03 contemporary-art showcase, "Retrospectacle."

-Kyle MacMillan

| "25 Years of Pirate,

Past and Present"

THROUGH SUNDAY |25th-anniversary art exhibition|Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis, 3659 Navajo St.|FREE|7-10 p.m. Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday (303-458-6058 or www.pirateart.org

Jimmy Sellars / invitational December 2004

Artbeat
Brief sketches of what's happening in the Denver art scene.
BY MICHAEL PAGLIA

sellarsww

A really smart-looking show now on view at Pirate (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058) has a very matter-of-fact title: New Work by Jimmy Sellars. Sellars is an associate member of the co-op, so his work would normally be found in the back of the gallery space, under the loft. But because of a last-minute cancellation, he was able to use the much bigger and better members' space in front. It's a testament to this emerging artist's abilities that he was able to effortlessly fill the larger space, and do so with a thoroughly cogent body of work

Sellars uses digital photography to create elegant, pseudo-figure studies focusing on G.I. Joe dolls in lieu of live models. The photos could almost be beefcake shots, if not for the fact that the subjects are made of plastic rather than flesh. The dolls, which are not anatomically accurate, are shown naked in a variety of homoerotic poses, both alone and in pairs, sort of like soft-core porn. The most amazing thing about these works is how easy it is to forget that the subjects are dolls, and instead read them as real men.

As you might expect, given the homoerotic approach here, Sellars is addressing his own gay identity. As a child, he would project his feelings on to his G.I. Joes and have the little soldiers act them out at his direction. In a way, that's the same thing he's doing with these figure studies at Pirate. While the idea of photographing naked dolls might seem like a one-liner, Sellars makes it much more. He gets as wide a range of images as he would using live models -- maybe more, because he has total control over his subjects.

With the holidays, there's just one day left to see New Work by Jimmy Sellars: the day it closes, December 26.

Mary Voelz Chandler-Rocky Mountain News

LAST CALL: Or, basically, it's almost a last call, for a somewhat last-minute show at Pirate a Contemporary Art Oasis: predominantly new work by Jimmy Sellars, as previewed in a compact show at Artyard this past fall as an offering in the more-than-a-Month of Photography. Pirate associate Sellars shifted into the front gallery, leaving the traditional associates' space open for an invitational show. It was a good move.

Pirate may be running this show through Dec. 26, but the fine print on Sellars' information notes that visits Dec. 24 and 25 are by appointment. (Which brings up the annual reminder: With the two sets of holidays falling on Fridays and Saturdays this year, check with galleries about their hours before you go.)

Sellars includes some older work shown at Weilworks involving tableaux featuring various male dolls, but the focus is on his new "Case Studies" series. In smaller images, and in the larger triptych "Case Studies: David," Sellars employs a miniature articulated modeling figure in poses that radiate emotions, a certain pensive quality, and a sense of loss. They are evocative works, black-and-white photographs that draw humanity from a small wooden doll.

Also of note at Pirate: The new Cache a Fine Art Gallery, which has found a home in the ILK at Pirate space, is sporting a note reporting that during the Dec. 10 opening of Sellars' show, someone walked off with a piece from its debut exhibition.

That was the sculptural construction Lighthouse, by Marie Quinn, who had been in the Cache space until a moment before the piece grew legs. Naturally, she'd like Lighthouse back, and notes that the "gem" on top of the beautifully made piece is synthetic. The rest, from silver to copper to pearls, certainly is not.

Pirate and Cache are at 3659 Navajo St.; information: 303-458-6058. (Or to reach Quinn: 303-433-9743.)

Chandlerm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2677.

Michael Brohman November 2004

Mary Voelz Chandler-Rocky Mountain News

AS AN ALTERNATIVE: The psychological imperative continues at Edge Gallery and Pirate a Contemporary Art Space, at West 37th Avenue and Navajo Street.

At Pirate, it is a diverse selection of new work by sculptor Michael Brohman, an instructor at the University of Colorado at Denver. In past shows, Brohman has worked in cast bronze to produce figures that look at issues of gender orientation and identification, and the current "Me and My Shadows" certainly contains pieces that fit in that file.

