Photo: Ari Marcopoulos

As an accomplished artist and musician, Lizzi Bougatsos permeates multiple creative circles. Several of her artworks, like Good Hair (2010), In God We Bust (2012), and Pussy for Rent (2010) have been on view at Dikeou Pop-Up: Colfax since 2014, at which time she came to Denver for the official opening and DJ’d and a sang a few notes for the event. This little performance was just a glimpse into her talents as a musician, and we got the full experience last Saturday when her band Gang Gang Dance played at Denver’s Underground Music Showcase. The group is hot off the release of a new album, Kazuashita, and their show in Denver was one of the first to kick off a tour that will cover the Eastern U.S. before heading to Japan in October.

We linked with Lizzi (vocals, percussion), Brian DeGraw (keys/synth), Doug Shaw (bass), Josh Diamond (guitar), and Ryan Sawyer (drums), as well as their manager Rich and Moses Archuleta of Deerhunter for dinner at Domo Japanese Kitchen on Friday. They had just arrived in Denver and needed the kind of sustenance only donburi and sake could provide. Lizzi asked if I happen to know any newborns and what their names are, as they have a song where she gives shout-outs to “all the babies of the world.” Dinner later led to drinks at Pon Pon Bar where Brian played a DJ set featuring an eclectic mix of reggae, dub, 80s synth, and other slinky jams. They managed to slip out before witching hour, as they had an 8am load-in and sound check the next morning – plus leftover saba nuggets to consume.

The Underground Music Showcase is a multi-venue event that spans about 6 blocks on South Broadway. Gang Gang Dance performed at the Imagination Stage located in the back lot of an auto mechanic shop. Their music sounds just as otherworldly and ethereal live as it does on their albums, with a fluid yet lively stage energy to match. At one point, Lizzi declared the next song was dedicated to the future and all the little ones out there who will one day be that future (hence the baby name question earlier). The 40-minute set was a teaser to what the band could pull off within in a full-on concert, and certainly got the crowd eager to get more Gang Gang action the next chance they can.

Thinking about Lizzi’s work as both a visual and musical artist, there are some interesting parallel’s and differences in her output. In both she is collaborative, experimental, eclectic, and versatile. Though her art possesses sensuality, there is a sense of abruptness that is absent in the softer textures of her musical output. The visual art by DeGraw, comprised mainly of mixed-media works on paper that blend the abstract with the figurative, reflects the balance between improvisation and finely tuned technical skills prevalent in his instrumentations. It is crazy to think that the term “interdisciplinary” is still sometimes looked down upon in the creative world, due to this unsubstantiated notion that the artist is not dedicated enough to a specific outlet and deemed unfocused. If one were to look at the bigger picture instead of categorizing each element of an artist’s work, then the dedication, thoughtfulness, and complexity of their craft(s) can be understood as something greater than the sum of its parts.

- Hayley Richardson

Conceptualism has played a crucial role in art history for nearly a century, yet it remains somewhat of an outlier from the more “established” movements and methods that utilize familiar media like painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography. However, conceptual art can and does in fact incorporate these hallmarks of artmaking – they are just utilized, presented, and interpreted in a more ambiguous manner. Process and aesthetics are still very much part of the package, but concepts and ideas take center stage. On April 4 artist, zingmagazine founder/publisher/editor, and Dikeou Collection co-founder/curator Devon Dikeou spoke at Denver Art Museum as part of the Logan Lecture Series, Artists on Art: From Any Angle in which she delved into her own practice as a conceptual artist while simultaneously reflecting on the thoughts and procedures nearly all artists encounter, no matter their -ism.

