Photo by Anthony Camera

The winter solstice is a time to reflect on the year that’s passed, and prepare for the new year ahead. Celebrated as Yule, an ancient pagan holiday, the solstice nestles itself between Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and other year-end festivities to symbolically (and astronomically) observe the longest night with brighter days to come. Our new tradition at The Dikeou Collection is to commemorate the seasonal equinoxes and solstices with a reception at Dikeou Pop-Up: Colfax, so on December 21 we put on our dancing shoes and party hats, and lots of other pagan garb, and made the most out of the longest night of the year.

Photo by Anthony Camera

With its close proximity to Christmas, the solstice was the perfect opportunity to activate one of Devon Dikeou’s early performance pieces, “You Better Watch Out” (1991 Ongoing). Santa John was in attendance and pulled out all the stops - asking attendees if they’ve been naughty or nice, delighting in milk and cookies, and spiking the egg nog. Dikeou’s “Donation” was rejuvenated with an installation of fresh flowers, and was in good company with Lizzi Bougatsos’ “Self-Portrait.” DARIA Magazine founder and editor Genevieve Waller played festive selections from our vinyl archived, adorned in her finest gothic-wear for the dark night ahead.

Devon has been collecting costume materials over the last few months to match the groovy vintage photos that grace the cover of zingmagazine as solstice garb. Photographer Anthony Camera could not have been more excited to document all the action as we played dress up in the rock’n’roll basement. The results are nothing short of amazing…

All of the following images by Anthony Camera Photography. More selections can be found at www.dikeoucollection.org, and the full portfolio can be viewed at anthonycamera.com

A quick snapshot of what Dikeou Collection artists have been up to over the past month, and what to look forward to next month.

zingmagazine Managing Editor Brandon Johnson as Lawrence Welk

Devon Dikeou gave a crash-course in the zingmagazine legacy with managing editor Brandon Johnson for X Marks the Spot: A History of zingmagazine, Artist-Run-Publishing, and the Future of Print at Dikeou Pop-Up: Colfax on November 9. Video documentation of that conversation can be viewed on zingmagazine’s Instagram account.

Dikeou was joined with curator Cortney Lane Stell the following week for the much-anticipated artist / curator conversation What’s In-Between at The Dikeou Collection. You can catch the video documentation of that conversation here.

Artwork by Wade Guyton, courtesy of Reena Spaulings

Wade Guyton opens his solo exhibition, Supply Chain, at Reena Spaulings on December 5

Artwork by Anya Kielar, image courtesy of Rachel Uffner Gallery

Anya Kielar solo exhibition, The Muses, is on view at Rachel Uffner Gallery through January 8, 2022

Artwork by Joshua Abelow, courtesy of Anthony Greaney

Joshua Abelow solo exhibition, Trust Fall, is on view at Anthony Greaney through January 22, 2022

Image courtesy of Ballroom Marfa, youtube

Check out Ester Partegàs on Texas Talks Art from earlier this spring with Ballroom Marfa curator Daisy Nam

Artwork by Marcel Dzama, courtesy of David Zwirner Gallery

Three prints by Marcel Dzama are set to launch David Zwirner’s new contemporary print company, Utopia Editions.

Artwork by Chris Gilmour, courtesy of city of Leicester

Chris Gilmour built a stunning recreation of the city of Leicester entirely out of cardboard as part of the community’s annual Diwali celebration

Image courtesy of Barnabé Fillion

Designboom.com delved into Anicka Yi’s bio-tech hybrid installation “In Love With the World” at Tate Modern. She has also collaborated on a new fragrance brand called Arpa with perfumer Barnabé Fillion

A quick snapshot of what Dikeou Collection artists have been up to over the past month, and what to look forward to next month.

zingmagazine

Devon Dikeou and zingmagazine Managing Editor, Brandon Johnson, will be in conversation at Dikeou Pop-Up: Colfax on November 9th for “X Marks the Spot: A History of zingmagazine, Artist-Run-Publishing, and the Future of Print” 

Devon Dikeou Studio and The Dikeou Collection

Devon Dikeou will be in conversation again the following week with “Mid-Career Smear” curator Cortney Lane Stell at The Dikeou Collection on November 18th for “What’s In-Between: Artist and Curator Conversation with Devon Dikeou and Cortney Lane Stell”

Johanna Jackson and Chris Johnson as photographed for The New York Times

Chris Johanson and his wife Johanna Jackson were recently featured in The New York Times article, “An Artist Couple Who Live Among the Furniture They Create”

Flyer artwork by Bree Dolan

Devon Dikeou and Brandon Johnson will have work exhibited at the is FAIR 20202021, co-curated by Dikeou Collection Director Hayley Richardson, opening at the Globeville Rec Center in Denver November 11-14

