Colorado Convention Center

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Tours

1. Art Tour

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   1. I See What You Mean

      I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN

      Lawrence Argent

      Before it was installed, I’d tell people that I was working on a 40-foot blue bear for the Colorado Convention Center, and they’d look at me and say “What – are you working for Disney now?”  - Lawrence Argent

      Knowing that the architecture of the Colorado Convention Center had such a dominant presence in the city of Denver, artist Lawrence Argent wanted to create a work of art that didn’t conflict with the essence of the design or stature of the building, but would rather embrace its uniqueness of form and space.  In addition, Mr. Argent also considered how a “Convention Center” might be represented in the mile high.  A convention center in Denver represented a meeting place to exchange ideas and transfer information while showcasing the natural surroundings of Colorado. With that being said Argent felt that the iconic imagery of Colorado such as the Rocky Mountains could get easily overused so he took another approach.

      Argent felt it important to focus on what it is like to be a resident in Denver when a convention is taking place. “I’m always interested in what might be going on in there, the exchange of information, ideas, and ideologies but there’s never really any indication from the outside what’s going on inside.” In the process of brainstorming, the city was going through a period of drought and bears would venture into the city. After seeing a photo of a black bear looking into someone’s window from a local newspaper, Argent saw the ultimate resemblance of “curiosity” and the idea of a curious bear never left his mind. Now that the idea of a bear came into play, Mr. Argent wanted his bear to have a unique texture similar to the toys his sons played with which inspired the idea of a toy bear look. In presenting the concept to the selection committee, the blue 3D modeling clay he used intrigued everyone so much that it ultimately became the bear’s trademark. With combining Argent’s passion for regional western art with a non-resident’s perspective of curiosity, the story of how the Colorado Convention Center’s Blue Bear known as I See What You Mean has not only become one of the iconic symbols of the Colorado Convention Center, but also an iconic symbol of the city itself.

      • Artwork Type: Outdoor sculpture
      • Material: Fiberglass, steel (alloy)

   2. Stone Garden

      STONE GARDEN

      Jonathan Bonner

      Using twelve pieces of seating stones, artist Jonathan Bonner created an inviting “Zen” space outside the center. The concept of this piece can be described as a “convention of stones,” which may be enjoyed when looking out from the lobby as well as walking down the sidewalk. These granite seating stones are scattered over the five lawn areas next to the main entrance, so that attendees may sit and talk with each other between events or during lunch. This inviting and calm environment allows attendees to step away from their event for a moment and enjoy the fresh air outside. As a result, Mr. Bonner has given the public a collection of compelling forms to experience while visiting the Colorado Convention Center.

      • Artwork Type: Outdoor sculpture
      • Material: Granite

   3. Dynamic Wall Sculpture

      DYNAMIC WALL SCULPTURE

      Derrick Velasquez

      Utilizing materials industrially engineered for both book-binding and upholstery, Derrick Velasquez experiments with color, form and gravity in his dynamic wall sculpture. Inventive in approach and vision, Velasquez’s layered stacks of vinyl strips placed over wood armatures make clever reference to books - from reading the edge of its layers as "pages," to the top finishing layer of the wall sculpture as a book’s "spine." This series evolved from the artist’s previous practice as a bookbinder where a revelation occurred when he noticed that a stack of closure straps stacked randomly on a screw in the wall had accumulated to visually intriguing results. By focusing on the cut edge of the material instead of the finished exterior of the vinyl, Velasquez denied the obvious surface and instead exposed something more: the woven interior fibers. These matte-surfaced strips, when stacked in countless layers of repeating hues, lead the eye to a careful construction of sophisticated and subtle color harmonies. As the number of vinyl strips increases over the shape of the chosen wooden form, the gravity of the material’s accumulating layers no longer conform exactly to the wooden armature, but rather round out to a gentle slope. This natural occurrence, artfully illuminated and further shaped by the artist’s creativity, is an important aspect of Derrick Velasquez’s dynamic visual vocabulary which also employs both installation and performance.

