Made in Colorado

JUNe 07, 2018 - AUGust 10, 2018

Jurors | Cameron Gainer and Olga Viso

LOCATION | Emmanuel Art Gallery & 808 Project

JURORS' STATEMENT

The Emmanuel Gallery has a storied history in Denver’s downtown. Occupying the first religious structure built by US and European settlers in the State, the gallery’s landmark 1876 building was an Episcopal chapel before it became a Jewish synagogue in the early 1900s. Hebrew inscriptions are still visible carved into the face of the distinctive stone façade also pierced by Gothic-style, pointed-arch windows. The hybrid architecture registers one of the many transformations the area has witnessed over the last century-and-a-half, as different Immigrant communities settled here on what was once native land. In 1973 the Emmanuel became an art gallery situated at the nexus of three college and university campuses, which today serve a diverse student body, including many first generation residents from Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Since then hundreds of artists have exhibited here in solo and group exhibitions, including the ever-popular annual showcase of Denver artists Zip 802. It has been nearly 20 years since the Emmanuel hosted this important local spotlight, a tradition that the gallery’s new director Jeffrey Lambson was intent to restore. Re-launched in 2018 with a new name, Made in Colorado is now open to all artists working across the state. This was an important value for us as outside jurors. We are pleased to receive nearly 1000 submissions to this year’s open call. Artists working in 64 cities across the Colorado responded, with applications from communities outside Denver, including Grand Junction, Pueblo, Durango, Lamar, Boulder, Monument and Trinidad. In the end 50 art works by 40 artists were selected. Together they reveal the multiplicity of artistic practices and concerns of makers across the state, as well as the burgeoning cultural and ethnic diversity of Colorado’s population and the Auraria campus. Made in Colorado is presented in two downtown locations this year: in the upper and lower galleries of the Emmanuel and at Gallery 808 in the Santa Fe Street gallery district. At the Emmanuel, artists explore portraiture through aspects of cultural and personal identity. Landscape is another important subject as artists here examine humanity’s relationship to the natural world and also consider our impact on the environment. Gallery 808 gathers artists of varying sensibilities who experiment with abstraction and the tactile and formal qualities of materials, including latex, paper,  fiber, and human hair. There are video works at each location, as well as two site-specific projects in which artists were invited to respond to spaces in the gallery. For the Emmanuel, George Perez will install a wall of re-worked and re-contextualized found photographs. For Gallery 808, Marsha Mack will create one of her texturally-rich, wall-mounted installations at the gallery entrance. It has been a privilege to survey a range of artistic production in Colorado today, which we celebrate in this exhibition. We invite you to explore the 2018 presentations of Made in Colorado.

Cameron Gainer and Olga Viso, June 2018

This exhibition is generously sponsored by

The College of Arts and Media at CU Denver with support from Audi of Denver.

Featuring artwork by: