The Great Wait

The Great Wait

The Great Wait explores the strange tension of living in anticipation—caught between arrival and departure, motion and stillness. It’s like standing on a train platform, unsure if the train is coming to take you away or about to hit you. The show reflects this disorienting in-between space: we’re waiting for something to begin, or perhaps to end, all while the ride is already in motion.

The experience of the show mirrors this paradox. From inside, you can glimpse moments—fragments, behind and through. Reflections and silhouettes—but never the full picture. This elusiveness echoes the existential “wait” we all share: the expectation of a future event, a climax, a resolution that may never fully arrive or be recognized when it does.

The Great Wait is both a satire of the absurdity of existence and an ode to our impermanence. It’s a reminder that even what feels permanent is momentary.

The show opens with an image of people waiting in line—a familiar scene. But once inside, something shifts. The audience isn’t looking at the art; they’re looking back out from where you came. Time stretches. People move. Distances collapse. And then you’re no longer just watching—you’re part of it. The moment of participation arrives. But what is it, exactly, that you’re part of?

Once you’re in, you’re in. Swept up. Tossed around. Immersed—yet still somehow distant. This experience asks: are we observers of our own lives, or participants? Can we ever step outside ourselves enough to really see?

Where do we view ourselves from?

BIO

Vinni Alfonso (b. 1990 in Aurora, Co.) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Denver, Colorado, whose work explores the surreal, the visceral, and the fragile intersections between body, identity, and absurdity. He received his BFA with an emphasis in Painting from the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in 2012.

Alfonso has held residencies at institutions including the Denver Art Museum (Demo Artist Program, 2025), RedLine Contemporary Art Center (2020–2022), Casa Na Ilha in Brazil (2021), and Helikon Gallery & Studios (2015–2019). He is an alumnus of both Pirate: Contemporary Art and RedLine Contemporary, two of Denver’s most respected artist-run spaces.

His work has been exhibited widely throughout Colorado, with notable shows including Through Flesh to Infinity at Union Hall (2023), Momento Amore at RedLine (2022), HomeWrecker at Sally Centigrade (2021), and multiple solo and group exhibitions at Pirate Contemporary Art from 2017 to 2020.

Alfonso’s work has been featured in The Denver Post, Juxtapoz Magazine, Voyage Denver, Westword, and Nakid Magazine, and continues to draw attention for its raw, emotionally charged imagery and immersive approach to installation and narrative.