      • Material: Vinyl, cherry wood

   4. Duologue series of small paintings

      DUOLOGUE SERIES OF SMALL PAINTINGS

      Roxanne Rossi

      (Image courtesy of NINE dot ARTS)

      We are familiar with the most common form of expression: language. With the “Duologue” series of small paintings Roxanne became more interested in the way certain body movements and gestures serve as a form of non-verbal communication. Roxanne started by asking visitors to her studio if she could take a picture of them to be used for a small painting. With the answer “Yes” becomes the start of a silent duologue between the pairs. Whether conscious or unconscious their movements, postures, gestures, looks, silent signals, and decisions on how to pose seemed to express attitudes and personalities in their familiarity and relationship.. This is a section of what became over 100 acrylic paintings and video of the non-verbal language of pairs.

      • Artwork Type: Painting
      • Material: Acrylic on canvas

   5. Laughing Escalator

      LAUGHING ESCALATOR

      Jim Green

      A variety of clear, wholesome voices are used in artist Jim Green’s installation. Visitors descending on the escalator from the exhibit hall level will encounter an unexpected serenade of laughter that is mysteriously rising from beneath their feet. Recorded laughs come up through the small cracks between steps with a different voice every eight feet of the ride. Inside, a 4-channel sound system broadcasts a “call and response” volley of laughter between the speakers. Mr. Green uses sound to engage the public with humor and surprise; using sound to encourage greater interaction with his work and a stronger connection to everyday life.

      • Artwork Type: Sound sculpture
      • Material: Sound tracks

   6. Ocular Series

      OCULAR SERIES

      Mike McClung

      I am fascinated by the complexities of the dizzying array of patterns and designs found in nature (leaves, rocks, clouds, etc.) as well as the interconnectedness among people and cultures; each and every one is unique and yet the commonalities are obvious. In the burn series, I study these relationships while exploring geometry, language, architecture, various organics and the randomness of nature through a process of burning images onto wood and through paper.

      As I progress with the series, now having worked on it for twelve years, I have begun experimenting with varying the dimensions, introducing color, and working with gold, silver and copper – all of which provide endless possibilities for exploring new creative directions. Born out of this process, I am beginning to explore tangential series which include multiple layers; burn-outs in columnar sculptures, prints, organic open-flamed burnouts and pyrographs on wood.

      • Material: Work on paper

   7. Wall of Words

      WALL OF WORDS

      ROLAND BERNIER

      For decades, Roland Bernier has been creating art with words. Each word in the "Wall of Words" has meaning, but is out of context with the words on either side. Through activity and movement in the area, viewers are placed within the context of their transient environment, absorbing them into the artwork. They are slowed for a moment, challenged by the words, searching for a connection, a meaning that only each can translate by interacting with the piece. "The idea of taking a word out of context has opened a new visual world for me. I continue to experiment with words, looking for and creating new relationships between the form of the word and a variety of images. My work has both verbal and visual references, alluding to a nonexistent meaning. I purposely use clichés and combine them with imagery from everyday objects. In this installation the viewer becomes the image."

      We are pleased that this installation provides the "Blue Bear" another point of interest to keep the curiosity piqued.

      • Material: Plexi-mirror

   8. Forever Colliding

      FOREVER COLLIDING

      Laura Krudener

      Laura Krudener’s paintings question the impermanence of form while depicting a state of flux. Through various poured techniques and layered drawings, each layer of Krudener’s paintings is informed from the movement of the previous layer. Finding a suspended stillness in the motion of the paint, Krudener’s paintings become a meditation on movement, and the constant search for stillness. Krudener’s paintings are experimental, energetic, and bold. Each painting is its own laboratory into the macrocosm of the universe. “Forever Colliding” on view in the collection at the Colorado Convention Center is Krudener’s largest painting to date. Laura Krudener received her MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2009. Her most recent solo exhibitions “Suspended Chaos” (2013) and “Standing on a Mystery” (2014) as well as the three person exhibition “New Very New” (2015) have been hosted by Plus Gallery in Denver. Krudener and her paintings have been profiled in “Modern in Denver” and “Luxe Colorado.” Her work has been acquired by numerous private and corporate collections in Colorado, New York as well as other locations in the US. Laura paints in her studio in Denver’s RiNo Art District within the Taxi complex.

