VOELZ CHANDLER: Stellar seven shine at Plus

Mary Voelz Chandler

Friday, December 21, 2007

"Twinkle, Twinkle" is about stars. Little stars, really: Seven emerging artists, most new to the area, who make work ranging from fully formed to ripe with potential.

This large group show at Plus Gallery is mainly notable for its undercurrent of humor, as well as the apparent ability of many of those involved to push the limit in terms of how they believe work should be realized.

"Twinkle" also offers an opportunity to see work by an artist who had one of the more bizarre entrees into the Denver art scene: Lela Shields is represented by two paintings, a fitting coda to a full show of similar work (but on paper) now on view at Space Gallery.

Those with a memory for quirky art trivia will recall that Shields made her area debut in November 2006 at Stay Gallery, by dint of persistence and a generous landlord, since the gallery operators had disappeared right before the opening.

As noted then, it's not unusual for an artist to not be totally prepared for an opening, but the gallery owners going AWOL?

Shields presents fantastical animals in ink and gouache, with masses of glitter adding texture and perspective. Her fine renderings of these creatures - from deer to sheep to something akin to a dinosaur - are oddly affecting.

They demonstrate her description of the older work as growing out of her fascination with the concept of the cabinet of curiosities - a slice of history in terms of the collecting habits of the wealthy.

Also on view at Plus is a different side of work by Leafe Zales. Her video installation Multiples rang loudly through the former Museum of Contemporary Art/Denver during the fall 2006 exhibition "Extended Remix." But at Plus, there are no washers clanging on the floor.

Instead, Zales is represented by three quite different works: a glass wheelbarrow (in the front space) and, in the back, the "painting" 122 Days, 46 Hairs, in which she has used strands to outline a map of her travels during that period.

There's also Your Welcome, an homage to art materials used to create, well, what looks exactly like a bag of trash. But is not. (Nor is punctuation a strong suit here).

Also in a lighter vein is mail art by Martin Sammy Gardeo, in which he is pitching Plus owner Ivar Zeile over and over for a show (You've Got Mail), and a smudgy white painting (Mist Take 1) made of snow and debris on canvas. That's a cabinet of curiosities.

More serious are strong grayed-out paintings of architectural details by Mindy Bray, blurred-out landcape photographs by Noah Manos, bright and edgy paintings by Travis Egedy (including a trio of cartoonish works that refer to the figure as "Busta Slimes"), and a mini-installation of drawings and a painting by Nathan Abels.

Abels' small maplike drawings Outer Edge and Layout set the stage for the soaring painting Indiana. Placing a row of tract houses at the bottom of an elongated canvas plays with the idea of perspective, while his grasp of detail is particularly strong.

Note: This is the season when it's best to call an art space before you go. Plus closes every year around the holidays, in this instance Sunday through Dec. 28. So let your fingers do the driving before you grab the keys.

Twinkle, Twinkle

* What: Work by emerging artists, including Lela Shields, Leafe Zales, Travis Egedy and Nathan Abels

* Where and when: Plus Gallery, 2350 Lawrence St.; through Jan. 19

* Also: Shields has work (with Audra Knutson) at Space Gallery, 765 Santa Fe Drive, through Jan. 12. (720-904-1088)

* Information: 303-296-0927; plusgallery.com