Art

Task One creates designer toys based on television favorites for "As Seen On TV"

By Kelsey Whipple Fri., Jun. 8 2012 at 10:03 AM
Categories: Art, Events, Popular Culture, Street Art

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The most recent art toy collection from Task One, AKA Daniel Rowley, is the result of a lot of late nights. While he works, the graffiti and custom toy artist watches copious amounts of his favorite TV shows, so it was only a matter of time before inspiration caught up with the art. With "As Seen On TV," which opens tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Plastic Chapel, Rowley turned DIY wooden character kits into the stars of Deadwood, Breaking Bad, The Wire and other smallscreen classics -- at a rate of about thirty hours for each piece.

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As Seen On TV, Daniel Rowley, Plastic Chapel, street art, Task One, toys
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Street Art

Street artist Peter Miles Bergman highlights unsanctioned use of Lakewood Gulch

By Melanie Asmar Tue., Jun. 5 2012 at 4:22 PM
Categories: Street Art

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wedupt.tumblr.com
Lakewood Gulch, a trickling tributary in west Denver that feeds into the South Platte River, was once a pretty good place to disappear. The area was overgrown and full of as much concrete as it was weeds; many people used it for what street artist Peter Miles Bergman calls "unsanctioned use:: day drinking, urban camping, walking dogs off-leash.

Thanks in part to a new light-rail line that will run alongside the gulch, the area has gotten a makeover. But Bergman has observed that new biking paths and beautiful vegetation haven't completely eradicated illegal-ish activity in the area.


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Lakewood Gulch, Peter Bergman, WEDUPT
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Art

Ladies Fancywork Society members open Lowbrow on Broadway

By Josiah M. Hesse Thu., May 31 2012 at 8:17 AM
Categories: Art, Arts and Culture, DIY, Events, First Friday, Street Art, Style

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Jesse Dawson
Ladies of Lowbrow: Tymla Welch and Lauren Seip.
Even if you haven't read about the Ladies Fancywork Society, you've likely seen their fancywork -- known as "yarn bombs" -- around town. LFS often works in the dead of night, wrapping random, urban objects in a comforting knit sweater, giving the pedestrian telephone pole or bike rack an intimate, anthropomorphic feel. "Street art is often very masculine in nature, more aggressive," says Lauren Seip, an LFS artist. "And there's nothing wrong with that, but there's a place for the other side, and crochet street art brings something domestic and feminine to the street."

Over the last year, LFS stepped up its game, tagging large objects like the Colorado Convention Center's Big Blue Bear with a witty ball and chain. And now the group is taking its grandma-tag aesthetic into the mainstream with Lowbrow, an art-gallery/art-supply-store/workshop space.

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DIY street art, gallery opening, Ladies Fancywork Society, Lowbrow
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Art

A cyclops Zamboni teaches a lesson about the ephemeral nature of chalk art

By Tiffany Fitzgerald Wed., May 23 2012 at 10:58 AM
Categories: Art, Street Art

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Courtesy of Kyle Banister
One-eyed Zamboni cleans up 17th Avenue.
At a preview yesterday for the upcoming Denver Chalk Art Festival, artist Kyle Banister got a reminder of what it means to be a chalk artist. At ten years, the festival may be long-lived -- but the art it celebrates is ephemeral. Banister's piece, which he worked on with Southwest Airlines employees and students from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design, took four hours to complete.

Ten minutes after it was done, it was gone. Erased by the city's "cyclops Zamboni."

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Denver Chalk Art Festival, Kyle Banister, Larimer Square, Oxford Hotel, Zamboni
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Arts and Culture

The City Mouse launches new online magazine with readings at Deer Pile

By Josiah M. Hesse Thu., May 17 2012 at 7:59 AM
Categories: Art, Arts and Culture, Colorado Film, DIY, Interviews, Photography, Poetry, Popular Culture, Street Art, Zines

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While it often gets overshadowed by the music scene, Denver actually has a rich history of underground literature. From the Kerouac-inspired bohemian coffee and bookshops of 1960s Colfax to the Yellow Rake readings at Old Curtis Street Tavern, our city has been spawning independent works of fiction and poetry for decades. And there are few locals today more closely associated with DIY publishing than Charly "The City Mouse" Fasano. Whether hustling his books of poetry or impressively crafted audio-books, or giving one of his now iconic readings (he once opened a sold-out show at the Gothic -- an audience size almost unheard of for a live poet), Fasano has rooted himself in this city, becoming as much a part of the creative fabric as home-brew or cutesy indie-folk bands.

