Welcome to Black Cube’s press page. Feel free to to download current and archived news announcements and their related stories.
Press releases, images for editorial publicity, and other materials may be obtained by e-mail. To get in touch with our representative, please email us at hello@blackcube.art.
Written by 303 Magazine - Black Cube — a local “nomadic” museum — thrives on the element of surprise. Since the exhibitions Black Cube curates are almost always site-specific, each one presents viewers and artists a chance to step beyond the normal bounds of experiencing art and into the realm of the unknown.
Featured on Art Viewer - Devon Dikeou’s exhibition Tricia Nixon: Summer of 1973 is latently uncanny, as the audience is confronted with an exhibition space that feels vacant, yet occupied—domestic, yet sterile. Dikeou’s practice is a conceptual and physical bricolage composed of a diverse range of materials that range from memories to functional devices.
Article written by Westword - It’s a big weekend for Black Cube, the independently curated, Denver-based nomadic museum, with two shows opening — Valley Boy, a solo exhibition by Black Cube alumnus Jon P. Geiger, on Friday, and a group installation pop-up, Drive-In: House of Cars, on Saturday.
Article written by The Know - I could go on and on about all of the arty and entertaining thrills that Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum has brought to Denver since it began presenting shows, performances and other assorted oddities in 2014. Black Cube doesn’t have a set space; it moves around and lets whatever environment it lands in shape its shows.
Written by zingmagazine - Cortney Lane Stell is Executive Director and Chief Curator of Black Cube, a nomadic contemporary art museum based in Denver, Colorado. Michal Novotny is Director and Curator of FUTURA Center for Contemporary Art in Prague, Czech Republic. In their first collaboration, these two organizations have partnered to host Black Cube fellow Devon Dikeou as a FUTURA artist-in-residence in Prague.
Written by 5280 - If you happened to catch Happy City: Art for the People, a multi-media, multi-installation “pop-up” art project throughout Denver’s public spaces earlier this year, then you’ve already experienced the power of Black Cube.
Article written by 303 Magazine - The small room wedged between a busy RTD Light Rail and the bustling streets in front of the Convention Center doesn’t seem like the most opportune location to build a sanctuary worthy of meditating. Of course, that small room is Understudy — an art incubator that exhibits different artists every month — and Understudy loves disrupting the norms.
Article written by The Art Newspaper - An alleyway in Denver has been invaded by a group of 300 life-sized feline tchotchkes in a semi-cute, semi-frightening installation by the local artist, Kelly Monico.
Article written by Denverite - Don’t be alarmed, but there are a bunch of cats in a Denver alley. They’re fake, and they’re art. You’ll find the phony felines, installed by artist Kelly Monico, between 14th and 15th streets west of Larimer Street. “Alley Cats” is one of five alley meowlley installations in downtown Denver, all part of “Between Us: The Downtown Denver Alleyways Project.”
Article written by 5280 Magazine - David Ehrlich, Denver Theatre District’s executive director, told 5280 that “Happy City: Art for the People” is about breaking down barriers between Denver residents. Under the direction of nomadic art museum Black Cube, 11 artists from Colorado and beyond present work exploring mental health through an artistic lens.
Article Written By CPR - You’ll soon be able to check your emotional baggage at Denver’s Union Station. Just look for the big booth with gold letters that declares “Emotional Baggage Drop.” British artist Stuart Semple says the idea is for you to “leave behind an emotional issue with a stranger.
Broadcast by 9 News - An artist is giving locals a place to put their emotional baggage - and feel heard.
Article Written by Denverite - One piece of British artist Stuart Semple’s “Happy City” is already causing a stir in Denver, and it hasn’t even officially debuted yet. His “Emotional Baggage Drop” has already been installed at Union Station where it’s both delighting and confusing passersby.
Article written by 303 Magazine - Can a city be happy? With a question as big and broad as that, it’s hard to imagine how a group of artists are planning on addressing it. But beginning May 18, Denver will undergo a six-week artistic “intervention” by a group of local, national and international artists, aimed at inciting happiness in the city. This intervention is dubbed Happy City: Art for the People and is the brainchild of British artist Stuart Semple.