But Brohman also is showing work made of cast iron, well-rusted heads and figural fragments that speak to remembrance (in Reliquary I and II, with the inclusion of wasp nests, insect exoskeletons and a human spinal column) and disintegration (Return, in which a well-textured torso is set in a shallow pool of water, ready to disappear).

The standout pieces, though, are Fear and Faith, a massive vessel made of scores of small, stylized bronze figures shaped into the hull of a boat, and the almost frightening Catalogued Chickadees, 37 beautifully cast bronze sculptures that involve setting the head of a human baby on the body of a chicken. They pose, they mug, and arranged on two bookcases reminiscent of an old science museum, they recall an era of specimens one step between unholy and hypnotic.

Brohman's work is on view through Dec. 5. Information: 303- 458-6058.

artbeatmb

Artbeat
Brief sketches of what's happening in the Denver art scene.
BY MICHAEL PAGLIAArtbeat

Well-established Denver artist Michael Brohman takes an idiosyncratic route to contemporary sculpture in his solo, ME AND MY SHADOW, now at Pirate (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058). Brohman has a preference for working in old-fashioned ways, using metal casting as his method and the nude human figure as his subject. However, he chooses to do something different with these old standbys, which is surely what makes this show such an unnerving visual experience.

Upon entering Pirate's main gallery, visitors are confronted by the freak-show atmosphere Brohman has conjured up. Many of his pieces are creepy, but none more so than the images of infants. Seemingly everywhere you look, there's a deformed or mutated baby, which is not exactly viewer-friendly, to say the least. There are the armless conjoined twins tethered to a chain ladder in the title piece, "Me and My Shadow," a detail of which is seen here. Then there are the fetuses on shelves in the window space. But the biggest gross-outs of all are Brohman's "Catalogued Chickadees," which are plucked chickens with baby heads lined up on metal shelves. These "Chickadees" are hideous enough to give you nightmares.

Amazingly enough, there are also some beautiful things in the show. The absolute standout is "Fear and Faith," a life-sized canoe constructed out of more than a thousand small bronze stick figures. The huge piece is a technical tour de force, revealing Brohman's high level of casting and joining skills. "Return," a striking cast-iron sculpture of a nude male torso standing in a rusted steel tray filled with water, is also great.

In Pirate's Treasure Chest, Brohman invited Rian Kerrane to exhibit her installation, Subdivision, a group of cage-like constructions made of found materials, including open umbrellas and doll parts. Those doll parts, especially the heads, make Subdivision an appropriate companion to ME AND MY SHADOW.

Both shows and the other attractions currently at Pirate close on December 5.

Richard Covin and Conor King September 2004

Artbeat - Westword
Brief sketches of what's happening in the Denver art scene.
BY MICHAEL PAGLIA

Stoppage, now in the main space at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058) is the latest in a long-running series of installation exhibits by Pirate member Richard Colvin and his wife, Katherine Temple.

The piece is unexpectedly spare, considering the pair's typical everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach. Suspended from the ceiling is a huge tree bough that seems to be growing out of the floor. Hanging from it is a gigantic, old-fashioned bathtub-drain stopper that evokes an anchor, because it is tethered to a miniature rowboat that's entangled in the branches. The boat at the top of the room transforms the space into a metaphorical body of water. There's only one false move: the photo projection.

ckreview
"Explorer" Conor King

Conor King makes no false moves in his marvelous solo, Sentience, which is handsomely installed in the back Associates' Space. The twenty-something King graduated from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he studied with prominent photographer Alex Sweetman. This student-teacher relationship is apparent in King's six intriguing color photos in light boxes that make up his Pirate show.

In each of the six prints, King depicts a person or persons engaged in some kind of enigmatic activity. None of these actions is stranger than the one shown in "Explorer" (above), in which a young man is suspended by a heavy rope while removing large eggs from a nest. The eggs glow, making them stand out from the background. Highlighting particular parts of his photos by having them glow is a device King uses in most of these shots -- and it's undeniably effective.

The light boxes provide the only illumination in the space, and that creates a wonderful ambience that's not unlike the atmosphere in a national park visitor center. Also great is King's use of raw wooden frames; their earthiness contrasts wonderfully with the high-tech character of the lighted photos.

