The Denver art scene is enjoying something of a Clark Richert moment.
The longtime local standout is prominently featured in the latest exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver, “West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America, 1965-1977.”
And five of his latest paintings — 70-inch-square acrylics on canvas — and a related digital print are showcased in “Five-Zone System,” a striking solo show at the Rule Gallery, 3340 Walnut St.
Like nearly everything Richert does, these new works marry his love of abstraction and his fascination with mathematics, exploring a complex geometric and spatial structure he calls the five-zone system.
Especially noteworthy, because it forcefully breaks from the angled or curvy patterns seen in many of Richert’s recent paintings and harks back to his tightly geometric works of the late 1970s and early ’80s, is “One Over One.”
In this clean, elegant composition, an almost visually overwhelming mass of dozens of black and white vertical lines are interrupted with a tiny, barely perceptible multicolored line that cuts horizontally across the midde of the work.
“Five-Zone System” remains on view through Jan. 7. Hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Free. 303-777-9473 or . Kyle MacMillan