Article written by the National Trust for Historic Preservation - At Socorro, Texas’ Rio Vista Farm (a National Treasure of the National Trust), nomadic contemporary art museum Black Cube is featuring a new project called Unearthed: Desenterrado by artist Adriana (Adri) Corral. This outdoor, site-specific work consists of a 60-foot flagpole that hoists a large-scale, white cotton flag. A Mexican golden eagle and an American bald eagle—representing both countries’ flags—are embroidered on either side of the piece.
State of the Arts is a weekly 30-minute program focusing on the arts community of El Paso. Hosted by dedicated art enthusiast Marina Monsisvais, State of the Arts provides listeners with a behind-the-scenes glimpse of how creativity is shaping our community.
Article written by National Trust for Historic Preservation - As of today, visible from the El Paso–Juárez horizon, a new flag stands as a marker for Rio Vista Farm, the last known standing bracero (Mexican guest-worker) processing site. Now on view through May 31, 2018, Unearthed: Desenterrado is the latest outdoor, site-specific installation by Texas-based artist Adriana Corral. Unearthed: Desenterrado is produced by Black Cube, a nomadic contemporary art museum, based in Denver, Colorado, and curated by Cortney Lane Stell.
Article written by The University of Texas at Austin - Unearthed: Desenterrado is an outdoor, site-specific artwork by Texas-based artist and alumna Adriana Corral (MFA in Studio Art, 2013) that speaks to the deeply rooted history between the United States and Mexico.
Hyperallergic article written by Kealey Boyd - Artist Adriana Corral, with assistance from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and historian David Romo, has spent several years preparing to erect a site-specific installation at the historic Rio Vista Farm, titled “Unearthed: Desenterrado.”
Article in The Art Newspaper written by Anny Shaw - The radical intervention, titled Happy City, will be unveiled in May and includes a mock confessional box inside Union Station, where commuters and travellers will be able to confide in one another in private. The piece, Emotional Baggage Drop, has been co-organised by the Denver-based nomadic museum, Black Cube.
Westword article written by Kyle Harris - Black Cube, Denver's nomadic contemporary art museum, announced its 2018 lineup of five fellows on Monday, January 29. The choices signal the institution's shift from boosting emerging artists to helping establish Denver as an internationally recognized contemporary arts hub.
One Good Eye article written by Will Meier - So I’d definitely call Black Cube curator Cortney Stell’s practice Impressionistic, at least when it comes to Drive-In. Curation is an art form, and honestly one I often find more interesting than those it envelops, having spent the majority of my professional life building museum exhibits. But impressionistic, though? Oh, yeah. Like a collection of flickery, car-shaped gestures that coalesce with white space still between them.
303 Magazine article written by Cori Anderson - Black Cube is familiar with the struggles of creatively working in Denver and that’s why they are bringing three artists who represent different artist-run spaces from across the country to speak during the panel discussion on January 17.
Westword article written by Susan Froyd - Denver artists caught in the crosshairs of gentrification and rampant redevelopment do have alternatives to that predicament, says Cortney Stell of the Black Cube Nomadic Museum. Artists who feel marginalized in the here and now should stop complaining and start changing, she advises, by devising new models to replace the old-school ones that aren’t working anymore.
303 Magazine article written by Cori Anderson - This summer, British artist Stuart Semple will transform Denver with a series of installations to “incite widespread happiness” in the city through art, interaction and connection. The city-wide project will be called Happy City and will feature more than five individual creative “interventions” for the public to be involved with.
CPR story by Corey Jones - The kind of car you drive says a lot about you. If you don't own a car, that says something too. That's the idea behind a series of contemporary art exhibitions curated by Black Cube.
The Denver Post article written by Ray Rinaldi - Curator Cortney Lane Stell took in all of this art history as she considered putting together this weekend’s “Drive-in,” a one-night-only exhibit that has 12 Colorado artists exploring relationships with the things they drive. She wanted the event to tap into a storied genre, but make it relevant to the moment.
AQNB interview with artist fellows, the Institute for New Feeling
Westword article by Susan Froyd
303 Magazine article written by Cori Anderson - If you missed the flood lights illuminating 13 cars in RiNo this past Saturday night, you missed a one-night exhibition put on by Black Cube.
Westword article written by Susan Froyd - Stell conceived of the idea for Drive-In in a convergence of multiple impetuses, beginning with her desire to better provide a more unstructured niche for local artists.
5280 article written by Daliah Singer - Cars have been top-of-mind for Cortney Stell recently. Not because she’s looking to buy one but because, as the executive director and chief curator of Black Cube, a nomadic art museum, she is always searching for experimental exhibition ideas.
303 Magazine article by Brittany Werges - There are few spaces that are more intimate than the inside of a person’s car. From a dirty gym bag or that ticket you got last week, this space often reveals some of our less-than-glamorous personal attributes. This may be why Black Cube — a “nomadic contemporary art museum” that produces pop-up installations — is hosting an interactive event where guests are invited to peer (or even sit) inside an artist’s car.
Westword article by Susan Froyd - Cortney Lane Stell and the Black Cube Nomadic Museum took two prominent Colorado artists — Laura Shill and Joel Swanson — to the 2017 Venice Biennale, and now they’re back and ready to talk about their exhibit abroad, Personal Structures, on view in the historic Palazzo Bembo through November.
Denver Post article by Ray Rinaldi - The Venice Biennale is arguably the most important visual arts event on the planet, but it’s always felt a bit distant from Denver. We watch from afar to see who might emerge as a new art-world star from the exhibits that different countries produce every two years on-site, though not many of us travel the 5,000 miles to experience the event.
Art F City - Denver-based nomadic gallery Black Cube has brought a “Colorado pavilion” to Venice as a satellite show, challenging the nationalist model of the Biennale. With text based neons from Joel Swanson and shiny gold sculptures from Laura Shill, it might sound like a fair booth on paper, but the work is gorgeous. Even Paddy (who was unphased by most of the Biennale) loved it.
artnet news - article by Terence Trouillot. In the midst of all the frenzy surrounding this year’s Venice Biennale and its antiquated nationalist structure, one pop-up exhibition is serving as ambassador for an unexpected global art community: Colorado.
As the curator heads off for a showcase of Colorado artists in Venice, she chats about her working philosophy and reveals her plan to exhibit art in automobiles.
One Good Eye article by Ray Rinaldi - Black Cube is doing some of the most exciting — and surely unpredictable — visual arts work in Colorado and beyond these days. The nomadic museum, which curates pop-up exhibitions at galleries, retail spaces, sidewalks and places like Red Rocks park, takes chances on both the people it presents and its locations. The organization has made serious art fun, watchable, follow-able, entertaining, social, and accessible (though you do have to find it each time around).
Westword article by Lauren Archuletta - As a nomadic contemporary art museum, Black Cube and its executive director and chief curator, Cortney Stell, have already proven that they're here to "turn the idea of a museum on its head," pushing limits in the contemporary art world. With the announcement of the 2017 artist fellows, Stell is prepared to shake things up once more.
One Good Eye, Ray Rinaldi – #4. SANGREE, Unclassified Site Museum, Black Cube Nomadic Museum. September 15 through Dec. 31 There he was, presidential candidate Donald Trump traveling the country and spewing divisive rhetoric about how he was going to shut off Mexico from the U.S. And here they were, the Mexican duo SANGREE actually installing remnants of their country’s ancient Teotihuacan civilization in mock vitrines under Denver’s downtown streets. This fake archeological site was a wall-crasher and a reminder that we earthlings are connected not on our surfaces but through our core.
ArtBeat Magazine, Article by Kealey Boyd – Near the entrance to an abandoned underground bus station in downtown Denver are two large square glass portals that reveal a subterranean archeological dig. Enclosed in weight-bearing glass, one window reveals masonry walls that intersect in a T-shape below the sidewalk’s surface.
