New Horizons
New Horizons: Colorado Black Arts Festival
Understudy
890 C 14th St, Denver, CO 80202
February 4-27, 2022
Admission: Free
Review by Livy Snyder
February marks Black History Month—an opportunity to celebrate and pay tribute to the significant contributions of black culture, to raise awareness of diversity, to spotlight social issues, and to provide a space for conversation on these subjects. This is precisely the aim of the Colorado Black Arts Festival (CBAF), which features black arts and culture in Colorado. CBAF believes that art can lead the way to establishing self-reliance, “believing that pride in one’s culture is the foundation for long-term stability and prosperity.” [1] And while their annual festival takes place in July, the CBAF has partnered with The Denver Theatre District to create a preview of the festival to come by curating the forward-thinking exhibition New Horizons. From February 4th to February 27th, New Horizons showcases the artwork of Kaylee Bender, James A. Dixon, MAE (Morgan English), Rob Hill, Zaida Sever, and Devin “Speaks” Urioste at Understudy.
An installation view of New Horizons: Colorado Black Arts Festival at Understudy in Denver during the opening night reception. Image by Sam Nguyen, courtesy of Understudy.
One of the unique qualities and challenges of exhibiting at Understudy is the architecture of the gallery. It sits at the corner of the Convention Center, near the light rail stop. Most of the walls are large windows where a passerby can peek into the space. Truly, it is anything but a traditional white cube, and, as a result, the Understudy team—Annie Geimer, Thadeaous Mighell, and David Moke—have worked to create their own way of displaying artwork with the help of the artists Understudy presents.
Rob Hill, FABRIK, 2022, fabric, leather, and accessories on canvas with metal hinges, 40 x 60 inches. Image courtesy of the artist.
For instance, rather than displaying works of art at 60 inches center on a white wall, New Horizons takes advantage of each angle, window, crevice, and high ceiling the architecture offers. Many of the artworks are paintings that hang from the ceiling at different levels, producing a sense of immersion. Other works, such as Rob Hill’s Fabrik, are thoughtfully curated to parallel the architectural shapes. Fabrik sits near the side of the wall across from the windows and parallels the triangular shape in the vaulted ceiling. Fabrik is a set of two large panels that meet at an angle. Each of the panels features brightly-colored geometric fabrics in a collaged geometric pattern. The placement of artworks and their formal visual attributes result in a dynamic activation of the gallery space.
Upon looking at the artworks, and from my conversations with the artists, it becomes apparent that a central theme of New Horizons—one that is overwhelmingly present—is community. Many of the pieces are inspired by particular people, the physical space, and abstraction of what community is and could be.
MAE, Prometheus (from the series Cut from Granite), 2021, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.
Morgan English/MAE’s Cut from Granite is a series of portraits inspired by people in her own personal community. MAE’s portraits are minimal with a bold white line on black backgrounds and isolated sections of color. To create each work, MAE references Greek sculpture and busts, merging them with people she knows. In MAE’s words, the portraits create “new protagonists that felt familiar by using that ancient style in my line art.” [2] Replacing the western idealization of white marble with contemporary black subjects, the artist draws attention to the absence of African Americans from historical and cultural narratives. In addition, MAE’s works are a reflection of her own experience needing to fulfill ideals and expectations, facing the notion of black excellence.
Close-up views of two works from Devin “Speaks” Urioste’s series Royalty, 2022, collage on canvas. Images courtesy of the artist.
Coming from a background creating graffiti, Devin “Speaks” Urioste’s collages Royalty, Culture, Abuela, and Miami are influenced by his experience in the streets. He says, “the most incredible thing about that lifestyle are the moments that I have while applying my name to the wall. The people I meet, the places I see, the rubble on the ground, the noises, and just the entire experience. Those moments give me emotion and energy so I decided to apply that to canvas and mural work.” [3]
Kaylee Bender, The Red Sun, 2020, acrylic on canvas. Image courtesy of the artist.
In a turn to abstraction, Kaylee Bender recalls the black body and experience in her painting The Red Sun. Using red and black hues, she hopes that “people can walk away from my[her] art asking about themselves: their relationship to themselves, the earth and their ancestors…. I[she] appreciate[s] finding pieces of ourselves in others.” [4]
Seeing artwork that you can relate to or validates your identity can be incredibly powerful. It allows the work to be personal and more subjective, but also recognizes the politics of identity. [5] With the incorporation of so many artworks that draw on community, New Horizons rallies around the power of letting yourself be seen and seeing others. The exhibition is compelling, putting artistic range, ethnic diversity, and intersectionality of Black artists on full display.
Livy Onalee Snyder is based in Denver, Colorado. She graduated with a BA in Art History and BFA in Painting and Drawing from CU Denver's College of Arts & Media and a Masters in Humanities from the University of Chicago. Her passion for contemporary art has translated into successful internships with the Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Italy, Denver Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, and Black Cube Nomadic Museum. Currently, she contributes curatorial projects to the Supernova Digital Animation Festival and works for punctum books.
[1] “Artist Showcase,” Colorado Black Arts Festival, https://colbaf.org/understudy-artist-showcase/.
[2] Morgan English in discussion with the author, February 9, 2022.
[3] Devin “Speaks” Urioste in discussion with the author, February 10, 2022.
[4] Kaylee Bender in discussion with the author, February 9, 2022.
[5] Identity politics refers to a wide range of political activity and theorizing found in the shared experiences of injustice of members of certain social groups including people of a particular religion, race, gender or social background.