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Brian Polk, Charly "The City Mouse" Fasano, Dan Landes, The Deer Pile, The Yellow Rake, Zines
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Art

Be the critic: What do you think of this new public art on Tennyson?

By Nick Lucchesi Mon., May 7 2012 at 2:26 PM
Categories: Art, Events, Photos, Street Art

tennyson-public-art.jpg
Laura Easley
Beauty or bust?
On Friday a new piece of public art, Kevin Curry's "Face the Sun," was installed at Tennyson Street and 41st Avenue. The piece was part of the 2007 Better Bond Project that paid for the finally-finished street improvements along Tennyson.

The piece is embossed with the words "Face the sun and the shadows fall behind you." Is the piece a welcome addition to Tennyson? Play the art critic and post your thoughts in the comment section below Laura Easley's shots of the unveiling on Friday night:

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Better Denver Bond Program, First Friday, Santa Fe, Tennyson Street Streetscape project
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Lowrider bicycles, Star Wars and street tubas: First Friday on Santa Fe, 5/4/12

By Nick Lucchesi Mon., May 7 2012 at 12:14 PM
Categories: Art, Events, Photos, Street Art

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If you haven't been down to Santa Fe in a while for First Friday, you can see what you've been missing through these photos shot by Laura Easley for Westword. This month's art walk included more than a few nods to Star Wars ("May the 4th be with you" and all that) and the Kentucky Derby, as well as a gentleman on a lowrider bicycle -- who we also spotted on Saturday at the Cinco de Mayo party -- and what appeared to be Uncle Sam playing a tuba.

With sights like this, why weren't you on Santa Fe last Friday?

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Cinco de Mayo, First Friday, Lowrider Bicycles, May the Fourth Be With You, Santa Fe
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Talking Shop

Seen at 5 Green Boxes: How much is that owl in the window?

By Susan Froyd Mon., Apr. 30 2012 at 6:54 AM
Categories: Street Art, Talking Shop

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The South Pearl Street boutique 5 Green Boxes, the recipient of Westword Best of Denver kudos for its wonderful window displays, has long carried the socially conscious brand Toms Shoes, the comfy cloth footwear that comes in a rainbow of colors and designs. And there's an inner beauty to Toms, too: Every pair of shoes you buy subsidizes a donated pair for a child in need in a developing country.

All photos courtesy of 5 Green Boxes.


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Five Green Boxes, Owls, South Pearl Street, Toms Shoes
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Street Art

Attention Big Blue Bear art bomber: The city wants to give your blue poop back

By Jonathan Shikes Thu., Apr. 26 2012 at 2:51 PM
Categories: Art, Follow That Story, Street Art

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Earlier this week, a creative art bomber added a bit of bathroom humor to the iconic Big Blue Bear sculpture that stands outside the Colorado Convention Center. And like most unsanctioned art -- remember the ball and chain? -- it was quickly removed.

But not forgotten. "We still have it, and it's taking up a lot of space; it's about two-and-a- half-feet tall," Brian Kitts, spokesman for the city's Arts & Venues department, says of the the blue papier mache poop. "He is not your average bear and this was not your average pile of poo. Someone knew what they were doing."

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Arts & Venues, Big Blue Bear, Big Blue Poop, Brian Kitts, Colorado Convention Center, Ladies Fancywork Society
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Street Art

Lost and found: Denver skyline spray-paint/airbrush art by Mizu

By Amber Taufen Tue., Feb. 21 2012 at 9:03 AM
Categories: Street Art

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Artists, it's always a good idea to sign your work -- and in this day and age, when you can include a website on the piece, all the better. Case in point: a square-foot piece of art we found on a busy Denver street this past weekend. It was only because the artist had thoughtfully included a link to his Etsy site, which in turn provided his phone number, that we were able to track him down and attempt to solve the mystery of what this bad-ass piece of art was doing leaning against an electrical box outside of a popular restaurant.

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lost and found, Mizu the Micro-Graffiti Artist
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