Confluence Denver Magazine - Five prominent local creatives share their thoughts on standout visual art, urban change in Denver and the evolving meaning of art in the years ahead. In the waning days of 2016, Confluence Denver quizzed five local arts luminaries about the city's arts scene, their favorite events, trends and exhibitions in recent memory and the evolving messages and challenges for artists in the coming new year. Cortney Lane Stell is executive director and chief curator of Black Cube, a nomadic contemporary art museum.
Sangree’s “Unclassified Site Museum” is buried in the ground but uncovers big questions about the pace of development in Denver
Hyperallergic article by Devon Van Houten Maldonado – Beneath a disused bus station in downtown Denver, the Mexican artist collective SANGREE has shed light on the ruins of an ancient condominium complex that never existed.
Confluence Denver article by Jamie Siebrase – Artist and philanthropist Laura Merage and longtime curator Cortney Lane Stell are bringing contemporary art into view with their nomadic pop-up gallery."Interesting, huh?" says a 9-to-5er, sleeves rolled to accommodate the midday heat. Walking down Market Street, between 16th and 17th streets, he stumbled on SANGREE: Unclassified Site Museum, a temporary art installation depicting the fictive ruins of a block-long housing complex imagined by Mexican artists Carlos Lara and René Godinez Pozas.
“Unclassified Site Museum” is a curious bit of art that comes along at a crucial time in Denver’s evolution. In this era of record-breaking infill, as we crush, clear and construct a new city on top of the one we already have, the piece offers a show-stopping suggestion that we pause to consider what is lost amid all that gleaming gain, and where we are headed into the future.
The other show at RedLine right now is Blow Up: Chad Person, mounted in the main gallery. Last year, Black Cube, the Denver-based nomadic museum run by Cortney Lane Stell, commissioned New Mexican artist Person to create a pop-up monument, “The Prospector,” that was briefly erected near the Colorado State Capitol. An inflated, cartoon-character-like depiction of an Old West prospector made from bright-blue vinyl, “The Prospector” looked very much like one of those Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons, but was tethered to the ground rather than floating above it. Person’s pieces in this follow-up exhibit presented by Black Cube are closely related to “The Prospector” in both materials and conceptual underpinnings.
Ceramics are the foundation of incoming RedLine resident artist Stephanie Kantor’s magical carpet ride through a history of the decorative arts, which she references in culture-crossing installations. A Pennsylvania native who landed at the University of Colorado Boulder as an MFA candidate, Kantor is a Black Cube alumna, artist, craftswoman and world traveler who turns her experience and knowledge into a hybrid medium all her own.
The Market Street Station used to be downtown's hub of public transportation, but it's been empty since Union Station reopened...until now. Black Cube, the nomadic art gallery, is using the site for an installation by SANGREE, the artistic union between Mexico City's René Godínez Pozas and Carlos Lara.
Black Cube projects are a "negotiation," says Cortney Stell, executive director and chief curator of the nomadic museum. After finding the “sweet spot” with artists who have enough experience to take on projects of this magnitude, the collaborators normally begin brainstorming ideas for a site-specific exhibit. But the process worked a little differently for SANGREE — an artistic collaboration between René Godínez Pozas and Carlos Lara — for their first public-art installation, Unclassified Site Museum. This time, the site was determined before any other plans were made.
My Met Media - The Student Voice of MSU Denver - Teresa Diaz Soriano interviewed Artist Fellow, Jon Geiger about ROAM at RMCAD.
KGNU boulder interview Posted: August 24, 2016 at 10:12 am by KGNU, in Featured, Morning Magazine. A black cube refers to the idea of taking art exhibitions out of the more traditional indoor exhibition spaces. The Black Cube Nomadic Museum is currently showing the Gold Hill Art Project in Gold Hill, a Colorado mining town in the foothills west of Boulder.
The Mountain-Ear - Barbara Lawlor covers the Gold Hill Art Project
Lakewood Sentinel article by Clarke Reader on Jon Geiger's ROAM sculpture at RMCAD.