Sentience is spectacular and establishes King as one of the area's hottest young photographers. And just think: The so-called Month of Photography doesn't even start until October.

Both Pirate shows close this Sunday, September 12

If Conor King is not ahead of the pack, the Denver photographer is certainly keeping up. And that's not bad for someone who earned his bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2003.

Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis is presenting six of his eye-catching 40-by-50-inch color images from 2004 in a solo exhibition titled "Sentience." It is King's first at the longtime artist cooperative.

It is one two noteworthy photography exhibitions in Denver continuing through next weekend. The other is "European Photographs by Michael Eastman," which has been extended through Sept. 11 at the Rule Gallery.

King has still got a little ways to go in terms of developing a fully formed, distinctive look and style, but he clearly understands the latest trends in photography and is attempting to build on them in a new, substantive way.

He particularly seems to be drawing on the work of Gregory Crewdson and Philip-Lorca diCorcia, who create what might be called staged reality in their imagery and manipulate light in unexpected and often highly theatrical ways.

Although King's images can have a documentary feel, such as "Nurturer," which shows an elderly woman bending over her husband's bed, there are clues in every case that the scenes have been staged, manipulated or both.

In "Distance," one of the show's most striking compositions, a woman sitting on a stone outcropping at a kind of campsite picks up a glowing globe. The obviously artificial light radiating from this sort of stage prop clashes in a fascinating way with the seeming realism of the rest of the scene.

Adding to the contradictions is a kind of overcharged meteor shower that appears overhead in the background. King created the artificial effect by photographing a night sky with a prolonged shutter speed and merging it into the rest of the image.

All the photographs have internally illuminated elements such as the globe, and their luminescent effect is enhanced through King's use of light boxes. Each of his photo transparencies is mounted in a custom-made 5-inch wide box lit from inside.

King is not yet represented by one of the city's commercial art galleries, but given his obvious talent and the success of this exhibition, it is only a matter of time.

If the young Denver photographer is an up-and-comer, he is nicely counterbalanced by Michael Eastman, a veteran represented in such prestigious collections as the Art Institute of Chicago and the International Center of Photography in New York City.

Last fall, the Rule Gallery displayed the St. Louis photographer's enticing views of Cuba. They have received enormous attention because of the current interest in the small country, which is becoming an increasingly popular tourist destination.

Because of the success of that show, Rule is presenting a kind of an encore a year later, this time with nine of Eastman's images of Europe, including shots from such cities as Granada, Bologna, Vienna and Budapest.

But as widely known as these places might be, virtually all of the scenes in these photographs will be unfamiliar to most viewers. Instead of falling back on the identifiable icon, the photographer angles for the anonymous stairwell or courtyard.

If the resulting images do not offer much in the way of depth or insight - Eastman's certainly no Josef Sudek - he does know how to find considerable beauty in an elegantly peeling wall or a gracefully curving stairway.

He also has a superb way with color, artfully offsetting, for example, the subtle blue of the doorways in "Courtyard, Barcelona" (1995) with the bold yellow of the flower petals spread across the bricks and central fountain.

Both of these quite different exhibitions are worth a look, but viewers need to hurry, because they close soon.

Fine arts critic Kyle MacMillan can be reached at 303-820-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com .

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kathy Hutton August 2004

Wake Up Little Susie and Soliloquies. In the front space at Pirate, artists Kathy Hutton, Cathleen Meadows and Kay Obering are presenting their collaborative installation, Wake Up Little Susie: Pregnancy & Power Before Roe v. Wade. As is obvious from the title, the piece, which includes many evocative found objects related to women's issues, takes up the topic of abortion. Wake Up Little Susie was first created in 1992 and since then has gone on a coast-to-coast tour sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Women's Institute and other donors, appearing at colleges and universities in almost every state. But that tour is coming to an end, with the last presentation happening at Pirate. In the Associates' Space is Soliloquies, a show that would seem to be the polar opposite of a feminist installation because it's made up of paintings that look like cheesecake pinups. The paintings depict a young woman in the nude, and the young woman in question is the artist herself, Jenny Morgan, a promising up-and-comer. These pieces are expertly done, and because they are nude self-portraits, courageous. Through August 22 at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis, 3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058.