      Artwork Type: Painting
      Material: acrylic, enamel, charcoal, ink, and marker on raw canvas

      • Artwork Type: Painting
      • Material: acrylic, enamel, charcoal, ink, and marker on raw canvas

   9. Seattle Cows

      SEATTLE COWS

      Don Coen

      Don Coen’s life journey to become an influential contemporary artist began at a very early age while growing up on his family farm in Lamar, Colorado. Raised without a television, the young Coen began at the early age of five designing and building his own toys and drawing by kerosene lamps at night around the kitchen table. From those quiet nights until the present, Don’s work has been inspired by his experience working the land with his family and several Latino families that lived and worked alongside Coen throughout his childhood and early adult years. Don’s arduous life on the farm unveiled a deep love and connection to the surreal beauty of the eastern Colorado plains and to the people that worked the land. His ability to see this landscape in its entirety began and continues to result in powerful artworks that capture the landscape, people, and fauna that represent the American plains. Throughout his career, Coen’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and recognized by many publications, awards and museums. A powerful statement of universal realization and intense reverence for life is created by Coen’s telling of the forgotten beauty and reality of farm life. Coen’s large-scale paintings are surreal with a remarkably soft focus when viewed at close proximity but become riveting with life when viewed from a distance. Coen’s works continues to evolve and elevate our collective consciousness about our modern agricultural traditions. His work is widely collected throughout the world and part of permanent collections of many prominent museums.

      • Artwork Type: Painting
      • Material: Acrylic airbrush and pencil on canvas

   10. Atmosphere No. 27, 37, and 44

       ATMOSPHERE NO. 27, 37 AND 44

       IAN FISHER

       The cumulous clouds in Ian Fisher’s paintings are voluminous and majestic. Intended not only as sublime representations of what clouds actually are – formations of amassed water droplets – but also, the abstract nature of the paintings themselves are an expression of the imagination and creativity their timeless subject evokes. Reflecting tumultuous weather or as the source of life-giving water, the ever-changing cloudscapes inherently hold universal meaning. Yet as a painter, it is in the possibilities for interpretation where Fisher’s interest lies; what is found in the layered mark making and the accumulated brushstrokes of the elemental and the subtle and the sometimes unpredictable color results from the act of painting itself. The cloudscape-as-creative-vehicle parallels Fisher’s previous series of figurative erasure drawings. The spare, compositions on paper explored the subject of family photographs as an exploration of memory, light and form. In keeping with the artist’s relatable themes, the cloud formations, through the artist’s hand, recall each at once the universal and the personal; the present and the past. Fisher’s cloud paintings offer the viewer their own direct sense of nature’s remarkability while demanding of the artist a pursuit of territory both subjective and nature-bound.

       • Material: Oil on canvas

   11. Ancient Colorado Paintings

       ANCIENT COLORADO PAINTINGS

       Kirk Johnson & Jan Vriesen

       Artist Kirk Johnson and Jan Vriesen created a series of ten large paintings that depict the extinct Colorado landscape evolution of our state through the last 500 million years. This installation inspires and encourages visitors to leave the building and explore the region. The scientist and artist worked closely together to create the most accurate time period and representation of each location. The Ancient Colorado paintings are displayed from oldest to most recent accompanied by interpretive panels and a printed prehistoric guide allowing viewers to connect the images with current landscapes and parks. Many of the parks are only short drives from downtown Denver. Over this time frame, Colorado has seen an incredible array of environmental changes from deep seas and alpine glaciers, to tropical rainforests and sandy deserts. This artistic collaboration brings these ancient landscapes to life.

       • Artwork Type: Paintings
       • Material: Acrylic paint, canvas

   12. Glimmer, Waggenwaybreen, and Losvik Cut

       GLIMMER, WAGGENWAYBREEN, AND LOSVIK CUT

       Beau Carey

       This series of paintings by Beau Carey are based on the artist’s 2013 winter artist-in-residence at Denali National Park. The paintings represent the artist’s continued explorations and focus on vast open spaces with passages of jagged, exacting mountains. Carey utilizes the formal element of the compositions such as the horizon line, not only as a construct that establishes background, middle ground and foreground, but acts equally as a boundary between surfaces, exposing imagined/hidden geologic processes. These same structures provided clues to 14th-17th century explorers engaged in coastal profiling that eventually defined how modern landscape was spatially structured. This structure while fully absorbed into the cliché of modern landscape painting is not innocuous. It is rooted in a history of globalism and environmental dominance. Carey enjoys the challenges of working in the field where variables exist that cannot be created in the studio. Painting with mittens on in minus fifteen-degree temperature, mixing paints, adding walnut oil to prevent them from freezing, create as he describes, marks that are reflective of the situation in a way that a photograph cannot possibly convey. These on-site paintings are later developed in the studio reflecting the ideas obtained in the field and are evidenced by the three paintings on display at the Colorado Convention Center.