Breaking News - Ruins Discovered at Denver's Market Street Station
Jeffrey V. Smith for Mountain Music, Arts & Culture Monthly – GOLD HILL Black Cube, a non-profit experimental art museum operating nomadically, has chosen Gold Hill as the setting of its next pop-up exhibition. The Gold Hill Art Project, Aug. 6-Sept. 5, brings together a series of site-specific contemporary art installations situated in cabins and open spaces in the historic mining town for an open-air museum that’s free and open to the public.
thedenverear.com - Celebrate summer at FARMCAD: a local food, art and craft market! Come to the beautiful, historic campus of Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design on Saturday, August 20th, 2016 from 10am to 7pm. Shop for affordable, original art and handmade goods. Enjoy fresh eats from a variety of food trucks and vendors. Plus, participate in a variety of activities, such as yoga, clay sculpture for kids, henna tattoos, face painting, caricatures, and poster making. The event will also feature a live mural painting event by RMCAD-alumnus Daniel Chavez and the opening reception of ROAM, a giant, neon sculpture. The piece is by artist Jon Geiger and will be installed on the roof of a RMCAD building as part of a partnership with Black Cube Nomadic Contemporary Art Museum.
Struck by the strong dialogue between past and present in Gold Hill, Britton Newell began working on the Gold Hill Art Project, a pop-up contemporary art exhibition put on by Black Cube, a nomadic art museum based in Denver. The exhibition is a site-specific exploration of different versions of history that incorporates Gold Hill’s unique stories to conjure ideations beyond any particular time or space.
“Let this be ambitious.” This was the first thing that Cortney Stell, executive director and chief curator of Black Cube Nomadic Museum, said to ceramics artist Molly Berger. For artists like Berger and Eric Stewart — another Black Cube artist fellow whose work will show alongside that of Berger and Jennifer Ling Datchuk in the Gold Hill Art Project — the support of Black Cube is helping to not only launch their artistic careers, but also challenge their thinking and their approach to their artwork.
303 Magazine - The Low Down: This special art opening has a really unique site-specific theme behind it. Taking over locales in Gold Hill, the artwork is centered around the gardens and cabins of this historic mining town. Three artists from Black Cube Artist Fellows have designed their own works to complement the area’s history and landscape. Catch the launch party this Saturday and the exhibit goes through September 5.
Westword article by Lauren Archuletta – Jennifer Ling Datchuk has always felt torn between two worlds. Growing up with a Chinese immigrant mother and a half-Russian, half-Irish father in Ohio after the family moved from Brooklyn, the 2016 Black Cube artist fellow says she’s always felt sort of like an imposter. “I had a really interesting childhood because I felt that I was too Chinese for my American family and too American for my Chinese family,” Ling Datchuk says. “This has become the basis for how I navigate my work, though. I’m always striving for authenticity while figuring out what ‘box’ I fit into.”
Westword article by Lauren Archuletta - Black Cube is known for really breaking out of the box. With the launch of its Gold Hill Art Project, the nomadic museum is taking art out of the galleries and putting it into log cabins with the help of its first curator-in-residence, Laurie Britton Newell.
August's event has extended hours, as FARMCAD is partnering with the West Colfax Mural Fest (alum Daniel Chavez will be painting a mural live) and the Black Cube Nomadic Contemporary Art Museum (the group is placing a temporary art installation on one of the buildings on campus).
Colorado Public Radio's Corey Jones, Stell oversees pop-up exhibitions for Black Cube, a Colorado organization that also brings art to public spaces. Black Cube’s current exhibition “ROAM” will travel to three sites across metro Denver. It’s a large neon sculpture by Detroit artist Jon Geiger that alludes to iconic objects found in the American West.
Denver Post, article by Ray Rinaldi – Black Cube is an art museum without an address. It upends the way we’re used to seeing contemporary work by rejecting the idea of a permanent space in favor of roving, pop-up exhibits that take place indoors and out across the Front Range. The concept comes with considerable challenges. How do you draw crowds to shows that are never in the same place twice? How do you ask an artist to prepare work that will go on display … somewhere?
Westword article by Lauren Archuletta – Black Cube’s artist fellows have pushed the boundaries of the typical pop-up show in the past year by creating giant inflatables, using sites that included both Red Rocks and an entire house, and even questioning Denver’s housing displacement. Now artist fellow Jon P. Geiger has created "ROAM," a 26-foot-high neon sculpture featuring iconic elements of the American West, including five small neon tumbleweeds that will make it look like the piece is rolling.
