One can tell the stature of a city and the powerful relationship it holds with its community when a gallery/creative space decides that Denver, Colorado and the Golden Triangle Arts District respectively will be its new home. After a nationwide search, owner/creator of Zen Compound, Paul Hemming decided that Denver would be an ideal location for all phases of his entrepreneurial business spirit and is pleased to announce the opening of Mirus Gallery, this Friday, April 27.

Zen Compound, is a “25,000 square foot full-suite complex housing four unique entities is comprised of: Mirus, an art gallery championing new movements in modern art, ECO-System, a co-working incubation space for creative professionals and startups, Hive, a coffee & cocktail bar and eatery, and Temple Nightclub – which premiered last fall, a nightlife destination known for its entertainment programming, production feats and legendary hospitality,” as stated on their press release.

Interior – Mirus Gallery-Denver

Hemming has always been pushing the entrepreneurial envelope. “I feel like this has all been a gradual evolution that started nearly 20 years ago after I left film school to pursue a music career.” Hemming initially studied filmmaking because of his love for all the arts and how filmmaking enveloped so much of what he appreciated.

“I loved telling stories, I loved the cinematography and creating these environments and different realities.” It was the creative community that surrounded the film school that excited him to other possibilities. Hemming notes that he was also a DJ on the side, more as a hobby while in film school, but it wasn’t until after the building that he lived in burned down, and he dropped out of school that he “went on a musical detour and decided to open a record store in Oakland.”

“In the record store I always wanted to innovate and combine different things. We had a music studio in the basement, we launched a record label and we were selling vinyl to to local DJ’s. Artists would come in and bring work, I started hanging their artwork. We threw parties and that was the scene,” Hemming reminisces. “The name was Zen City Records and that turned into The Zen Compound. From there the nightclub was the seed that allowed me to be my own incubator; to experiment with all these different types of businesses over the years.” As Hemming continues to explain, some portions of the business have come and gone, but believes what has solidified is what he is bringing to Denver after ten years of experimentation.

Interior – Mirus Gallery-Denver

“In film school they taught me how to turn your passions into stories and I took my passions and turned them into businesses. I took that approach armed with something that I always loved; art.” Through the years of showcasing artwork at the record store, Hemming found that he was drawn into certain types of work that spoke to him, thus beginning his own collection of artist’s work.

Interior – Mirus Gallery-Denver

“Little by little over the years I started expanding on that and found that it was hard to find the works that I wanted. There might be one artist in a gallery in Paris or Germany or somewhere but nobody brought together the vision that I was seeing in the contemporary art world,” explains Hemming and continues “It was really just a gradual process of different phases of transformation and evolution that eventually led me to really deciding that I wanted to create my own gallery.” Mirus Gallery in San Francisco just celebrated its five year anniversary in January.

Paul Hemming “dropped the DNA” of his success from the Bay Area right here in Denver and is opening all in phases. Temple Nightclub opened in October 2017 and the second phase opened New Years Eve; next up is Mirus Gallery with its premier opening Friday, April 27, general admission 7pm-10pm where the party extends next door to Temple Nightclub starting at 10pm. Stay tuned for the next phase of the co-working space.

Artist Nychos “Black Panther” photo by Todd Mazer – image courtesy of Mirus Gallery

Mirus Gallery (adj) by definition: astonishing, extraordinary, and strange – is what this art gallery strives to emulate by championing new movements in contemporary art to showcase only the best and brightest artists.

Join Mirus Gallery with its premier opening Friday, April 27, 7pm-10pm where the party extends next door to Temple Nightclub starting at 10pm. Located at 1136 Broadway in the Golden Triangle District of Denver, CO 80203. Please visit www.mirusgallery.com for more information. Contact: Denver@mirusgallery.com or call 303.910.4005. Patrons can visit the gallery Tuesday – Saturday from 12pm-6pm and check Mirus Gallery website for regular updates.

Enjoy the artwork of the following Artists during the opening exhibit: Adam Friedman, Aec Interesni Kazki, Augustine Kofie, Bohdan Burenko, Cain Caiser, Casey Cripe, Chazme, Chris Cycle, Damon Soule, Faith XLVII, Florian, Gilbert1, Jan Kalab, Justin Bower, Kenor, Lister, Low Bros, Mars1, Morten Andersen, Nawer, NoMe Edonna, Nychos, Okuda, Oliver Vernon, Optimist, Robert Proch, Rubin, SatOne, Sickboy, Thomas Canto, Tim Biskup, Tobias Kroeger, Vesod, Yoh Nagao, Zeser, Zepha.

“These artists were also co-curated by Gallery Director, Art Poesia, who himself has worked as an artist for over two decades in the San Francisco Bay Area – curating multiple exhibitions internationally over the past 7 years. Having started the widely- recognized website Graffuturism.com as well as the Graffuturism Movement in 2010, he is currently focusing his attention on selecting fledgling artists to bring to San Francisco and now Denver. Mirus Gallery is the Director’s latest project and venture into the commercial gallery space.”*

Become a part of the art and music scene that is so much a part of Colorado! Here’s to seeing you out and about this Friday!

  • Feature Image: Artist Damon Soule – “Counterspace”
  • *Information gathered directly from press release