Telluride Arts: Highlites, June Art Walk

03 Jun Telluride Arts: Highlites, June Art Walk

The First Thursday Art Walk is a festive celebration of the arts in downtown Telluride for art lovers, community and friends. Eighteen venues host receptions from 5pm-8pm to introduce new exhibitions and artists. A free Art Walk Map offers a self-guided tour that can be used at any time to find galleries that are open most days. Listen to Open Art Radio on KOTO from 12-1pm on first Thursdays to hear interviews with the artists. Maps are available at participating venues and at the Telluride Arts offices located in the Stronghouse Studios + Gallery at 283 South Fir Street.

The June Art Walk show at Telluride Arts’ Stronghouse Gallery, “Western Futurism,” features mixed-media assemblage works by Salida artist Jimmy Descant.

Descant, a self-described “Severe ReConstructivist,” specializes in vintage rocket ships built from parts from the golden age of American manufacturing. Also known as Rocketman, the artist interlaces futuristic and western detritus into his unique found-object sculptures.

Descant’s inspiration comes from a discovery he made years ago while deconstructing household appliances and other “tools of human existence.” Reducing them to parts revealed their vintage industrial components – and his own affinity for the craftsmanship of the era.

The first rocket ships were produced from dismembered vacuums Descant found in thrift stores and flea markets his native New Orleans. Now, after 18 years, his work has grown in complexity and purpose: bowling ball planets lit by Jell-O mold fixtures, and guarded by gilded trophy sentinels. The work at once reveres the past as it offers wishes for the future.

The artist has a knack for introducing previously unacquainted parts, and, with a mastery of craftsmanship and color, manages to compose harmonious – and enchanting – visual vignettes, “made for the peaceful exploration of time, space, ideas, and cultures.”

After losing his home and shop to Hurricane Katrina, the artist and his wife moved to Salida, Colorado, where he finds inspiration in the mountains, people and culture of the American West. His current interest is exploring the faces and trials of the Native American and the newcomer cowboy.

Descant is a central artist in the Salida Creative District, one of seven towns, along with the Telluride Arts District, certified by the state of Colorado. The Telluride show of Decant’s work is part of an artist exchange happening among districts across the state.

Creative Districts Certification is a program of the Colorado Creative Industries, a branch of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.

Join Telluride Arts for an opening reception with the artist during Telluride Art Walk on Thursday, June 5, 5-8pm. The exhibit runs through the month. Regular Gallery hours are 12-6p.m. or by appointment.

Other highly recommended shows include:

At the Ah Haa School for the Arts,  300 South Townsend, The Daniel Tucker Gallery features an exhibition of the school’s summer faculty, with over 20 participating artists and instructors. View recent work by both visiting and regional instructors and find our more about our diverse summer course offerings.

The East Gallery hosts new work in collage and photography by part-time resident Sarah Fitzsimons.

Arroyo, 220 East Colorado Avenue

Barbara Gilhooly is a professional artist, who maintains an active exhibition schedule. Recently, her work was shown in Paris, New York and in the Twin Cities. Gilhooly  is known for her sculptural wire “sketches” and paintings on wood panels.

“My compositions evolve from the act of doing, not planning. It’s not to say I have no thought about what I am creating. It is a more trusting place of being ready to plunge into the work without fear. It isn’t always pleasant, and many days of work get painted over. But, I find comfort in knowing the work underneath is still necessary and vital to the finished piece.  The hidden layers are revealed through sanding or scrubbing. It’s related to so much of our  lives, what we don’t see or notice still matters.  We all have layers that aren’t visible and I find discovering the depth of these layers the most interesting in people and paintings.”

“With a fine line, Barbara Gilhooly’s steel sculptures and metal sketches paint striking still lifes that embody winged motion and wild emotion.”
Daily Poetics June, 2008

Gilhooly is a native of Jamestown, North Dakota. She earned her BFA from the University of North Dakota in 1986 and her MFA with concentrations in sculpture and printmaking, from Colorado State University in 1989. A longtime resident of Saint Paul, Minnesota, Barbara now lives and works as an artist in Fort Collins, Colorado.

Beautification Gallery, 317 East Colorado Avenue

Artist and Conservator Deborah Uhl will be opening the doors of her new gallery on the night of Telluride’s First Thursday Art Walk.

Uhl known for her oil over airbrush paintings of the ancient bristlecone pine trees, the oldest living things on earth. Her work is in public and private collections throughout the U.S,. Canada, and the Philippines.

Black Bear Trading Company, 226 West Colorado Avenue

 Black Bear Trading Company has moved to a new and larger location at 226 West Colorado Avenue (formerly Bounty Hunter space). Featuring-black-and-white photographs by master photographer Robert J. Franzese, metal sculpture by Colorado sculptor Wayne Brown, paintings by Colorado oil painters Sonia Reid and Valerie Levy Franzese.

Dolce, 226 West Colorado Avenue

Dolce takes pride in offering clients the finest in custom and designer jewelry, also unique sculptures in all sizes and mediums. Each piece is designed and crafted by hand and has a story to tell. Dolce’s attention to detail and labor-intensive process results in exquisite handmade jewelry and sculpture that is both distinctive and exclusive. Rare and exquisite gemstones serve as the inspiration behind every piece. Dolce represents artists who are unique and innovative in their chosen medium. We look forward to serving your jewelry & sculpture acquisitions with our knowledgeable staff, GIA certified gemologists and goldsmiths.

Gallery 81435: Contemporary Telluride, 230 South Fir, 230 South Fir Street

Gary Lang is a radical painter in the modernist tradition whose free hand process has earned the artist international acclaim. Brilliant lines and circles of color draw the viewer deeper into the canvas. Free-form plaids and repetitive geometric shapes shimmer and dazzle the eyes. Describing a Gary Lang canvas is somewhat of an exercise in futility: we have to accept each canvas on its own terms. Lang creates works that are at once calming and nerve-shattering.

Lustre, an Artisan Gallery, 171 South Pine.

Handcrafted art for the home, self -inspired by a love of nature. Fine art, jewelry, glass, wood, bronze and more. For artwalk, Lustre Gallery is featuring the work of Bonnie Teitelbaum, a Santa Fe artist. Bonnie is a new artist to Telluride and we are pleased to present her acrylic panels that reflect her love of nature and peace of mind. We also look forward to Bonnie’s visit to Telluride later in July.

Melange Telluride, 109 West Colorado Avenue 

In Cameo Hoyle’s newest series of work, “Seduction,” her provocative, colorful, mixed-media style playfully represents the female form as seductive, intriguing, and an objectified subject.
Her unique technique of painting with acrylic on large format photographs embodies portraying the woman as a complicated subject with the use of color and idealism. Hoyle’s work consistently challenges her own ideas about the female form, what emotions it can evoke, and personifies pushing subject boundaries.

Telluride Gallery of Fine Art, 130 East Colorado

Scott Rhea. Lessons

Telluride Gallery will be featuring a solo exhibit of Scott Rhea‘s underwater photography. To accompany to the dreamlike photographs, a video installation created by Rhea will be playing continuously throughout the month-long exhibition. Wine Mine will be doing their traditional wine tasting from 5:30-7:30 p.m.. (See related post and listen to an interview with the artist.)