westword.com | originally published: August 12, 2004

Peter Illig July 2004

Things have been changing over at Pirate, but unlike the changes at + Gallery, the ones here are for the better. What has changed at Pirate is that the gallery has gotten interesting again -- and no one could be more surprised about that than me. One of the city's oldest artists' co-ops, Pirate had been becoming increasingly irrelevant in recent years. More often than not, the place was filled with half-hearted shows. But inexplicably, that's turned around this past season, and that old dog of a place has become a venue for some impressive new tricks.

The latest in a cavalcade of great shows is Life on Earth, a solo by Pirate member Peter Illig. The exhibit is dominated by a 64-foot-long charcoal-on-paper drawing that covers two walls in Pirate's grandly scaled front space and becomes, as a result, an ad hoc installation. Illig has a good handle on how to carry out monumental work, and he should really consider entering the public art fray, because many of the artists who get those gigs cannot handle projects that call for large pieces.

The style of the drawing is neo-pop, and Illig has clearly taken considerable inspiration from the early work of pop pioneer James Rosenquist; the style of Illig's representational images comes from advertising art and illustration, which is where Rosenquist's came from as well. Illig also cites Mark Tansey, the source du jour of many contemporary representational artists. Speaking of representational art, have you noticed that the style is approaching critical mass? It's strange that one of the big museums or art centers hasn't presented a group show with work taken from the many talented artists in the area who are currently exploring the figure, the still life and the landscape.

There's also a noir quality to Illig's style, and something of a vague retro feel. The mammoth drawing is episodic, with a chain of enigmatic images lined up or overlapping one another. It's ostensibly narrative, even if it's impossible to understand the story. There's a woman standing in the rain, a man sitting on the floor, a tipped champagne glass, a bunch of knocked-over bowling pins and many other familiar elements that are made strange because of the way Illig says he intuitively arranged them.

Illig has definitely hit a home run with Life on Earth, and I strongly recommend that if you haven't seen it yet -- and word is that few have -- you really should make the effort before it comes down this weekend.

westword.com | originally published: July 29, 2004

LIFE ON EARTH and children's games. Pirate has been on quite a run lately, and there have been more good shows presented there in just the last few months than were seen during entire years previously. Add LIFE ON EARTH to the list of these top-drawer attractions at Pirate. This impressive solo by co-op member Peter Illig is on display in the main space. The highlight is the unveiling of the artist's monumental "Deep Reality" drawing which, by the way, is 64 feet long! Illig is known for his noir-ish representational imagery, and "Deep Reality" doesn't disappoint in this regard; it features a large complement of enigmatic figures and objects arranged in free association. In the Associates' Space in the back is another great show, children's games, which is made up of Taos-based artist Warren Kelly's latest neo-transcendental abstract paintings. Clearly an outgrowth of his "Loop" series, exhibited last winter at Cordell Taylor, but these new paintings are obviously different, too. They are more baroquely composed and more wildly colored than are the earlier pieces. Both shows open with a reception set for 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, July 16. Through August 1 at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis, 3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058.

westword | originally published: July 15, 2004

Irene Delka McCray & Julie Puma July 2004

Artbeat Brief sketches of what's happening in the Denver art scene. BY MICHAEL PAGLIA
feedback@westword.com
ireneAB
"Ask Me No More" Irene Delka McCray

In the front room of Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis (3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058) is the notable solo Telling Fantasies, which features recent paintings and drawings by Denver artist Irene Delka McCray. McCray's style is realistic, and she's thoroughly accomplished technically. She revels in accurate renderings of fabric folds and folded skin, and in the effects of reflected light as it illuminates her figures.

McCray has had a long career, and a painting she did back in the 1980s is now on display at the Denver Art Museum. Recently, DAM curator Dianne Vanderlip related a story to me when we were discussing her most recent project, scene Colorado/sin Colorado. She said that when Alex Katz, a world-renowned contemporary realist, saw the show, he noted that Philip Pearlstein, his chief rival in the field, could learn a thing or two from McCray about conveying light. (I think Katz meant it as a compliment.)

