"Doug Kacena has realigned the artist hierarchy in Denver, assembling a stable of painters and makers who have delivered consistently solid exhibitions while sparking their own commercial careers."
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-Ray Mark Rinaldi, Special to the Denver Post, December 2019
"Doug Kacena’s upstart K Contemporary, which occupies a Victorian storefront in LoDo, has cut a swath through the art scene by presenting museum-level shows with some of the region’s most interesting artists"
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- Michael Paglia, Westword, October, 2018
Since its inception, K Contemporary has made a name for itself by recontextualizing and informing the dialogue about how we experience art. This artist-centric gallery has a focus on contemporary and conceptual art, as informed by historical context, while providing its patrons with engaging exhibitions, pop-ups, art interventions and art fairs. Through these immersive and experiential displays, K Contemporary acts as a catalyst for engaging discussion about the role of contemporary art in society.
In the years since opening the gallery, Doug Kacena (the owner), has facilitated exhibitions at major institutions like Crystal Bridges, Denver Art Museum, and internationally-recognized events like the Sharjah Biennial and Biennial of the Americas. While rotating gallery exhibits are a big part of K Contemporary’s presence, its most renowned displays come in the form of art interventions K Contemporary organizes with the artists it represents. Regularly, K Contemporary seeks out unusual locations and situations for exhibitions, like the Colorado Governor’s Residence at Boettcher Mansion in Denver, and the unprecedented #ArtFindsUs mobile art exhibition that roamed the streets of Denver, Boulder and surrounding cities in quarantine during the international pandemic.
Whether our artists are exploring the complexity of American values, the subtle power of iconography, technical processes and materiality, personal histories, human connection, or contradiction and perception, ultimately all return to a similar conclusion: that art, no matter how it is rendered, provides a sanctuary for the soul.
K Contemporary’s mission is to foster an environment that helps artists develop their ideas and produce artwork with depth and contextual significance, while creating a platform for Colorado-based artists to have national and international influence, and bring incredibly engaging work from international artists to Denver. K Contemporary aims to revolutionize the role of a contemporary gallery in the community. K Contemporary is a member of Denver Art Dealers Association (DADA)
"Spotlight: How ‘Artist-Centric’ Gallery K Contemporary Is Helping Transform the Denver Art Scene
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About K Contemporary: Founded just over six years ago by Doug Kacena, K Contemporary has become a stalwart of contemporary art within the Denver, Colorado art scene. Kacena, an artist himself, has maintained an artist-forward approach to the gallery, focusing on platforming and uplifting a diverse roster of artists on both a regional and international scale. The success of this approach is evident in K Contemporary’s art fair participation and successes, including at Untitled Art Fair 2023 where the gallery was awarded the 21c Museum Hotels Acquisition Prize. The gallery has become widely recognized not only for its dynamic exhibition program, but its facilitation of exhibitions at important institutions—such as Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, and the Denver Art Museum—as well. Together, K Contemporary has brought wider attention not only to its own artists and events, but to the Denver art community at large. “I want to change the context in which people view contemporary art,” said Kacena, “and change the context in which they relate to contemporary art.”"
Best Art Gallery 2020-2021:
K Contemporary
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"K Contemporary’s reaction to the trials of the past year is a shining example of constraint breeding creativity. Forced to temporarily shutter in March, the cutting-edge LoDo gallery took to the streets with the #ArtFindsUs project—a roving exhibition that displayed larger-than-life artworks on a billboard truck—and a live performance by acclaimed artist Carlos Martiel that was projected onto the 16th Street Mall clocktower. This is just a taste of the ingenuity that oozes from the three-year-old gallery owned by Doug Kacena, who approaches his beloved business with one question: 'How do we get people to be more excited about and engaged with art again?'"
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- Christine Deorio, Hillary Masell Oswald, Michelle Johnson, 5280 Home, December 2020/January2021