Three shows a crowd, but a welcome one

Mary Voelz-Chandler

Published May 15, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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Photo by Special to the Rocky

Sol LeWitt's 1993 etching, Brushstrokes in Different Colors in Two Directions (Red).

Photo by Special to the Rocky

Alex Katz's 1988 woodcut 3-PM.

Wes Magyar's 2008 oil on canvas Overrun.

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Longtime gallery owner and consultant Sandy Carson left a message in late February that was a shocker:

After a whirlwind two-week discussion, she had sold her businesses to William and Jan van Straaten, who've operated the respected publishing firm Riverhouse Editions in Steamboat Springs for 20 years.

"Shocker" is putting it mildly. And Carson, who's been in the art business here 33 years, was absolutely giddy. Her name would stay on the space, and she and gallery director William Biety would remain in place.

Currently, entering the gallery is somewhat like walking into a party thrown to mark a marriage: Where two shows originally had been scheduled, there now are three, with the addition of what is being called "An Introduction to Riverhouse Editions and Van Straaten Gallery."

As a result, this is a somewhat crowded space, but that's easy to survive considering the work with which it is crowded and why that work is there.

First are the two shows booked for that time slot: ceramics by Boulder- based artist Caroline Douglas and kinetic sculptures by Kansas artist Marc Berghaus. Then, sprawling through part of the front and the galleries to the back is a wide array of works on paper made at Riverhouse.

Fans of Douglas will revel in her fantastical concepts, which involve animals and people who appear to communicate with them quite well. In wall barges and large boats, in figures large and small, Douglas excels in the use of color and lush glazes. Some pieces will be familiar from her work at this year's "Colorado Clay" show at Foothills Art Center, but "Life Is But a Dream" is designed to demonstrate the different ways in which Douglas is a skilled ceramist.

In a side space near the entry are kinetic works by Marc Berghaus, whose penchant for humor and talent for precision have been evident in shows at spaces such as the University of Denver and Artyard. Here, he shows a variety of pieces that move and make sounds. But the standout is Freeway Chase, a large-scale approximation of just that, with a matchbook- type police car appearing to speed after a red car, as other vehicles seem to drop behind. Credit the magic of wheel-based machinery, as viewed through a TV "screen" supplied by Berghaus.

As for "Introduction," many of the artists need no such thing. Work drawn from the past two decades illustrates the range of techniques and styles made at Riverhouse by artists as diverse as Elizabeth Murray, Terry Winters, Kiki Smith, Al Held and Linda Benglis.

Alex Katz's large 1988 black-and- white woodcut 3-PM is a standout in simplicity, a bold figurative piece. In the abstract category is Sol LeWitt's mesmerizing 1993 etching Brushstrokes in Different Colors in Two Directions (Red), which dominates a wall toward the front of the Riverhouse section. Throughout, the installation shows off talent the van Straatens have attracted to their publishing operation.

The next step the gallery must make during this time of transition is deciding who in the Carson stable will stay and who will go. Business travel and personal issues have put those decisions on a side burner.

I have to hope the choices will be smart, expansive and made with an eye toward quality and the future.

Life Is But a Dream/ Clearing

* What: Ceramic sculptures by Caroline Douglas, kinetic sculpture by Marc Berhgaus, and "An Introduction to Riverhouse Editions & Van Straaten Gallery"

* Where and when: Sandy Carson Gallery, 760 Santa Fe Drive; through May 31

* Information: 303-573-8585; sandy carsongallery.com

Convergence/Mimesis

* What: New paintings by Wes Magyar and Robin Schaefer

* Where and when: Plus Gallery, 2350 Lawrence St.; through May 24

* Painting lessons: Colorado-based artist Wes Magyar has been showing here for 10 years, and during that time he has moved from complex imagery to more minimalist presentations.

Yet in "Convergence," a show of half a dozen new paintings, Magyar still crafts figures in short, sharp strokes, so that features and reflections appear distinct and do not meld until a viewer steps back a bit. These are scenes that depict people in a state of isolation or disconnect (portrayed in some cases by area artists). In Overrun, two women register as frozen; in Convergence, three men on a sidewalk seem to operate in their own worlds. But the inclusion of a more abstract work, Remnants, signals even more of a change, as Magyar steps from the figurative to imagery that is more about painting than narrative.

Also on view, in "Mimesis," are highly reflective paintings by Robin Schaefer of subjects ranging from languid flowers to bottle caps so bent they register as pure objects. And in the bauble category, gallery owner Ivar Zeile has installed Jonathan Saiz's Piano Project, in which the artist has gutted a trashed instrument and turned it into a near art-history lesson, an exercise in the pursuit of baroque beauty.

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

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