Westword article by Lauren Archuletta - Black Cube artist fellow Derrick Velasquez is standing in the middle of his workspace at TANK Studios — a piece of foam trim in one hand, a picture of Patrick Swayze in the other — and talking about why a giant medallion-shaped dartboard measuring 96 inches by 78 inches is hanging above his Black Cube and Doors Open Denver exhibition mockup, New Brutal 2.
Westword article by Lauren Archuletta - Since the giant shipping container first came onto the Denver art scene, Black Cube has never been like other museums, especially when it comes to building lasting relationships with its artist fellows. On Saturday, April 23, as part of Doors Open Denver, Black Cube will launch the first of two alumni projects for 2016 with artist fellow Derrick Velasquez and his New Brutal 2.
Local curator-at-large Cortney Lane Stell teamed up with RedLine founder Laura Merage to create a new model for art museums with Black Cube, billed as a nomadic museum that's ready to travel, unfettered by any adherence to place. The name refers to a shipping container that serves as the pop-up venue's gypsy caravan and portable shop, but it also refers conceptually to the museum's blank slate, where anything is possible.
Westword article by Patricia Calhoun - Westord checked in with some of the scene’s stars to see what they’ll be watching — and watching for — this year... This interview is with Brian Vogt, chief executive officer of the Denver Botanic Gardens.
Westword article by Alex Brown – Nomadic museum Black Cube has teamed up with Leisure Gallery to present a live stream with the guy best-known for producing Requiem for a Dream. He's also hailed as a bad-boy art collector and Internet entrepreneur who has been on a quest to assemble an amazing body of contemporary art.
Westword article by Lauren Archuletta – Black Cube's pop-up exhibition that opens March 5 in Texas will mark a lot of firsts for the nomadic museum. This will be the first time that executive director and chief curator Cortney Stell has taken Black Cube outside of Colorado, as well as her first time working in conjunction with a San Antonio-based experimental nonprofit, Sala Diaz.
Glasstire – A site-specific installation by Stephanie Kantor, an artist fellow at Black Cube, a Denver-based nomadic contemporary art museum. The show features hand-painted tiles, tapestries, and wallpapers, merging luxury home living with museum displays and cultural pavilions.
San Antonio Current article by Bryan Rindfuss – This year’s CAMx exhibit, hosted by Sala Diaz, is heavy. Literally. The 2,600 pounds of material, designed and crafted for the “Mock Pavilion” exhibit by Stephanie Kantor — including 1,600 hand-painted tiles, 36 ceramic vessels, tapestries and custom wallpapers — made the long journey from her home base at Black Cube in Denver to San Antonio by way of a huge shipping container.
San Antonio Current article by James Courtney – Cortney Stell, the executive director and chief curator for the Denver-based Black Cube Nomadic Contemporary Art Museum, who selected the visiting artist Stephanie Kantor (more on her in the following section) for the CAMx exhibit at Sala Diaz, talked to the Current a bit about her involvement and the importance of art in general.
San Antonio Current Staff Writer - This year's CAMx exhibit, hosted by Sala Diaz, is heavy. Literally. The 2,600 pounds of material, designed and crafted for the "Mock Pavilion" exhibit by Stephanie Kantor — including 1,600 hand-painted tiles, 36 ceramic vessels, tapestries and custom wallpapers — made the long journey from her home base at Black Cube in Denver to San Antonio by way of a huge shipping container.
Rivard Report article by Tami Kegly – Sala Diaz is a world-renowned experimental exhibition space, residency program and community organization. This exhibition pairs Sala Diaz with Denver-based Black Cube Nomadic Museum. Featured is a site-specific ceramic installation by Black Cube artist fellow Stephanie Kantor.
Westword article by Lauren Archuletta
Westword - Samantha Johnston mentioned us in her 100 Colorado Creatives Interview.
