JOYENGINE: cause sharing is cool

It’s been about 4 years since Denver’s Jason Thielke quit his graphic design gig to pursue art full time.  In that short span of time he’s become a father, shown work coast to coast, as far away as Germany, and is now  recognized as one of our nations leading young contemporary artists.  I missed Jason’s first semi-professional (still working a day job) show, but caught his second at Boulder’s Ins+allation alongside Scot Lefavor (another super contemporary who calls Denver home).  It was immediately clear that Jason had the talent, skills and aesthetic sensibilities to break into the contemporary art world, and do it on his own terms.  Since then it’s been nothing but progress.  In 2007 Jason teamed up with another Denver art world star in David B. Smith, and began showing at Dave’s Limited Addiction Gallery (since renamed David B. Smith Gallery).  Now, it’s 2009, we just wrapped up Jason’s new website (there’s a lot more yet to come) and Mr. Smith is out in New York exhibiting Jason’s work in the Scope Art Fair.

Being a creative professional myself, albeit predominantly a commercial one, and having a body of friends, peers, and mentors made up primarily of artists, and other creative professionals I’d like think I have some idea as to what it takes to make in the art world.  And to put it simply, it’s not easy.  It takes talent, honed skills, dedication, and an ability to perpetually adapt, evolve, and sacrifice – on all sorts of levels.  Jason possesses all of these traits in abundance.  He’s an inspiration to my partners and I, and we’re proud to call him a friend and have the pleasure of working with him.  We can’t wait to see what Mr. Thielke’s got up his sleeve in 09′.

Kim & Jesse by Jason Thielke for the 2009 Scope New York Art Fair

January 24th, 2009 saw the grand opening of the David B Smith Gallery (formerly Limited Addiction Gallery). The group show titled, Group Exhibition, Part 1 will show from January 24th through February 21st, 2009. Of all the artist involved in the show (Emil Alzamora, Ala Ebtekar, Gregory Euclide, Amir H. Fallah, Josh Keyes, Kris Lewis, Kristen Schiele, Jason Thielke & Oliver Vernon), Euclid, Keyes, and Thieke were in attendance. The group show, along with the unveiling of the David B Smith Gallery was a tremendous success.  Attendees to the show capitalized on grabbing a copy of the 48 page book previewing the artists to show at the David B Smith Gallery in 2009. Boulder’s cypher13 was also in attendance as they came to see the success of their partnership with David B Smith in designing the book along with the entire David B Smith brand, from identity to gallery signage.

Denver’s Limited Addiction Gallery will reopen as the David B. Smith Gallery with ‘Group Exhibition, Part 1′ on Saturday, January 24th.  For more information on what’s shaping up to be a most amazing group show, visit the new gallery website at www.davidbsmithgallery.com.  Preview pics coming soon…

Limited Addiction Gallery just released a new print from Jason Thielke.  If you haven’t seen some of Thielke’s latest work you may have missed the awesomness that is painted backgrounds revealing to wood.  We’ve seen a handful of pieces using this new technique in person and they’re stunning.

The print is an edition of 50 and measures 27″ x 22″. At $150 a pop, these babies ain’t going to last! Pick one up here!

I was first turned on to the artwork of Ryan Bubnis a couple years ago at our friend Dave Smith’s, inaugural group show at Limited Addiction Gallery.  Lucian picked a piece by Ryan, and we’ve since followed his trajectory in the contemporary art world.  He’s a great artist and seems to have won the respect of some key peeps, as evidenced by his recent release for kidrobot, Heroes and Heartbreakers.  Awesome to see. Grab ‘em while you still can.

Limited Addiction Gallery has a stellar show opening this evening.  The show features the work of Anthony Ausgang, Lori Field, and Naoto Hattori.  Stop by to exercise your eyeballs and soak up some super artwork!!!

All the work is available online here for early viewing.

We’ve been doing a lot of work with Limited Addiction Gallery lately, including all the JUX ads and flyers.  It’s pretty great compiling all the awesome art month to month.

Matt Curry and Robert Hardgrave are showing this month. The show opens this Saturday, September 16th at 7pm and the artists will be in attendance.  You can check out the work on the LAG site.  And be sure to stop by and see it in person!

Matt Curry

Robert Hardgrave

Gregory Euclide will be showing some seriously stunning new works at Denver’s Limited Addiction Gallery this Thursday and Friday evening. If you’re not familiar with Gregory’s work or his background, here’s a little info via LAG on the artist, his work, and his up’coming opening… “Limited Addiction Gallery proudly presents a solo exhibition of new works by Minneapolis-based artist Gregory Euclide; it will be the artist’s first in Denver. For his new series Euclide continues to explore the delicate dichotomy between urban and natural experiences through themes of protection and preservation of our environment. Euclide will create a site-specific installation that experiments with process and material, including large-scale sculptural works and studies of the illusion and actuality of space. The exhibition will be on view from Friday, June 6 through Sunday, June 29th with a special preview reception and opening for the artist held on Thursday, June 5 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event marks Limited Addiction Gallery’s first weeknight opening, and will provide an intimate experience for viewers interested in a first look at the show and an opportunity to meet the artist in person. ”

This opening looks pretty mind-blowing and certainly worthy of a visit. It’s only Monday, so plan accordingly…

Here’s a little preview of Gregory’s installation and some of his latest works.

If you live in the Denver area make sure to swing by Limited Addiction Gallery to check out the current Justin BUA exhibition. Justin BUA is widely recognized as one of the most compelling urban artists of all time. The show runs until 05.24.08.

I know this information has been posted before. I took a few more photos of AJ Fosik’s current work at Limited Addiction Gallery that I’d like to share. If you haven’t seen these fine works of art in person you need to check them out…the show comes down this weekend.

The lovely folks over at Limited Addiction Gallery just put up the pieces for their next show, Grant Barnhart, Saiman Chow and AJ Fosik. I’m personally super stoked to see AJ’s wood cut animal heads. The only other one I’ve seen in person was back in the day at The Friends Show. For those of you who don’t know, AJ’s studio used to be in the basement of Andenken, but he’s since moved on.  You can see the rest of the work here and be sure to check out the opening on Friday the 22nd.

Jason Thielke has cemented and repeatedly reaffirmed his place amongst todays leading progressive contemporary artists. He did it again on Saturday, January 12th at Limited Addiction Gallery and we were all there to see it. The whole crew was out, extra-inspired, and aligned in full support of Jason. Frankly, the whole evening was pretty special. A big thanks and fat props go out to Dave Smith and the whole LAG team for supporting Jason and hosting a spectacular exhibition of his work. Have a look at how it all went down…