       (Photo courtesy of NINE dot ARTS)

       • Artwork Type: Painting
       • Material: Oil on canvas

   13. Colorado Pioneers

       COLORADO PIONEERS

       William Matthews

       Colorado Pioneers is a series of twelve large original watercolor paintings of anonymous Colorado historical pioneer figures. Artist William Matthews used his families and friends as a basis of facial features for the paintings.  Characters and themes include: Native American/Ute, Trapper/Explorer, Rancher/Cowboy, Miner, Mother and Child, Farmer, Railroad Man, Politician/Businessman/Shopkeeper, Clergy, Calvary Soldier, Schoolmarm, 10th Mountain Division Soldier, and Airplane Pilot. Mr. Matthews’s paintings convey a thematic viewpoint of the various people and cultures that have informed Colorado’s rich history.

       • Artwork Type: Paintings
       • Material: Watercolor paint and paper

   14. The Heavy is the Root of the Light

       THE HEAVY IS THE ROOT OF THE LIGHT

       Mindy Bray

       
       Based on photographs of the Platte River at Confluence Park, Mindy Bray's site-specific painting draws parallels between the traffic flow of pedestrians through the lobby outside Bellco theater and the flow of the local river, which drew the original settlement of Denver. Abstracted organic shapes create a sense of directional movement that draws viewers between the lobby and the second floor, mimicking the pattern of the stairwell. Painted directly on the wall, the piece is both permanent and ephemeral, embracing the architecture of the space and the viewer's changing perspective of the work. The title of the work is a line from the Tao te Ching, and references both the movement of pedestrians in harmony with natural rhythms, and the many dualities present in the work, such as natural and constructed spaces, interior and exterior environments, and historical and contemporary uses of the site.

        

       • Material: Latex paint

   15. Wood Water Rock

       WOOD WATER ROCK

       Trine Bumiller

       Wood Water Rock combines various abstract images based on Colorado’s landscape with traditional techniques from the Renaissance. The panels show a variety of mountains, plains, geology and vegetation through subtle colors such as sandstone and pine green to emphasize the rich earth tones reflecting the state of Colorado. Materials such as rabbit skin glue, pure spirits of gum turpentine and a special varnish were used to give the paintings a glowing and luminescent effect. As many as 45 layers of oil films per painting were used on each of these eighteen wooden door panels. While each wooden panel serves as individual works of art, Ms. Bumiller created a collaborative piece by arranging them in random patterns on the white curved wall.

       • Artwork Type: Paintings
       • Material: Panels, oil paint

   16. Colorado Sunshine

       COLORADO SUNSHINE

       Shawn Nielsen

       • Artwork Type: Digital

   17. Collection on Paintings

       Collection of Paintings

       Frank Sampson

       Sorry to Say Goodbye 

       Escape the Night

       Gently Down the Stream

       King of the Hill

   18. Tony James No. 1

       Tony James No. 1

       Monique Crine 

       Anyone familiar with American Westerns will find the depictions in the proposed painting, Tony James, oddly familiar. In this striking image the subject is silhouetted by sunlight that streams into the mouth of a dark tunnel, unmistakably quoting the final scene of The Searchers, but instead of seeing John Wayne’s melancholic,aging, civil war veteran we are met with a young soldier who has just returned from duty in Iraq. Stationed at Fort Carson, this young soldier reminds us of the rich military and Western history in Colorado.

   19. Truly/Rural

       Truly/Rural

       Joel Swanson

       TRULY/RURAL is a lenticular print of a tongue twister that resonates with stereotypes surrounding Colorado and the West. The piece playfully explores the space between speaking and readingthrough the exploration a linguistic “glitch.” The lenctiular material changes the word that is seen dependent upon the angle of viewing, thereby alternating between TRULY and RURAL.

