In Denver and Aspen, 3 inspiring exhibitions shake up this spring’s art and design scene.
Photo: Alexandra Kehayoglou Studio
“River’s Voice: Textiles by Alexandra Kehayoglou”
Through December 8, art will flow from the walls onto the floor at Denver Botanic Gardens’ exhibition of environmentally inspired textiles by Argentinian artist, Alexandra Kehayoglou. Her lush carpets pay tribute to the Paraná de las Palmas River and wetlands, which are imperiled by encroaching development and agricultural expansion. The artist uses a hand-tufting carpet gun and repurposed materials from her family’s Buenos Aires carpet production facility to create intricate and colorful landscapes. If they remove their shoes, visitors are even welcome to tiptoe through the textiles as they ponder the impact we all have on the earth’s fragile ecosystems and experience the rich material of Kehayoglou’s art.
Photo: Allison Katz, Akgraph (Eruption), 2023, Oil on Linen, 190 x 130 x 3.6 cm/74 3/4 x 51 1/8 x 1 3/8 inches, Courtesy the Artist and Hauser & Wirth, © Allison Katz, Photo by Keith Lubow
“In the House of the Trembling Eye”
Marking the Aspen Art Museum’s 45th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of its exquisite Shigeru Ban-designed building, a new exhibition from Montreal-born, London-based Allison Katz is a time-traveling marvel. From May 29 through September 29, the show will feature never-seen-in-the-U.S. Pompeian fresco fragments along with over 40 artworks from 20th- and 21st-century artists including Alice Neel, Yayoi Kusama, Mike Kelley and Lucio Fontana, plus original works by Allison Katz. As a recent Fellow at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Katz gained insight into ancient art and architecture that will resonate throughout the Aspen show, exploring painting in public and private spaces.
“Vanity & Vice: American Art Deco”
Over 200 objects will be on display in an unconventional exhibition at the Kirkland Museum of Fine & Decorative Art opening on May 25. Following a story-based journey through the life of a fictional Prohibition-era woman called Mabel, visitors are invited to walk through her private boudoir and take a seat at a stylish speakeasy, with an exquisite array of Art Deco delights on display, including puff boxes, perfume atomizers, vanity sets, lamps, chandeliers, cocktail shakers, decanters, champagne glasses, ashtrays and smoking stands. The immersive experience brings back the period from 1920-1933 a century forward in time, giving visitors glimpses into the life of a modern woman of the day—and a full dive into the design sensibilities of the era.