But McCray's polished skills are not the first thing you'll notice about her paintings. No, it's her odd, if not downright disturbing, subject matter that will get your attention. Falling somewhere between odd and disturbing is "Ask Me No More" (above), an oil on canvas in which a heavily tattooed man is kneeling before himself. That's not as creepy as some others, like the one that depicts a wailing woman with a graveyard in the background. The woman is shown suspended over the partially draped corpse of her male lover. These paintings are not pretty, but they are pretty interesting and undeniably well done.

In the Associates' Space is Manor House Races, which is made up of new mixed-media work by Julie Puma. Stylistically, these pieces are neo-pop, and the colors Puma uses -- toned up Day-Glo shades -- also harks back to the '60s. She begins with photo enlargements and finishes them off with scribbles, writing and stenciled printing. Though the imagery she uses looks as if it came from the mass media, it is actually taken from family photos; the writing is taken from letters sent to her father after her mother died of breast cancer. Puma views these paintings as being akin to a diary, stating that she is interested in looking at how her past shaped her present.

These two thoughtful shows at Pirate close on July 11.
westword.com | originally published: July 1, 2004

Telling Fantasies and Manor House Races. Interest in figural painter Irene Delka McCray's work has been on the upswing lately, making her new Pirate solo, Telling Fantasies, a hot prospect. There's no denying McCray's technical skill, which is one reason why she has work in the Denver Art Museum collection. Her older pieces -- like the one at the DAM -- are lyrical, but in recent years she's moved more toward a goth aesthetic. These new works address sex and death, and the resulting paintings are not pretty -- but they are pretty interesting. Also at Pirate is Manor House Races, featuring work by Julie Puma, who creates mixed-media pieces that combine photo imagery, printmaking, words and lots of scribbles. Her style owes a debt to pop art, which is all the rage right now. In addition, there are other attractions at the Pirate co-op and at HazMat, which is the new name for ILK @ Pirate. All of the shows open on Friday, June 25, with a reception set for 7 to 10 p.m. Through July 11 at Pirate: a contemporary art oasis, 3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058.

westword.com | originally published: June 24, 2004

Marie E.v.B. Gibbons & Lisa DiMichele June 2004

wwlost
"youth" by Marie E.v.B. Gibbons
Artbeat Brief sketches of what's happening in the Denver art scene. BY MICHAEL PAGLIA

Last summer, the ILK co-op all but disappeared, and for a long time, its space, just inside the main entrance of Pirate gallery, was not only closed, but boarded up. Then a new crew of members, headed by artist and writer Troy Briere, took over and began to present shows again. Now Briere has changed the co-op's name to the evocative-sounding HazMat Gallery.

HazMat's inaugural exhibition, Stephen Plount: Sap Demons, is a solo made up of drawings hung in grids. These works, which sport crude and pseudo-naïve renderings of body parts and other natural things, clearly have enigmatic narrative subtexts. Plount based them on ideas contained in four books he's made over a period of many years. A recent graduate of Metropolitan State College of Denver, he is off to New York's Pratt Institute in the fall.

In the main space at Pirate is an ambitious single-artist show, Marie e.v.b. Gibbons: lost, which brings together a group of recent sculptures. A Pirate member for the past several years, Gibbons is a self-taught artist, which is surprising, given the technical expertise she brings to her work. She's led many workshops over the past decade and has scheduled a special educators' reception from 4 to 7 p.m. on June 8 at Pirate.

The Gibbons exhibit is uneven, and some of the work is cloying, but the wall sculptures really work. In one of them, "immunity," Gibbons arranged clay carvings that look like seedpods across the wall. The pod forms are exquisitely modeled and beautifully colored. The best piece is "youth" (detail above), an installation in which Gibbons covered an acid-green wall with gorgeous cream and brown raku masks molded after doll's heads. Both "immunity" and "youth" indicate an exciting new direction for Gibbons.

Also at Pirate is the handsome Lisa DiMichele: Variations of Two Plates, which is installed in the Associates Gallery. And in the Treasure Chest is janey hubschman: intimate objects in clay, a show that complements the Gibbons display very well.