In a 2009 interview with Karen Wright for Art in America, artist John Baldessari stated that he would tell his students, “Instead of looking at things, look between things.” This “between-ness” has played a pivotal role in Dikeou’s own practice, and she used the quote as the jumping off point for her talk which helped ground the audience before blasting off on a fun and twisting ride through her mind. The talk was structured around a 2016 book titled Art Is the Highest Form of Hope & Other Quotes by Artists, which features words of wisdom from artists related to one of forty-two different topics, like space, color, audience, success, failure, and limitation. Dikeou responded to each of these topics with her own insights and anecdotes, resulting in a poignant, entertaining, and educational orientation on the inner mechanisms of the art world from someone who has worked it from every angle.

Art was not the only thing that Dikeou related to the forty-two topics from the book. She also pulled heavily from pop culture. From MTV, Elon Musk, and Mad Magazine, to fashion, 80s teen movies, and Playboy, Dikeou ran the gamut when it came to referencing the wildly diverse range of what inspires her daily. These references, seemingly so peripheral to the world of art, reveal aspects of the “between-ness” of her practice, all that transpires between studio and gallery, between exhibition and audience, that subtly yet crucially influences how art is understood and valued.

Dikeou’s delivery was very performative as well, complete with singing, poetry, jokes, props, and audience interaction via Instagram. Attendees were also treated to a very special limited-edition keepsake: a glass perfume bottle with engraved text to commemorate the occasion. Inside the bottle is a piece of lavender ribbon printed with the day’s weather forecast … just a prediction. Naturally people opened the bottles to smell them, and insisted how wonderful the smell was even though they were completely unscented. These gestures, so immediately delightful, are really a hidden nod/wink to conceptualism and how it spins the obvious into a deeper consideration of cultural values and ideas.

*photos courtesy of Denver Art Museum

-Hayley Richardson

Pareidolia is when the mind senses and reinterprets certain stimuli and reconfigures them into a recognizable form. An example of this is seeing familiar objects or lifeforms in cloud formations, or hearing speech patterns behind a veil of white noise. There is a strong psychological drive to personify that which is non-human, and it is one that has served as great creative inspiration for artists for centuries. Attuned to this phenomenon is Anya Kielar, whose assemblages of old shower heads, brooms, and egg cartons merge together to create Sand Face #1 and Sand Face #2. Exhibited at Dikeou Collection, the two works “face” one another on opposite walls, placing the viewer between their staring eyes made of rope and sticks and coated with boldly colored sparkling sand. The faces imbue inanimate objects with character and emotion, but they also look at moments in art history that mark significant shifts in cultural, aesthetic, and social values.

In a zingmagazine interview with Rachel Cole Dalamangas, Kielar expressed that she is “fascinated by ancient cultures and drawn to things that were made to carry out some symbolic purpose or that had some kind of belief structure behind them.” She instills these objects with energy and magic, transforming them from trampled waste into 21^st-century totems. In her artist statement Kielar compares covering the objects with sand to entombment, in which “they become more like archaeological relics that are part of an eccentrically hewn alphabet. What they spell out is interchangeable and depends on how the viewer projects their own identity complex.” This mode of thought spills into the world of Surrealism, which found much inspiration from the archaeological and ethnographic artifacts coming from Africa, Central and South America, and Asia. The “projection” alluded to by Kielar can also be connected to the Surrealists’ interests in psychology and how the mind works on a subconscious level. Her process of picking up random objects off the street and collaging them together onto Masonite is akin to the Surrealist gesture of automatism.

Jump ahead several decades and we see how Sand Face #1 and Sand Face #2 fits perfectly within the 1970s-era of funky arts & crafts. Fiber arts were particularly popular during this era. From macramé plant holders and yarn-wrapped gods eyes, to embroidered wall hangings and crocheted halter tops, these homespun creations were crucial to the aesthetics of the 70s. Paint-by-number, colored gravel, pet rocks, beading, tie-dye, pressed and wax-dipped flowers were also prevalent. Characterized by a simple approach to design and forward use of color, it is easy to see how the creative hobby trends of the 1970s emanate from Kielar’s sand face creations.

