click to enlarge Find a copy of Charles Parson Drawing, published by Leaping Man. Charles Parson
click to enlarge A monochromatic wash by Pamela Hake. Pamela Hake
click to enlarge Alicia Bailey, “Turning to Duff,” 2023. Alicia Bailey
click to enlarge Maia Ruth Lee, “Labyrinth,” 2019. Maia Ruth Lee
click to enlarge Emily Bellinger, “Wearing My Heart on Your Sleeve,” fiber art quilt. Emily Bellinger
click to enlarge Allyson McDuffie, “Cockadoodle.” Allyson McDuffie
John Singer Sargent, “Portrait of Miss Elsie Palmer, or A Lady in White” (detail), 1889-1890, oil on canvas, way lined. Courtesy Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center
click to enlarge AI-generated art by Rick Dallego. Rick Dallego
Rita Bhasin, “What Does Your Garden Grow?,” oil and cold wax. Rita Bhasin
click to enlarge A treescape by Bruno D’Anna. Bruno D’Anna
click to enlarge Tony Diego, “Deer Dancer.” Tony Diego, Los Fantasmas
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Lots of art shows, large and little, dot the local landscape this weekend, including salutes to the auspicious Charles Parson, book art maestra Alicia Bailey and friends, exceptional women artists of Colorado, fiber artists around the world and Denver’s own Los Fantasmas Art Collective.Check the list below to learn about all this and more:The patriarchal artist and educator Charles Parson is better known for his artworks concerned with the horizon line, from drawings to monumental sculptures that borrow from the expansive landscape, all wrought in geometric shapes, straight edges and the perception of distance. But Parson, who spends his best time at a family outpost in southern Colorado, also draws more traditionally, direct from nature, sometimes crowning his sight lines with mountainscapes or just sketching a tree.The exhibition, curated by his son, Collin Parson, serves a couple of purposes in showcasing the artist’s work: for one, to tie together the relationships between those simple nature sketches and his more sophisticated work, and then to fill the pages of his new art book from Leaping Man . RedLine, where Parson formerly served as a Resource Artist Resident, is hosting the show, which focuses on his output in the past twenty years or so. Attend the opening and purchase a copy of. Books will be available for $140.At Sync, abstract painters Pamela Gilmore Hake and Patricia Rucker reflect on light, shadow and mixed media forAlicia Bailey, a local book artist, curator and director of Abecedarian Books, heads up an all-book-artist slate this month at Spark, beginning with her own showcase,, inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words: “Everything teaches transition, transference, metamorphosis…. We dive and reappear in new places.” Rhiannon Alpers joins in with, a study of the communion of women naturalists with the natural world they research. Lastly, in Spark’s North Gallery, you’ll find, a group artist-book exhibition with a focus on the American West, curated by Bailey from selections made by Anna Bernhard of the Stanley G. Wold Resource Center and Library at CSU.The CVA digs in for the fall season with a beautiful mini-blockbuster,, with a close-up focus on artists Kim Dickey, Ana María Hernando, Maia Ruth Lee, Suchitra Mattai and Senga Nengudi, whose works hold up in the global art arena in terms of vision, consistency, variety and mastery of mediums. Some, like Hernando, Lee and Mattai, gain perspective from the personal and social histories that feed their works, while Dickey incorporates historical decorative techniques in ceramic towers, and Nengudi uses performative techniques by placing her own moving body into sculptural statements. All five artists were nominated by MCA Denver director Nora Burnett Abrams to represent Colorado in, an exhibition at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. (Hernando will be included in the show, which opens next April.)Fiberart International, a champion of the wide-open medium, gives credence to the status of fiber works as fine art using sewing, quilting, needle point, macrame, weaving, felting, crocheting, knitting, embroidery, rug-making, basket weaving and other techniques borrowed from the craft world. Works for the exhibition were pulled by four jurors from an impressive 1,300 submissions by 545 artists from around the globe, offering a clear update on the state of fiber art this year.Allyson McDuffie, whose autobiographical works tap intersectional experiences and life navigation as a queer woman with a touch of humor (and chickens) in, offers solace to those who seek answers in troubled times. The former corporate techie recently quit the rat race and returned to making art, an endeavor that seems to serve her well.Jewelry, fiber art, assemblage, drawing, painting — they are all the same to Latinx Renaissance woman Gayedine Bujanda, who dabbles in them all. Bujanda will be featured at BuCu West this week, just in time to dovetail with the cross-cultural Saigon Azteca Night Market down the street at Rise Westwood, 3738 Morrison Road, and the Mikailhuitl 2023 festivities at D3 Arts, 3632 Morrison Road.CSFAC is trying something different and behind-the-scenes this summer and fall, with a changing display,, focusing on works from the collection not currently in rotation. Learn about some of the museum’s hidden works, beginning with an Opening Celebration and Garden Party based on the painting “Portrait of Miss Elsie Palmer, or A Lady in White,” by John Singer Sargent, on view through September 12. Enjoy lawn games and refreshments at the opening; coming up later: “Dark Iris No.1,” by Georgia O’Keeffe, beginning September 13, and textiles from the Southwest collection on October 2. August 18 is a free day at the museum; regular admission ranges from free to $10.AI, good or bad for artists? The argument is raging as AI programming goes live, and some professionals worry about copyright infringement and other injustices. Or is it an exciting creative catalyst? For better or worse, the Niza Knoll Gallery asked ten area artists to weigh in by transforming images through AI technology, andis the result. See a variety of outcomes by Rick Dallago, Howard Harris, Tyree Jones, Adrien Law, Charles Luna, Sista Luna, Aliki McCain, Ann Morgan, Andre Rodriquez and Topher Straus.It’s been a great year for gardeners, with early rain and, later, golden warmth sparking big blooms. But weeds are growing, too. It’s a good time to express garden joy or weedy distress in art, and that’s whatis all about. Rita Bhasin and Kathy Friesz explore floral beauty and garden chaos in oils and wax.Whether landscape or cityscape, Italian Bruno D’anna, who lives in Denver part-time, is on it, as evidenced by a new show following both themes, with street scenes, groves of trees, tall buildings and majestic mountains.Los Fantasmas Art Collective, now a nonprofit engaged in youth art programs and other community work, is throwing a group show to support members and emerging artists from underserved backgrounds and put their work on the map. The opening, located in the basement gallery created by Justin Maes at ABC Custom Framing, will include live music by Abe the Babe and Desert Shine, and open studios showcasing Akubis Designs, Bobby Aragon, Julian Christianson, Sacred Botanicals and Tony Diego.It’s an art exhibit. It’s a house party. Either way, it’s a two-day chance to raise a glass and chat with artist Rene Farkass while viewing his artwork in the backyard and studio area of a friend. Fish shirts are promised. Find information and RSVP for a free ticket at Eventbrite