Next Gallery is pleased to present Matthew Lay, Remnants and Retrospective, a look back on Denver’s historic churches and architecture. An opening reception will be held on Friday, January 7th, from 6-10pm. Open Saturday 12-5pm and Sunday 12-5pm. 

“Looking at our own identities and the identity of Denver through architecture.” The Exhibition: Remnants & Retrospective 

Remnants and Retrospective is in part, a celebration of the architecture of the past that formed and shaped Denver as it is known today. As I produced more and more pieces and became intimately familiar with these places I was trying to capture, I kept returning to the question of, “How do people generally view these places?”. For some, these places represent beauty and serve as reminders of their own spirituality and the temporal nature of life. For others, these edifices truly are remnants, nothing more than a symbol of a past that no longer is relevant to themselves. Wherever people fall on this spectrum, it is important to analyze and ponder how these structures have shaped Denver’s identity and how their own identities have changed through the years. 

My work in this show is all made from oil on canvas and board. In the same way that cities are ever-evolving, the process of capturing each piece took on its own unique identity. I wanted to convey an emotional element as well by using color and adding layers of paint, following the oil painting process in the traditional sense. 

About the Artist: 

Matthew Lay graduated from Fort Lewis College with a Bachelor’s degree in Art. He was born and raised in the beautiful state of Colorado and grew up in the Denver Metro area. His curiosity and fascination in architecture originally stemmed from seeing some of the incredible Gothic cathedrals in Europe. This fascination has developed and transformed his work, bringing him to focus on various architecture found in Colorado. His inspiration not only comes from the physical appearance, but the history and stories that