Crafting is [stereotypically] characterized as a female activity, something that is done in the home with domestic materials, and feminist artists of the 70s employed crafts to communicate the limitations opposed on women as well as celebrate their power. One of the strongest examples of this was the Womanhouse project/exhibition organized by Miriam Schapiro and Judy Chicago in 1972 in California. Susan Frazier’s Aprons in the Kitchen, Faith Wilding’s Crocheted Environment, and Sandy Orgel’s Linen Closet showed how the female experience is defined by the space, objects, and expectations associated with the home in ways that are both positive and negative. Likewise, Kielar has used art as a way to explore the complex nature of femininity, both universally and personally. The female figures she depicts, or vestiges thereof, are sharp, uninhibited, and confident but also playful, humorous, and inviting. Sand Face #1 and Sand Face #2 are key examples of how multifaceted women’s lives are, and, like the pareidolia experience, it is something that can catch you off-guard but leave you feeling charmed.

-Hayley Richardson

Sarah Staton’s SupaStore project began on the streets of London in the early 1990s and has since become an ongoing venture that has taken place at museums, galleries and alternative venues all over the world. As an artist with a long-standing history with the Dikeou Collection and zingmagazine, we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to exhibit SupaStore in Denver when Staton proposed the idea last fall. Last month Staton journeyed across the Atlantic to Denver to install SupaStore Human – We are the Product at Dikeou Pop-Up: Colfax for a very rare temporary exhibition within the permanent collection. In addition to installing the project Sarah also lead a plaster casting workshop and presented an artist talk at the opening. It is always a treat to welcome a Dikeou Collection artist to Denver, and to host Sarah for a week and witness her make this project come to life was certainly one of the highlights of the year.

Collection Research Assistant Hannah Cole arranges the pages of a Culling Richards artist book and Sarah places one of her SupaScarfs. Rough cut aluminum weapons by Lito Kattou adorn the walls in the background.

Sarah’s daughter Ozziline models a painted coat by Lindsey Mendick.

A workshop where participants cast their body parts was held the night before the opening. While most people cast their hands and feet, a couple brave souls opted for the elbow and the ear. Results varied.

Scenes from SupaStore Human - We are the Product opening reception and artist talk.

Faux beard or Nicole Wermers merkin? You be the judge.

Minerva, the Roman goddess of art, trade, handicrafts and wisdom, has become the public face of the SupaStore and represents the classical origins of these now mechanized exchanges. Her spears accompany Paula Linke’s frozen summer fruit t-shirts and her shield with Steve Kado’s AGPTL: BAG.

Limited edition #DicktatorDon by Dd Davies, Ejaz Christian’s HeartFlyLove GIF, and Community Kunst playing cards by GAS.

Mouse nibbled huckleberry seeds, aka Alien Heads, by Nicola Tyson.

Ceramic foam Face Necklaces by Saelia Aparicio look good enough to eat.

Malverde Hands, plaster  hands with nails did, by Dikeou Collection’s art preparator Dmitri Obergfell.

T-shirts featuring Dikeou Superstars Lawrence Seward, Lisa Kereszi, Sarah Staton, Justin Goldwater, and Tracy Nakayama.

SupaPimp sunglasses accompanied by hand, elbow, and ear casts.

Artfully inspired cleaning brushes by Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan with Tanya Ling pink handprinted sweatshirt.

SupaLuxe cashmere throws by Sean Sullivan Saved NY. Welcome to blanket country!

If you’d like to read more about SupaStore Human - We are the Product check out Cori Anderson’s article from 303magazine and Susan Froyd’s write-up for Denver Westword!

SupaStore Human - We are the Product is one view at Dikeou Pop-Up: Colfax (312 E Colfax Ave) Wednesday through Friday 11am-5pm as well as by appointment through February 2018.