The HazMat show and all three Pirate exhibits close on June 20.

westword.com | originally published: June 10, 2004

CRITIC'S CHOICE
Rocky Mountain News, June 18, 2004
Mary Voelz Chandler

Marie e.v.b. Gibbons has built a reputation on figural work that explores emotions and concepts thought the medium of clay. In "Lost", through Sunday at Pirate a Contemporary Art Oasis, Gibbons expands upon the theme. In Immunity, for instance, she creates a scattering of lushly glazed organic forms to fill one wall while Youth offers a broad selection of blossoms in which the center is a child's face. Also at Pirate: Lisa DiMichele's works on paper demonstrate the permutations possible by switching out plates; Janey Hubschman offers a selection of raku "pods" in the Treasure Chest. Pirate is at 3659 Navajo St. Information: 303-458-6058

Craig Robb April 2004

Mary Voelz Chandler
Rocky Mt. News April 30, 2004

Across the street at Pirate a Contemporary Art Oasis, Craig Robb has used the title "Orbitas" to signal the addition of a new geometric form to his sculpture.

In works that juxtapose angles created by metal and wood, Robb has introduced the curve, both in the form of arcs and as small white plaster globes that set up welcome tension. And in a piece such as Zeus the Explorer, the inclusion of an almost-hidden elliptical well of wax contributes the element of discovery.

Andy Miller April 2004

"Convenient" art spaces hit jackpot
Kyle MacMillan, Denver Post Critic-at-Large
04/16/04

Two of Denver's top artist cooperatives sit across from each other
at the intersection of West 37th Avenue and Navajo Street, making
it convenient for art fans who venture to this eclectic little
cultural conclave in Highland.

As with any art space, the quality of exhibitions at the two spaces
rises and falls. This month happens to be an especially good one,
with the cooperatives offering at least four exhibitions worth
noting, none more compelling than a Pirate installation of four
12-foot-tall figurative sculptures by Andy Miller.

Artists from Bruce Nauman to Terry Allen have incorporated neon
into their works, but few have used the colorful gas-filled tubes
in more provocative ways than Miller, who once again shows himself
to be one of Denver's most original sculptors.

Because of its decades-old association with signs adorning cafes,
motels and movie theaters, neon possesses a kind of pop, vernacular
quality that seems completely contradictory to its use in this show
to accent gray, aluminum figures shown committing acts of suicide.

In "Jumping," for example, blue bars of neon delineate hanging
vertical, semi-abstract lines suggesting the water into which the
figures is falling. And in "Shooting," a red neon semicircle
outlines the flash of smoke exploding from a gun muzzle at the head
of another figure.

Point of emphasis

Somehow, this collision of materials, rather than cheapening the
gravity of the subject matter, seems to accentuate its grimness.

At the same time, Miller has given these blocky, constructed
figures a kind of simplified graphic quality reminiscent of the
little white man seen on signals at pedestrian crossways. They also
recall AOL's running-man logo in the company's annoying television
commercials.

Like the neon, this approach would seem to work against emotional
poignancy of these works. Instead, it gives them a potent
universality that drives home the unfortunate ubiquitousness of
suicide, which can touch anyone no matter his or her station in
life.

On view in Pirate's ILK Art Space are a surprisingly strong group
of nine collaged paintings by Eric Adrian Lee, a little-known but
obviously promising painter. The new Denver resident is sure to be
scooped up in the near future by one of the area's commercial
galleries.

The idea of creating paintings that suggest old, peeling wall
surfaces is hardly new, but this 2002 graduate of Greenville (Ill.)
College goes about it with enormous skill. He combines house paint,
wallpaper, joint compound and primer, fastidiously building up and
scraping away to create tantalizing surfaces.

excerpts from Westword - April 2004

Off Beat Pop and conceptualism mix it up at Pirate and Capsule, while the MCA chooses wisely. BY MICHAEL PAGLIA
feedback@westword.com
miller
"Falling" (from left),
"Hanging" and "Shooting," by Andy Miller, patinated aluminum and neon.
Details: Andy Miller: A Deconstruction of Life
Through April 18, Pirate: A Contemporary Art Oasis, 3659 Navajo Street, 303-458-6058

Not since the 1960s has there been so much aesthetic interest in popular culture. It all began a decade ago, when many contemporary artists grew tired of formalism and expressionism and began picking up on the pop-related styles of a previous generation. Some of these new-pop artists revived the original style, while others, informed by post-modern theories, championed conceptual art with lots of pop references.

