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

Devon Dikeou, “’What’s Love Got To Do With It’: From Sculpture,” 1991 ongoing; (detail) “Reserved for Leo Castelli: Since Cezanne (After Clive Bell),” 2012 ongoing

“In-betweeness” is a central theme to Devon Dikeou’s art practice, which she describes as the spaces and materials that set the stage for important events and human interaction. She takes a specific element of that space, like a sign board from a gallery lobby or a napkin from a cocktail party and magnifies its role in what transpired within its proximity. She often goes further to recreate the space itself, be it a Parisian café or a bedroom in The White House. This conceptual model lends itself to art that materializes as everyday objects and installations, but there is more to it than that. What makes Dikeou a master of this model is that she is not merely repurposing the ordinary but rather reclaiming and elevating it as something significant, worthy, and precious. We now exist in a time when people crave nothing but normalcy, and Dikeou’s works exhibited in her retrospective exhibition “Mid-Career Smear” at The Dikeou Collection satisfies that craving for the everyday.

Devon Dikeou, “Security/Secure,” 1989; (detail) “Do I Know You?,” 1991 ongoing; (detail) “The News,” 1991 ongoing; (detail) Security Ke-Master, 1991 ongoing

After an extended closure due to Covid-19, The Dikeou Collection officially reopened to the public in March 2021. Seeing new and familiar faces walk through the doors has been a refreshing reminder how important real-life art experiences are for everyone in the creative ecosystem, especially when that experience mimics “real life.” Security/Secure, The News, Do I Know You, Security Ke-Master… these are all objects one would see throughout the day, but in 2020 and 2021 thus far, they are now novel and dare I say, exciting. A man with his family visited recently, and while in the office (complete with an employee time clock and cards) he commented how he felt like he was at work, a place he had not been in close to a year. And the crazy part is that he actually seemed happy and energized by that realization.

Devon Dikeou, “’Takes A Licking, And Keeps On Ticking’—Timex Ad Campaign,” 1991 ongoing

Only in these strange Covid-times would someone revel in the fact that an art exhibition makes them feel like they are at their job. There is an inherent understanding that art experiences are special and meant to be appreciated because we carve time out of our busy schedules to have them. We seek opportunities to momentarily escape our normal lives and try to see the world through a fresh creative lens. Now that the world’s scope of normal is upended, we long to go back to the days of seeing businesses open their big front gates in the morning and grabbing a sandwich from the deli before heading into work or school. Devon Dikeou and The Dikeou Collection invite you to return to that world, just as you left it.

-Hayley Richardson