-Hayley Richardson

RESERVED FOR LEO CASTELLI: SINCE CEZANNE (After Clive Bell)
2010
Lateral View
Wall: C-Print Wall Mural of Name Plate Reserving a Table in Perpetuity for the Preeminent Art Dealer Leo Castelli
Floor: 2 Tables and 4 Chairs from the Restaurant Mezzogiorno
Photographed at Independent Art Fair in 2010

In 1951 Leo Castelli curated the groundbreaking Ninth Street Show that marked the emergence of Abstract Expressionism, thus beginning a new chapter in the history of art. Six years later he opened his eponymous gallery in New York City that continued this trend of showcasing revolutionary art from America and Europe. Dubbed “the godfather of the contemporary art world” by Dennis Hopper, it is arguable that Castelli would not have found himself in this position without the initial influence and ongoing support of his wife, partner, and friend, Ileana Sonnabend. Together, Leo and Ileana championed the avant-garde, the difficult, the misunderstood art of the 20^th century and gave it the visibility and support it needed to succeed. Devon Dikeou created her installations Reserved for Leo Castelli and Reserved for Ileana Sonnabend as an homage to these important figures. Both are exhibited at Dikeou Collection and remind us that, in large part because of them, we are able to experience the complex and progressive dialogues put forth by the variety of contemporary artists represented in the collection.

RESERVED FOR ILEANA SONNABEND: “BUDDHA OR MACHIAVELLI”
(Brenda Richardson about Ileana Sonnabend as quoted by Calvin Tomkins— The New Yorker)
2010 Ongoing
Wall: C-Print of Name Plate Reserving a Table in Perpetuity for the Preeminent Art Dealer Ileana Sonnabend
Floor: 1 Table and 2 Chairs from the Restaurant Mezzogiorno
Photographed at NADA Miami Beach in 2010

Leo Castelli’s gallery moved around over the years and established multiple locations in Manhattan, predominantly centralized in the Upper East Side and SoHo. Though Leo and Ileana divorced in 1959, they remained close associates, and she started her own gallery near one of Leo’s SoHo outposts. Naturally, being in such close proximity, they shared space with one another amicably in both public and private realms. One of these spaces was Mezzogiorno, an Italian restaurant that specializes in Florentine fare where art dealers would wine and dine curators, artists, and collectors. Leo was at Mezzogiorno so often that he joked a table should be permanently reserved just for him, and so it happened. A brass plaque inscribed with “Reserved for Leo Castelli” and the name of the restaurant below was hung on the wall next to a four-top table. Later Ileana was given the same plaque, only her table sat just two, a nuanced jab at women’s status in the business of art. Upon seeing these plaques years later, Devon Dikeou immediately recognized their great symbolic value.

Dikeou’s art aims to define the spaces that act as interfaces between the artist, the context of viewing the art, and the collector. Her interest in the role of liminal spaces that serve as significant yet overlooked areas where important things occur, like major art exchanges at a small neighborhood restaurant, make the “Reserved” plaques the perfect subjects within her scope of practice. Dikeou photographed each of the plaques and printed them in two sizes – one to match the exact dimensions of the real plaque and mural-sized to fill an entire wall. The wall-sized murals are accompanied by dining sets from Mezzogiorno; a table for two for Ileana, and a table for four for Leo. Each of these installations were originally exhibited at art fairs, which Dikeou calls “the most fluid arena of art world market.” Today they exist at Dikeou Collection, another fluid environment but one where monetary exchange is absent, just like the dealers who are absent from their tables. The installation becomes a space where viewers can reflect on the tremendous influence these people had on the art world without overt reference to their wheelings and dealings. As Dikeou notes in her artist statement, “the plaques exist reserving a table in eternity for each art world deity, or perhaps their angels.”

Mezzogiorno has always taken pride in its status as a hub for artists and folks in the fashion and entertainment industries. Their website features an engaging gallery page with photos of their beloved patron, artist drawings, and press archives. Above is a clip from a cartoon published in a 1993 Vanity Fair article about the acclaimed eatery, with Ileana sharing a glass of wine with John Baldessari at her table for two, and Leo canoodling with Umberto Eco, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist.

-Hayley Richardson