Illustration by Marcel Dzama from Between the Lines Coloring Book

Find Marcel Dzama’s drawings featured in Between the Lines Coloring Book from RxART

“Peace Bear with Chili Pepper” by Sarah Staton

Sarah Staton contributed a life-size bear sculpture to Bears of Sheffield charity auction

Lawrence Seward, “1989″ and Momoyo Torimitsu, “Business in New York” as represented in The Dikeou Collection

Lawrence Seward and Momoyo Torimitsu will both be featured in the 2022 Hawai’i Contemporary Triennial 

Anicka Yi, “In Love With The World,” image courtesy of Tate Modern

Anicka Yi talks about her new installation “In Love With The World” with The UK Standard, DPA, Vogue, and The Guardian

Chris Gilmour, “Ford” as represented in The Dikeou Collection

Chris Gilmour served as inspiration for Rochelle Township High School students who created relief cardboard sculptures from recycled cardboard boxes for their 3-D Studio art classes

A quick snapshot of what Dikeou Collection artists have been up to over the past month, and what to look forward to next month.

Devon Dikeou, “Donation” (detail), 2009 Ongoing

Devon Dikeou “Mid-Career Smear” in Denver, CO celebrated the fall equinox with the relaunch of the Dikeou Literary Series at Dikeou Pop-Up: Colfax

Ester Partegàs, “Codependence,” 2019, cardboard, cotton fabric, wood glue, Fast Maché, acrylic and enamel paint, sealer, steel, plywood, 61 x 49 x 49 inches Courtesy of the artist and Foxy Production, NY.

Ester Partegàs and Claire Watson’s exhibition Guardian is on view at Essex Flowers in Chinatown through October 2.

Anicka Yi, “Biologizing The Machine (tentacular trouble),” 2019. Photo: Renato Ghiazza

Anicka Yi will debut her most ambitious project to date at Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall on October 12.

Sarah Staton, “Alphonso,” 2021, wood-fired brick and bespoke hand paintings

Sarah Staton unveiled “Alphonso,” a public art installation in Newton Leys on September 19. Her SupaStore Pressure Drop traveling exhibition is currently on view at Cylinder Gallery in Seoul, South Korea.

Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber, “Library,” 2021

Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber of the Royal Art Lodge recently published Library, a book of collaborative paintings and illustrations of imaginary books and their titles.

Marcel Dzama, NYC Transit Bedford Avenue Station. Commissioned by MTA Arts & Design. Photo: MTA Arts & Design/ Kris Graves

Marcel Dzama, also from Royal Art Lodge lineage, created stunning mosaics at the Bedford and 1st Ave L Train stations in NYC

Devon Dikeou, “Donation,” 2009 Ongoing

Located in the former Jerry’s Record Exchange storefront, Dikeou Pop-Up: Colfax is an extension of The Dikeou Collection and offers an expanded look at Devon Dikeou “Mid-Career Smear” curated by Cortney Lane Stell. A reception was held at this location on September 22 to commemorate the fall equinox and welcome back our beloved Dikeou Literary Series.

Some of Devon Dikeou’s earliest work from her career, as well as brand new pieces exhibited for the first time, are currently on view at the Dikeou pop-up. Dikeou’s outdoor installation, “Donation,” was the focal point of the event, as it receives a new arrangement of fresh flowers four times a year on the seasonal equinoxes and solstices. This massive architectural niche replicates those found within the Grand Hall of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which receives new flowers on a weekly basis in a perpetual donation courtesy of benefactor Lila Acheson Wallace. As a member of the press, Dikeou would be privy to the Monday press previews at the museum, and witness the changing of the flowers, with last week’s arrangements tossed on the floor piece by piece.

Lizzi Bougatsos, “Self-Portrait,” 2012

This interplay of what is temporary and what is permanent is reflected in another work in the Dikeou Collection by artist Lizzi Bougatsos, whose “Self-Portrait” ice sculpture is now part of the seasonal equinox/solstice cycle present within “Mid-Career Smear,” and was also on view as a special edition for the occasion. With a gorgeously opulent floral display fresh from the day, “Donation” provided the perfect setting for one of the first Dikeou Collection public gatherings in over a year.

Equinox Bleu

Organized by writer, teacher, and editor Mairead Case, the Dikeou Literary Series is the collection’s longest running program (over a decade!). The readers for the evening included Ivan Levitt, a sophomore at George Washington High School in Denver, André O. Hoilette who was nominated for a 2020 Pushcart Prize, Common Name Farm co-founder Phil Cordelli, and 2019 Fence Modern Poet winner Tess Brown-Lavoie. Reading equinox-themed works as the sun went down and the construction lights blared, the feelings of togetherness, openness, and sharing we’ve all longed for during these long months was fully achieved.

More event images can found here