Gallery 1261

Gallery 1261 was packed. Located on an unprepossessing street in the Golden Triangle neighborhood of Denver, it didn’t seem like the kind of place that would draw such a crowd. But they were there not just for Golden Triangle Museum District‘s first Friday art walk, not just for the luscious raspberry cake from Gateaux—

“It’s all frosting!” Todd said. I think he was complaining.
Why, yes, it is, I thought. And that is good.

—but for an opening reception for Beyond the Object Project.

That name gets me every time because I remember the night Todd and I went to hear Project Object perform in Five Points years ago. Instead of a gallery dedicated to commemorating Frank Zappa’s music, though, I found a gallery “dedicated to presenting excellent work that reflects the artists’ most creative side, done without the constraints of marketability in mind.”

That must be why Will Wilson’s stunning portrait of a black man with short dreadlocks pulled back from his face was going for $32,000.

Without the constraints of marketability is what I dealt with when I worked for Fiction Collective 2, some 16 years ago when it still had an office in Boulder. Without the constraints of marketability means no money or Get those grant applications out!

I wonder what would happen to me if I could afford that painting. Would I suddenly stop resenting the price? Would I stop wondering how long it really could have taken Mr. Wilson to paint that portrait? Would I stop wondering why on earth anything besides a car or a boat or a house should cost that much? Or would I buy expensive things and bring them into my house and still resent them?

How stupid to be a Venusian with an ascetic side. Or, more accurately, how jealous of me. What’s the point of trying to make money if you can’t ever enjoy it?

Luckily, the art itself was mostly intriguing. Skip the pompous description on the website and look at the works by the featured artists. My favorite piece was this sculpture by Philip Maior, which truly embodies my feelings about the nastier aspects of Christianity.

And here is Todd, still holding his cake plate and taking in a painting by Scott Fraser.

We circled the gallery a few times, and then I led him to the Native American Trading Company, where I introduced him to Robin and Jack and lingered over the Mesa Verde pot they keep in the back room. Robin said that Gallery 1261 does good business, and she is the expert on the Golden Triangle.

Then it was off to Cuba Cuba for a late dinner. See you there in the next post!