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Artist Joel Swanson sustained his momentum over the summer months, adding to his chain of shows and awards both locally and abroad.

An assistant professor with the ATLAS Institute, Swanson's newest commission, opened at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver this summer.  Another of Swanson's works, "," continued streaming through the summer on , a 150-foot long by 22-foot high array of 89 LED blades located in the lobby of the iconic 150 North Riverside building in Chicago.

This summer Swanson also showed his work at the Glucksman, an art museum in Cork, Ireland as part of a group show entitled, “Peripheries,” which explored the relationship between literature and technology. Coinciding with Peripheries, he also gave an artist talk at the Electronic Literature Organization’s (ELO) annual conference, also held in Cork. 

The future? Besides teaching digital art, media theory and the history of design for ATLAS' Technology, Arts & Media (TAM) program, Swanson solo show, “Eight-and-a-Half by Eleven” opens in December at David B. Smith Gallery in Denver. The gallery is also producing a catalog / monograph of his work covering his work 2010-2020. In addition, Swanson is working on a projection mapping project, “Typography Choreographies” for the Clocktower in downtown Denver, commissioned by the Denver Theater District. The project has a planned launch in early November.

Swanson’s essay on art and language will be published this winter by Tilt/West language. Another essay will be included in the book: "The Future of Text: A 2020 Vision," to be published later this year. The project grew out of the annual Future of Text symposiums.

Swanson, who previously served as director of the TAM program from 2007 to 2016, has exhibited his work extensively, including the Venice Biennale 2017; Republic Plaza in Denver (solo exhibition through June 12); the Broad Museum in Lansing, Michigan; The Power Plant in Toronto; the North Miami Museum of Contemporary Art; and Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, where he had a solo exhibition.

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The show, which opens Friday, Aug.18, at Denver’s , runs through Sept. 16. One image features an impression of a found soda cup lid with various labeled buttons used to indicate what’s inside, such as “cola,” “diet” and “other.”  In Swanson’s image, the “other” button is indented.

“I’m interested in how we mark otherness in society,” Swanson said of his unnamed piece. “It’s just a soda lid, but it makes me think of the ways that otherness is constructed and how certain people and identities are marginalized.”

Swanson’s art has appeared at venues such as the Broad Museum in Lansing, The Power Plant in Toronto, the North Miami Museum of Contemporary Art and Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, where he held a solo exhibition. His work is currently part of Personal Structures, an official satellite show of Italy’s world-renowned Venice Biennale 2017.

A busy year for Swanson, his next solo show Marginalia is an exploration of linguistic interfaces such as books, paper and computer screens. It opens Dec. 8 at the Dairy Center for the Arts in Âé¶čÓ°Ôș. And he will be showing Zapf Dingbats Revolved Around Their Y Axis as part of the CU Âé¶čÓ°Ôș  at the CU Art Museum, running Aug. 17 to Dec. 23.

Swanson’s commissioned work is found throughout Denver, including a wall-sized installation at the Halcyon Hotel in Cherry Creek; a work in Twitter’s corporate office; and a collection of works at the new  in Denver, including various smaller works in guest rooms and suites, four larger works and a 30-foot, backlit, laser-cut aluminum wall at the entryway. All the Born Hotel’s artwork was commissioned from local artists and curated by Adam Lerner of the .

At CU Âé¶čÓ°Ôș, Swanson teaches courses on digital art, typography and media theory through the ATLAS Institute. He received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of California San Diego, where his focus was computing and the arts. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in digital art from CU Âé¶čÓ°Ôș.

In all his work, Swanson explores the structures and technologies of language, and his work ranges from digital art and sculpture to interactive installations that playfully and powerfully merge words with meanings.

Watch a short video about Swanson's installation at the Hotel Born

[video:https://youtu.be/MlsB0Xw4bWU] 

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