Westword by Susan Froyd. Yes, you are officially running late if you’re not at the wrapping-and-placing-under-the-tree stage of things. That means it’s time to go online — and to help you out, we've done some research. Here are ten ways to support local artists and surprise your friends and family.
Westword, by Lauren Archuletta. “Have you heard of Gillette Syndrome?” That's the question Cortney Stell, Black Cube executive director and chief curator, poses as she begins to describe this Thursday's The New Denver + New Brutal discussion. “If a city grows really, really fast, a sense of community wanes. Gillette Syndrome is named after a town in Wyoming that experienced this.”
Westword, by Laurie Lynnxe Murphy. Aesthetics have been primary in my life as an artist, central to all I do and think about — whether I want them to be or not. It has always seemed impossible to separate form from function. And in a very real sense, the two are inseparable: No matter whether form follows function or vice versa, both are always present.
Westword article by Michael Paglia – This past summer, RedLine founder Laura Merage launched another Denver art venue, Black Cube, which was conceived as a nomadic museum based out of a black metal container in the shape of a cube.
Denver Life – Currently at the Stanley Marketplace, Black Cube Nomadic Museum is hosting the pop-up exhibit New Brutal by artist fellow Derrick Velasquez. The main feature is Velasquez’s largest work to date — a 25-foot tower-shaped sculpture inspired by common building materials.
The Denver Post – By Ray Mark Rinaldi – Through Dec. 12. The new Black Cube gallery has shaken up Denver's art scene, adding something it didn't know it needed: intrigue. The nomadic gallery doesn't have a fixed site; instead, it moves around the region unveiling monumental works from artists near and far. First, it was a performance piece at Red Rocks, then a giant, inflatable prospector downtown. Next up is artist Derrick Velasquez's "New Brutal," a 25-foot tower inside Stapleton's Stanley Marketplace, an old airline hangar being converted into an urban co-op.
Like most Denver residents, Black Cube artist fellow Derrick Velasquez has grown accustomed to seeing apartment building after apartment building appear throughout the city. The “blocked, stacked and stereotypical-colored” boxes are the inspiration for his upcoming exhibition, New Brutal, which will debut tomorrow in the future home of the Stanley Marketplace in Aurora, as the third in a series presented by the nomadic museum. As Velasquez’s project focuses on dissecting the construction process, he says it’s fitting that it will be in area where construction is constant.
Aurora Sentinel – The seemingly sudden arrival of thirsty Californians, bored New Englanders and every restless soul in between has abruptly shaded the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood corridor with increasingly complex hues.
Construction crews won’t finish the Stanley Marketplace until 2016, but one tower on the property opens this week. The 26-foot tower, Tyvek siding intact, doesn’t look finished. But it’s by design. The piece is a temporary art installation commissioned by Black Cube, a nonprofit art organization that has no permanent exhibition space. Director Courtney Stell said the piece is meant to be a dissonant echo of the construction sites around it.
DENVER (CBS4)– Driving down Grant Street in Denver, you can’t miss the latest piece of big blue art to hit town. The 40-foot-tall inflatable prospector is located between Colfax and 14th, on the east side of the state Capitol building.
(Denver Post) Artist Chad Person commemorates Denver's good times with his pickaxe-wielding "Prospector," a "guerilla monument" set up across from the State Capitol.
(Colorado Public Radio) A giant, blue miner has arrived in Denver, and later today he will wield his pickaxe in a parking lot just east of the Capitol. "Prospector" is an inflatable sculpture by artist Chad Person.
(Westword) Something big is coming to Denver. It will tower over some buildings, and be seen from blocks away. It will be blue, and it will be startling. At first glance, it will look familiar — but you may need a few minutes to place exactly where you've seen it before.
Westword profile's Black Cube launch artist, Desiree Holman, and Sophont in Action
(Colorado Public Radio) Colorado Matters features Black Cube launch event and artist, Desiree Holman.
ARTFORUM releases the list of Black Cube's first class of artist fellows.
Westword's Lauren Archuletta interviews Cortney Stell, our Executive Director about launching Black Cube.
Colorado Public Radio's arts editor, Corey H. Jones' piece announcing Black Cube.