Alexandra “Alex” Golden goes by the name DJ Golden. She has organized a season of entertainment for the After series at the Aspen Art Museum that will begin from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday. Entrance is free.
The Aspen Art Museum’s winter season shifts into high gear this week as it rolls out the second part of its winter exhibition and hosts its first Après Series event of the season.
The museum’s winter exhibition features the work of four artists, presented in two stages. Heji Shin’s “America: Part One” and Shuang Li’s “I’m Not” premiered on November 20. Two other shows were presented to the public on Thursday: “The Rainbow Body” by Ugo Rondinone and “Austerity” by Megan Marrin.
“The Rainbow Body” is the Swiss-born artist’s first major institutional exhibition in the Western United States in a career that spans more than three decades.
For Rondinone’s exhibit, the museum’s second-floor gallery is filled with 16 life-size, rainbow-colored, fluorescent sculptures cast in wax, depicting seated dancers awaiting their moment on stage.
“The rainbow is a bridge between everyone and everything,” Rondinone said in a statement. “Nature is not something distinct from us, but intrinsic. »
The title of the exhibition refers to a spiritual rite in Tibetan Buddhism in which the body is transformed into radiant lights of five colors after death.
The “Austerity” exhibition by American artist Marrin also came to life on Thursday at the museum. This is the first institutional solo exhibition for the painter based in New York’s East Village. The exhibition consists of five paintings based on furniture created by artist Jean-Michel Frank, a French interior designer whose work is characterized by simplicity and elegance.
Four of Marrin’s paintings feature scenes of a bathroom and bedroom designed by Frank as well as a careful study of a wardrobe. The fifth painting in the exhibition amplifies a detail from an engraving by Alberto Giacometti, made for the cover of a novel by René Crevel, which Frank framed with mica and burnt wood.
The Rondinone and Marrin exhibitions will be on view until March 30.
Tonight, the museum kicks off its annual After on the AAM Rooftop series. The series, supported by the Etkin Foundation and presented by MML Hospitality and Swedish Hill Aspen, is hosted by Alex Golden, a local DJ who goes by the nickname Golden. She will also be in the DJ booth at each event and will be joined each week by a different DJ she has selected for the series. She will be joined by local Austin Gavlak on Saturday evening.
“We are excited to embark on our third year of the After series at the Aspen Art Museum,” said Jaclyn Carr, director of development at the Aspen Art Museum. “After brings a fresh, vibrant energy to the museum, attracting an average of 600 visitors and creating a fun, community-oriented space that connects locals and visitors in a positive, vibrant atmosphere.” We are extremely grateful for the involvement of Alex Golden, aka Golden, our presenting DJ, who has also curated an incredible lineup of “special guests” to perform.
Ugo Rondinone’s “The Rainbow Body” exhibition opened Thursday at the Aspen Art Museum with Megan Marrin’s “Austerity.” For Rondinone’s exhibit, the museum’s second-floor gallery is filled with 16 fluorescent, rainbow-colored, life-size wax sculptures depicting seated dancers awaiting their moment on stage. Both shows will be on display until March 30.
Golden grew up in Baltimore. She moved to Aspen in 2010 and held several jobs in the Valley, including owning a pie company, working as a janitor and driving for a limousine company.
Some of his friends started a guide to nightlife in Aspen called Messenger. They held clandestine parties where they took over different restaurants after hours and threw parties.
“One night in 2016, they told me I had to DJ at one of their parties because I loved house music,” Golden said in an interview from his home in Aspen. “I laughed and they said, ‘No, your first date is Christmas Day,’ and they told me in October. So basically, I taught myself how to DJ on Youtube. I took a crash course with a friend and then I was pretty much the only person playing house in Aspen at that time and I loved it.
What happened next can only be described as a meteoric rise in the DJ world for Golden. She DJed throughout the valley and began throwing her own parties. Soon she was booked outside the Valley and throwing her own parties at ski resorts all over Colorado. This led to gigs all over the country and soon after she became an international DJ.
Golden spends her winters in Aspen and in the summer she performs concerts all over the world.
“I basically stayed true to my house roots,” she said, describing her DJ style. “I play a lot of deep house. I play afro rhythms and more funky stuff. It depends on the type of venue and the audience. My biggest goal is to leave Aspen, travel the world, listen to what other people are playing and bring it back to Aspen.
Last summer, Golden played for the first time in Berlin, a city known as one of the world’s electronic music hotspots.
“I was exposed to the Berlin scene, kind of like the darker indie dance and stuff like that. Berlin has a lot of everything, but it’s definitely a punchier, grungier style. I also played in Türkiye at this really cool venue, a private beach called Bonjuk Bay.
When asked where her favorite place to perform in the United States was, she mentioned a club in Miami called Do Not Sit On The Furniture.
“But honestly, when it comes to the United States, there really is no better place than the Aspen Art Museum. Everything is community driven. I’ve brought in some great talent over the last few years and it’s so much fun. It’s like everyone shows up – it doesn’t matter if you’re 5 years old or 90 years old. It’s really a great atmosphere. Saturday night is going to be killer with the fireworks. (The Wintersköl exhibition will take place between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.)
Golden is set to release original music on a major label (owned by DJ LB Giobbi) for the first time in 2025.
“I’m really excited about putting my own music out there,” she said. “I’m happy to share everything. I think what every artist wants is for more people to hear what they do.
When asked what she hoped people would take away from her performance, Golden said, “For me. It’s about connecting with the crowd and being able to share the music that I love with the community and just setting the mood. My style is like not pumping your fist all the time. I like to take people for a little tour and hope that at the end of the night they feel like they visited some cool places.
The rest of the lineup includes international DJs, artists from across the United States and a few locals. These purveyors of the dancefloor groove include Riche, Gab Rhome, Alex Cruz, Chris Cauldron, Kyle McCann, Ali Mae and Illich Mujica. The After series will take place on December 14, December 21, January 11, January 18, February 1, February 8, March 8, March 22 and April 5.