Episode One. Denver, Colorado. April 14, 2023
TAD @ T-Shop is a series of one-night, pop-up art exhibitions in a space that regularly functions as a taxidermy shop in Denver, Colorado.
ARTISTS:
Alan Aguilera
Vinni Alfonso
Ben McQuillan
Daphne Sweet
Lucas Thomas
Peter Yumi
Episode Two. Denver. Colorado. May 12, 2023
This months contrasting perimeters are “The Faux and the Real” Many of the artists use live naturalia in their work such as Lauri Lynnxe Murphy’s use of live insects, Alvin Gregorio’s incorporations of actual geological specimens, or Josh Ware’s incorporation of living plants in his minimalist sculpture. Many other artists in the show represent nature to a degree of facsimile that verge on magic such as Gretchen Marie Schaefer’s rocks made from news media, or Sarah Scott’s cactus carefully cast from paper. Ian Fisher and Dalton Frizzell create dazzling 2D illusions that play with the familiar. Fisher’s cloud paintings package the impermanence of often monumental clouds into a still meditation, while Frizzell tediously paints a feedback loop between art history, contemporary Artificial Intelligence generated imagery, and the solitary vantages of both the artist and the viewer. Ali Lemon is somewhere in between all of these dichotomies using assemblage, abstraction, and actual found objects that include details like faux fur.
An unexpected side conversation with these works, In the spirit of alternative exhibition experiences, some art in this show questions expectations around an art object’s relationship to decor, contemplation, expression, and/or utility.
ARTISTS:
Drew Austin
Ian Fisher
Dalton Frizzell
Alvin Gregorio
Ali Lemon
Lauri Lynnxe Murphy
Gretchen Marie Schaefer
Sarah Scott
Josh Ware
Season Finale. Denver, Colorado. June 16, 2023
The artists in TAD @ TSHOP 3 explore the contrasts between the organic and the inorganic. Much of the work is abstract in nature, while some explore figurative representation or tautologies around actual animal carcasses which is fitting for a taxidermy shop. Many of the works contain examples of both contrasts. This can be seen in the photographs of Risa Friedman which explore rigid architectural forms that seem both built and naturally unplanned. The audio piece by Christopher M. Lavery is made with electronic parts but couldn’t be more organic in that the viewer/participant controls the audio outcome of the work in unpredictable ways.
In both material and form, several artists in this show investigate these subjects with one of the most emblematic organic materials: clay. While clay can be formed into very precise and rectilinear forms the artists in this show, like Shayna Cohn and A Grix, working with clay often play with the material in a way that emphasizes asymmetry and the rawness expressed by the human hand. In contrast to the expectations around earthen mud, these forms are finished on the surface with thoughtful control; often brightly colored with glaze or paint that defy expectations around something formed from the earth itself.
ARTISTS:
Shayna Cohn
Chrissy Espinoza
Risa Friedman
Hillary Frey
Giddy Galore
A Grix
Christopher M. Lavery
i.martonis
Rebecca Peebles
Leo Rivera
Matthew Smith
With a special performance by
Nicole Banowetz and Devin Reilly