   20. Boulder Creek, Autumn 08 #1

       BOULDER CREEK‚ AUTUMN 08 #1

       James Cook

       This painting "Boulder Creek-Autumn" was painted from drawings done over an extended time in Colorado. The medium is oil paint on Belgian linen canvas. The landscape is painted in an "impasto" style which takes advantage of the thick, paste like, qualities of oil paint to introduce a sculptural dimension to objects being described." Boulder Creek-Autumn" reflects the energy that we feel in nature, the power of crashing water, the texture on the trunks of aspen, and the feel of the surface of great boulders. The large two panel format creates a painting nearly twenty feet long which gives the viewer a sense of being surrounded by the forest landscape.

       • Material: Oil on canvas

   21. I Know You Know That I Know

       I KNOW YOU KNOW THAT I KNOW

       Sandra Fettingis "I Know You Know That I Know" is a site specific installation that creates an environment that envelops the viewer in a repetitive pattern-filled corridor. Interested in themes of change and awareness, Sandra Fettingis examines the undeniable truth that things/life/people/environments tend to change and evolve, and yet remain the same on some level. Utilizing a limited color palette and just a single shape throughout the entire 160 foot installation, Fettingis explores the many ways these visual items can be altered, yet remain constant.

   22. License Plates

       LICENSE PLATES

       PHIL BENDER

       "I got interested in arranging items in a grid from when I lived in Texas. I was always impressed with the collection of license plates that people had. Back then they had to get a new plate every year and people would hang them in their garage" - Phil Bender

       • Material: Found license plates

   23. Big Ben

       BIG BEN

       Sarah Edwards

       Sarah’s art practice evolved from her desire to create art that recognized and honored animals, nature, and issues around the health of our global ecosystems. Using small animal figurines as both inspiration and reference, Sarah grows these tiny animals into larger than life tributes. Her work acts as a reminder to the viewers that the animal she features, while strong and beautiful, are also precious and fragile. Sarah acknowledges that there is certain sweetness to these giants but believes that the message is louder than that. She aims for her art to “work toward easing the suffering of an Earth folding under the tremendous weight of our missteps.” Her poignant imagery is made more friendly and approachable through the use of bright, expressive colors. In the spirit of the message her artwork aims to address, Sarah supports conservation efforts around the world and is currently donating a percentage of all her art sales to the Kenya Wildlife Trust.

       • Artwork Type: acrylic on canvas

   24. Two Tall Mountains and Joggers in the Park

       TWO TALL MOUNTAINS AND JOGGERS IN THE PARK

       Molly Bounds

       Inspired by the storytelling techniques and styles of alternative comics and zines, Molly creates work with the aim to voice stories that are rarely shared in normative culture. Trained as a printmaker, Molly’s bold blocks of color mimic the visual qualities of traditional printmaking techniques. Molly’s work explores “the complexities of internal dialogue surrounding the acts of watching, doing, and taking up space.” Much of her work is centered on female protagonists and a personal lexicon of symbols. Molly is a Denver native who is well known for her bright figurative murals around the city. These two mural-sized paintings incorporate a variety of characters and show diversity in race, gender, ability, and age, showcasing Denver and Colorado culture as a nexus of recreation, both as a vibrant urban center and for the proximity to the Rocky Mountains.

       • Artwork Type: acrylic on canvas

   25. The Rope Whisperer

       THE ROPE WHISPERER

       Konstantin Dimopoulos

       Konstantin’s vibrant neon cowboy provides a warm welcome to visitors to Denver as they travel through this hallway. Kon created this piece by first sketching a cowboy and then converting each sketch line into a neon piece. This icon of western culture is frozen in one of his most well-known activities; throwing a lasso. Kon created this cowboy with a clear connection to Colorado in mind; he writes, “Its movement is something monumentally iconic and reflective of the Colorado cowboy heritage—the West. The lasso in all its trajectory, moving and reshaping itself. The rope and the hand of the cowboy are such powerful imagery of the West.” Kon Dimopolous is well known for the Blue Trees project, a temporary installation that took place in 2017 as part of the Denver Theater District’s Terra Firma series. The Blue Trees are an ongoing part of Konstantin’s art practice and have been installed in several locations around the world.  All of Konstantin’s work is rooted in his desire to explore a global human condition and ecology.

       • Material: glass, neon gas, filament, synthetic