The Ogden Bookstore, Bowery Gallery and Denver Free Press closed their doors years ago. Poet- painter Tony Scibella, filmmaker Stan Brackhage and editor James Ryan Morris are all dead.
All that remains of Denver’s once- vital Beat scene are the memories of those who took part as well as the literary and visual artworks and scattered residue from that creatively fertile, topsy-turvy time from around 1965 through 1987.
“Mile High and Underground,” an exhibit of art, graphics, photographs and ephemera at the Byers-Evans House Gallery, offers one of the first significant looks at the city’s underappreciated contributions to American counterculture.
It is a valuable introduction to a surprising, little-known period in local history when a city long derided as a cowtown discovered what it meant to be cool.
But for all that this show has to offer, what quickly becomes evident is that the dozens of objects on view in the compact space barely scratch the surface.The full story is yet to be told of this underground, anti-establishment scene, which was centered, at least at first, along “Desolation Row,” two blocks of head shops and hippie-related stores on East Colfax Avenue between Ogden and Clarkson streets.
Indeed, no comprehensive history has been written of Denver’s Beat scene, but this exhibit could be the spark that fuels further research, especially given the exploding interest in the 1960s and 1970s.
What this show does make clear is that while the beatnik culture in other cities, such as San Francisco and New York, might have been better known, Denver was also a key center of this unconventional approach to art and life.
Artist Steve Wilson, 63, a co-owner of the Ogden Bookstore (a hub of the scene in 1969-72) and the unofficial archivist of the period, believes the Mile High City’s scene had an appealing feel all its own.
“It goes hand in hand with the geography — it had a Western sense,” Wilson said. “It was an easier, more wide-open approach to everything. There wasn’t the sort of manic hustle that went on in Greenwich Village or the superstar routine in San Francisco. You oft times couldn’t tell the ranchers from the publishers.”
Given that the best-known figures associated with the Beat Generation were writers, including Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, who both spent time in Colorado, it is not surprising that literature, especially poetry, fueled Denver’s counterculture.
In addition to a short-lived literary magazine, Mile High Underground (the fall 1967 issue is on view), Denver had a range of small presses, including Bowery Press, Black Ace, Croupier and SAP (Society for the Advancement of Poetics).
Although the word “hippie” is mentioned little in the exhibit, a definite hippie vibe permeated this period.
“It was hand in hand with the arrival of drugs,” said Wilson. “When the hippie scene started on Colfax, there was a lot of peace and love and flowers, sort of a popular-television picture of what people think of with the hippies.
“But as the drug use, especially hard drugs — and speed was the big killer — got more prevalent, you all of a sudden saw the criminal element move in — a lot of hoodlums mixed with the hippies. Peace and love turned into the desperation that comes with drug addiction.”
Most of the artists associated with the underground movement in Denver were in some way involved with the literary activity, either writing poetry themselves or supplying illustrations or cover art for books and magazines.
Among the most notable was Saul White, a second-generation abstract-expressionist who arrived in Denver in 1976 and worked with Denver poets and publishers. He is represented by a couple of strong works, including an untitled 1963 canvas with echoes of Adolph Gottlieb and early Jackson Pollock.
Wilson, who co-curated the exhibit with collector Paul Harbaugh, also embodies the literary-artistic crossover mind-set. Besides his involvement with the Ogden Bookstore and its successor, Kugelman & Bent, at 1028 E. Ninth Ave., he has had a still-continuing if under-recognized artistic career.
His substantial accomplishments are showcased in an eye-opening solo survey at the Emmanuel Gallery that was organized in conjunction with the Byers-Evans offering.
Although Wilson’s abstract paintings are solid efforts, there is little especially original about them. Instead, his strength lies in collage and photomontage, which, not surprisingly, are the main focus of the Emmanuel show.
Though most of the work in the show dates to the 1970s or later, it has a much older feel — harking back to Kurt Schwitters and, more directly, to the 1920s and ’30s collages and photomontages of German Dadaist Hannah Höch.
The Byers-Evans House Gallery deserves credit for venturing outside its comfort zone and teaming with the Emmanuel Gallery to shine light on a fascinating, little-known segment of Denver history.
Kyle MacMillan: 303-954-1675 or kmacmillan@denverpost.com
Denver’s Beat Scene
“Mile High and Underground.” Art and history. Byers-Evans House Gallery, 1310 Bannock St. An exhibition of fine art, graphic art, publications, photography and archival materials related to Denver’s countercultural scene from 1965 through the mid-1980s.Through July 31. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Free. 303-620-4933 or
Steve Wilson. Art. Emmanuel Gallery, Auraria campus. An exhibition of more than 60 collages, paintings and other works by Steve Wilson, a pivotal figure among Denver’s Beat writers and artists. Through July 10. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Free. 303-556-8337 or
