Denver’s Art Seen: Selections – Raymundo Muñoz

This selection of linocut prints from my Art Seen series is part documentation of the Denver art scene as I experienced it over the last ten years or so and part creative interpretations of those memories. While the works are all photo-based, the compositions are anything but faithful reproductions of past events. Through drawing, carving, and printing, the works attain a dreamlike quality that is more true to my thoughts and feelings about my time in this creative community. These works are part of a long and growing love letter to the art scene.

With the exception of my special collaboration with Anthony Garcia, Sr., all the works are based on a red ink that I mixed just for this body of work. Bloody, rich, and vibrant, the ink is inspired by the love and passion I feel for this community and all the different ways that I have been privileged to support and be a part of it, as an artist, gallerist, curator, writer, and photographer.

As well, the red is a reference to the phenomenon of red-shifting. As our universe expands, all the light sources we see from Earth move farther and farther away from us. Light waves take longer to reach us, losing energy and stretching out in their journey through space-time, which in turn appears to us as more reddish in color. Thus, much like the stars that move farther away from us, these events – my memories of this community and these places – move further away from me, becoming red-shifted, in a way, through the printing process.

After years of working together, my collaboration with Anthony Garcia, Sr. was long overdue. Based on a photo I took of Anthony the day he was pulling tape from his massive mural project on 6th and Federal Blvd, I created a monochromatic key print soon after. However, my intention was always to do a full-color version with Anthony. Years later, with expert aid from printmaker Emily Moyer of Little Drop Print Shop, we were finally able to realize a collective vision that surpassed my hopes, nodded to our past accomplishments, and hinted at future endeavors.