Denver, Colorado

Denver is supposed be sunny almost all of the time but every time i've been there it's been cloudy and raining. Well known as the mile high city, what you might not know is that it's two degrees south  of Rome (138 miles). I would have thought for sure it was well north of that. So, due to rain, a lot of rain, i wasn't able to spend a lot of time casually strolling through the city during the couple of days i was there and not taking care of other things i had to do. But i still had enough time to walk a few miles downtown and drive around much of the city. The day that was most free for me was also the rainiest, and so on that day i went to the museum.

When you arrive at the Denver International Airport you are greeted by this uplifting wall mural. Would someone like to explain this to me?

Denver was built around a train stop which is still centered downtown.

Not far behind the station is a stream large enough to fill a locomotive with water. The stream here is divided, i think so on this side you can do some kayaking. They call this the South Platte River.

Downtown had some interesting perspective-based art scattered around. This one looks normally proportioned when viewed at a very oblique angle.

On another street if found this piece. The three layers might look slightly more lined up when viewed from the sidewalk below me.

There are also a lot of old bridges downtown, many of which i assume had something to do with the railroad.

Along Cherry Creek are highly utilized walking/biking paths and i was impressed that the landscaping even continued under the bridges.

Downtown Denver.

I was really happy with the rental i had. Two rooms and a bathroom with a clean modern look.

It also had a kitchen and a garage door that literally opened up the room.

The Denver Library is right across the street from the Civic Center Park and State Capitol. I always thought  1990's Postmodern Architecture looked like a fake stage piece and it certainly looks very dated only 20 years later. The other side, the North Wing, was built in 1955 in the International style and actually looks better even though it's much older.

Next to the library is the Denver Art Museum. It's built in a deconstructivist style that, in this case, specifically avoids perpendicular and parallel planes.

All the discs on the walls are an art piece by Tatsuo Miyajima called ENGI. The lights are two digit numbers that change at a pace determined by a 4 digit code chosen by 80 Denver citizens based on a personal meaning. And almost all of them are too far away to read. I promise all other art featured in this post is more interesting that this.

The view from the elevators on level two reminded me of the view in some caves i've been in.

One of my favorite pieces was this multi media by filmmaker Stacey Steers. It's a dark dollhouse and a different scene plays out in each window.

Each room is decorated to coincide with what is happening in the films, which play on tiny screens deep behind the windows.

It's very eerie and hard to figure out what's going on. The film is called "Night Hunter".

Another fun piece was Fox Games by Sandy Skoglund.

I was a fan of Sandy in college where i learned about her pieces, like this one, of "Radioactive Cats" and "Revenge of the Goldfish" . So it was great to see it in person.

An interesting thing about the Fox piece was that you could tell it had been created for film, because later i noticed my digital sensor wasn't able to properly render the exact shade of red.

I went out on a balcony but it was still rainy.

The museum has a number of great pieces of contemporary native art. This is "History is Painted by the Victors" by Kent Monkman and below is a small detail of another piece of his. In it, shirtless camo wearing cowboys chase buffalo through another piece of art (by an artist who's work i believe i saw in NY) below a romantic Yosemite looking canyon.

"Land of Bucks, Land O Fakes, Land O Lakes" - 2006. David P. Bradley is known for his sarcastic/ironic yet attractive depictions of American Indians.

Detail of a great painting by Daniel Sprick. "Release Your Plans"- 2001 - oil on panel.

My favorite piece in the museum is this one. This hyper-realist sculpture is by Denver native John DeAndrea. The piece is called Linda, and that is who it is.

It was a single cast plaster/silicone filled with polyvinyl. Then it was meticulously painted, perfectly.

John used real human hair, applying each one separately or in small tufts.

Even less than three feet away Linda looks so real you feel as if you should not be staring. Great piece.

I enjoyed this area called South Valley Park, at the southern end of city. Even this far out there was still a lot of air pollution.

I think if i were to live anywhere in Denver it would be around here.

I also made a visit to Red Rocks Park. 

This rock strata continues up to Boulder and beyond as well as all the way down to Colorado Springs in the other direction.

I have always wanted to see a show at this amphitheater. During the week it's full of exercisers running up and down the stairs. You may also hear musicians of varying quality practicing.

Some pretty crazy clouds started forming over my head.

I was sure something was about to happen, so i waited here for the arrival of Cthulu. Nothing happened for a while, and then i got too hungry.

They were getting close to being done at the airport with a new hotel that sits right on top of a city rail system. You will be able to travel by rail right into the airport. It should be nice.