Marilyn Minter, Larry Bell, the Haas Brothers, and More Must See Shows in Aspen

If you’re in Aspen for ArtCrush this week, you’ll want to make sure to check out these shows and exhibitions around town.

Yto Barrada at the Aspen Art Museum
Now—November 25
Yto Barrada’s “Klaatu Barrada Nikito” is an exploration of artifice and reality seen through a selection of works inspired by the ways children learn, create, and engage with objects. The phrase, “Klaatu Barrada Nikito,” is an untranslatable line from the science-fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still, chosen as an invitation for viewers to look beyond the surface of things through Barrada’s exhibition, which features film, sculpture, installation, and photography. The show includes works like Le salon géologique, an installation of cushions with topographic markings and the short film, A Guide to Trees for Governors and Gardeners.

Jay DeFeo at the Aspen Art Museum

Now—October 28
“The Ripple Effect” is an exhibition showcasing the fundamental themes and impact of Jay DeFeo’s practice and output. Focusing on the exploration of ordinary objects, the show features a selection of DeFeo’s drawings, collages, paintings, and photography alongside the works of 10 contemporary artists—like Sam Falls, Wyatt Kahn, Bosco Sodi, and Gay Outlaw—that bear witness to DeFeo’s influence.

Larry Bell at the Aspen Art Museum
Now—December 16
Making its debut at the Aspen Art Museum, Larry Bell’s “Aspen Blues” is a series of sculpture that showcases the artist’s use of light as medium. The transparent glass cubes, on display in the museum’s Roof Sculpture Garden, absorb and reflect the natural light of the garden to create optical encounters of mirroring and transparency for a transcendent effect that makes the viewer feel as though they could walk right through each piece. The Los Angeles-based artist is known for emerging during the Minimalist movement of the 1960s and is recognized as a spearhead of Perceptualism.

Gary Simmons at Baldwin Gallery
Now—September 4
Gary Simmons creates urban landscapes of memory that honor untold tales and missing decades in his exhibition “Within Our Gates.” Through a selection of sculpture, paintings, and works on paper reminiscent of a mythical 1970s New York, faded marquee names and icons are resurrected and remembered.

Marilyn Minter at Baldwin Gallery

Now—September 4
Marilyn Minter’s fourth exhibition at Baldwin Gallery, “Smash + New Photographs,” continues the artist’s exploration of the methods and meanings of womanhood and glamour. The show includes works like Smash—an image bearing Minter’s unmistakable style that depicts a woman’s feet in high heels, bedecked in colorful jewels, in the midst of a silver splash.

Marcus Jansen at Casterline|Goodman Gallery
Now—August 5
“Now and Then” is a showcase of Marcus Jansen’s study of the human condition through large gestural landscapes where the real is abstract and abstraction represents what is real. Jansen’s singular style has been inspired by the graffiti and street art found in his birthplace, New York City, and by the expressionist painters he experienced during his education in Germany.

The Haas Brothers at Boesky West
Now—August 25
Inside the Haas Brothers’ wittily-named “Stonely Planet,” visitors will find mirrors with golden tentacles, creature-like hands serving as chairs, furry couches complete with horns, and tables standing on animal-like feet. Merging the worlds of art, fantasy, and design, this exhibition creates a whimsical landscape of furniture, sculpture, and design objects straight out of a storybook.