Although Andy Miller is made up of only four sculptures, they're so large, they fill the gallery to capacity. And not only that -- they also firmly establish Miller as one of the most significant young sculptors around.

The four sculptures share the same unappealing theme: suicide. When I first heard about the show, I felt like telling Miller to cheer up. But apparently he's not exploring his own dark feelings; he's attempting to address social issues in a political way. "The sculptures are not about suicide, specifically," he explains. "I'm not suicidal, and no one close to me has ever committed suicide. They're about how our culture treats violence, how it's always the headline of a news story -- the whole thing seems like a big machine to me."

Miller was born here in 1971, and he received a bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado at Denver in 1998. At the time, he was one of a group of promising young sculptors at UCD that also included Russell Beardsley and Emmett Culligan. Miller's mentor was Andrew Connelly, a conceptual installation artist who taught at the school. But he also rounds up the likely suspects of '90s art stars -- notably, Damien Hirst and Matthew Barney -- as influences.

After graduating, Miller traveled around the world, leading him to the ideas on which the sculptures at Pirate are based. Each of the suicide sculptures takes the form of an international male symbol. The symbol -- familiar to all as the character on men's room doors -- is little more than a fleshed-out stick figure with two lozenges for legs, two similarly conceived arms, a box for a torso and a circle for a head. Miller was intrigued by the communication conveyed by these representational symbols, which are free of any association to language.

For his sculptures, Miller took the symbol, which is usually very small, and blew it up until it was twelve feet tall. He then cut two mirror images out of aluminum and set them back-to-back, about a foot apart, and filled the space in between with aluminum sheeting to create a freestanding, three-dimensional form.

"They're made just like outdoor signs," Miller points out.

This concept is one of the things that provides a key link between his work and popular culture, as is something else Miller uses: neon. "It was interesting to me to combine this kind of imagery with the materials of a sign, aluminum and neon."

Let's not forget that the male symbol itself is a sign, so these sculptures are signs about signs that are made like signs. Wow! Talk about post-modern hermeneutics.

Some may recall that Miller previously exhibited sculptural renditions of standardized, conventionalized figures for an installation that was on display outside Denver's Museum of Contemporary Art. For this two-piece group, called "Bathroom People," Miller created a male and a corresponding female figure out of sheets of metal that he partially covered with pigskin. The four suicide sculptures at Pirate are clearly a direct outgrowth of the thoughts Miller first expressed in "Bathroom People," which, by a happy coincidence, is currently on display at Englewood's Museum of Outdoor Arts.

As the Pirate show unfolds, the first of the monumental Miller sculptures that viewers will encounter is "Shooting," in which the male symbol is aiming a gun at his head and red neon stands in for the resulting blood spatter. Ahead is "Poison," where the male symbol is drinking a glass of poison that is indicated by a teardrop of white neon. Hanging from the ceiling to the right is the male symbol leaping to his death with blue neon bars suggesting movement in "Falling." Lastly, hung from the ceiling near the back wall is "Hanging," in which the male figure dangles from a yellow neon noose.

The four sculptures are the first of a series that Miller is planning, which will address crime and violence. That means the suicide content of these particular pieces is somewhat misleading in relation to his ultimate goal, but he did them first because they are the simplest, with only a single figure in each. Future pieces will have multiple figures that convey situations in which there will be both a victim and a victimizer. The most ambitious of these will capture a riot, include many figures and measure some forty feet long.

I'm not sure why Miller chose to do sculptures about crime and violence generally, or about suicide particularly -- it's surely an anti-commercial move -- but the pieces he's done thus far are fabulous. If you haven't seen Andy Miller: A Deconstruction of Life at Pirate yet, my advice is to get over there before it closes on Sunday.