http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_12682660
Exhibit strolls through '60s and '70s literary/art world
By Kyle MacMillan
Denver Post Fine Arts Critic
06/26/2009
The Ogden Bookstore, Bowery Gallery and Denver Free Press closed
their doors years ago. Poet- painter Tony Scibella, filmmaker Stan
Brackhage and editor James Ryan Morris are all dead.
All that remains of Denver's once- vital Beat scene are the memories
of those who took part as well as the literary and visual artworks
and scattered residue from that creatively fertile, topsy-turvy time
from around 1965 through 1987.
"Mile High and Underground," an exhibit of art, graphics, photographs
and ephemera at the Byers-Evans House Gallery, offers one of the
first significant looks at the city's underappreciated contributions
to American counterculture.
It is a valuable introduction to a surprising, little-known period in
local history when a city long derided as a cowtown discovered what
it meant to be cool.
But for all that this show has to offer, what quickly becomes evident
is that the dozens of objects on view in the compact space barely
scratch the surface.The full story is yet to be told of this
underground, anti-establishment scene, which was centered, at least
at first, along "Desolation Row," two blocks of head shops and
hippie-related stores on East Colfax Avenue between Ogden and
Clarkson streets.
Indeed, no comprehensive history has been written of Denver's Beat
scene, but this exhibit could be the spark that fuels further
research, especially given the exploding interest in the 1960s and 1970s.
What this show does make clear is that while the beatnik culture in
other cities, such as San Francisco and New York, might have been
better known, Denver was also a key center of this unconventional
approach to art and life.
Artist Steve Wilson, 63, a co-owner of the Ogden Bookstore (a hub of
the scene in 1969-72) and the unofficial archivist of the period,
believes the Mile High City's scene had an appealing feel all its own.
"It goes hand in hand with the geography it had a Western sense,"
Wilson said. "It was an easier, more wide-open approach to
everything. There wasn't the sort of manic hustle that went on in
Greenwich Village or the superstar routine in San Francisco. You oft
times couldn't tell the ranchers from the publishers."
Given that the best-known figures associated with the Beat Generation
were writers, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, who both
spent time in Colorado, it is not surprising that literature,
especially poetry, fueled Denver's counterculture.
In addition to a short-lived literary magazine, Mile High Underground
(the fall 1967 issue is on view), Denver had a range of small
presses, including Bowery Press, Black Ace, Croupier and SAP (Society
for the Advancement of Poetics).
Although the word "hippie" is mentioned little in the exhibit, a
definite hippie vibe permeated this period.
"It was hand in hand with the arrival of drugs," said Wilson. "When
the hippie scene started on Colfax, there was a lot of peace and love
and flowers, sort of a popular-television picture of what people
think of with the hippies.
"But as the drug use, especially hard drugs and speed was the big
killer got more prevalent, you all of a sudden saw the criminal
element move in a lot of hoodlums mixed with the hippies. Peace and
love turned into the desperation that comes with drug addiction."
Most of the artists associated with the underground movement in
Denver were in some way involved with the literary activity, either
writing poetry themselves or supplying illustrations or cover art for
books and magazines.
Among the most notable was Saul White, a second-generation
abstract-expressionist who arrived in Denver in 1976 and worked with
Denver poets and publishers. He is represented by a couple of strong
works, including an untitled 1963 canvas with echoes of Adolph
Gottlieb and early Jackson Pollock.
Wilson, who co-curated the exhibit with collector Paul Harbaugh, also
embodies the literary-artistic crossover mind-set. Besides his
involvement with the Ogden Bookstore and its successor, Kugelman &
Bent, at 1028 E. Ninth Ave., he has had a still-continuing if
under-recognized artistic career.
His substantial accomplishments are showcased in an eye-opening solo
survey at the Emmanuel Gallery that was organized in conjunction with
the Byers-Evans offering.
Although Wilson's abstract paintings are solid efforts, there is
little especially original about them. Instead, his strength lies in
collage and photomontage, which, not surprisingly, are the main focus
of the Emmanuel show.
Though most of the work in the show dates to the 1970s or later, it
has a much older feel harking back to Kurt Schwitters and, more
directly, to the 1920s and '30s collages and photomontages of German
Dadaist Hannah Höch.
The Byers-Evans House Gallery deserves credit for venturing outside
its comfort zone and teaming with the Emmanuel Gallery to shine light
on a fascinating, little-known segment of Denver history.
--
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
--
Denver's Beat Scene
"Mile High and Underground." Art and history. Byers-Evans House
Gallery, 1310 Bannock St. An exhibition of fine art, graphic art,
publications, photography and archival materials related to Denver's
countercultural scene from 1965 through the mid-1980s.Through July
31. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Free. 303-620-4933 or
coloradohistory.org/be
Steve Wilson. Art. Emmanuel Gallery, Auraria campus. An exhibition of
more than 60 collages, paintings and other works by Steve Wilson, a
pivotal figure among Denver's Beat writers and artists. Through July
10. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturdays. Free. 303-556-8337 or emmanuelgallery.org
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment