By Mary Voelz Chandler

Dale Chisman's acrylic on canvas Jerusalem, part of "Parallel Lines."

Pirate: Contemporary Art is all lit up with striking art right now, thanks to the effort of artists who wanted to pay tribute to the late Dale Chisman.

In the process, “Lines,” on view through March 29, has incorporated work by Stephen Alarid, Brian Comber, Jared Deery and Jesus Polanco, with one Chisman painting and a couple of collaborative works by longtime friends Chisman and Polanco.

Credit Polanco and Alarid for making the show happen, with the former as the spark and the latter contributing his show slot as a Pirate member to the effort.

In the gallery, at 3655 Navajo St. (303-458-6058), start at the left, with a trio of acrylic on vinyl “art posters” by New York-based Deery, works stress the dimension of color. The show then moves to the first four of five oils on canvas by Alarid from his Abstracted Dimension series; they are rich in line and the artist’s signature random dots and shapes, with the gleam of metallic pigment. Comber has built a reputation for his works on paper, and three two-plate etchings are included here on an ethereal, even spiritual theme. They are flanked, though, by two large oils, portraits in a dreamy but frank style.

Finally, taking up most of the wall to the right are the works by Polanco, with their complicated tangles of line and color, Chisman’s striking yellow and black acrylic on canvas Jerusalem, above, as well as pieces that show a mix of the two men’s approaches, from Chisman’s broad stroke to Polanco’s more precise lines and forms. The space looks really good right now.

Jerusalem is on view courtesy of the late artist’s estate, a fact that prompts an update on a legal issue involving that entity. In early February, the Dale Chisman Estate filed suit in Denver District Court against his longtime gallery, Rule Gallery and Robin Rule. The suit seeks payment and asks for an accounting of the late artist’s work consigned to the gallery dating back to Jan. 1, 2003.

The document strikes an emotional chord, since it notes that “notwithstanding repeated pleas from Dale Chisman during his final illness, Rule failed and refused to pay money received …. from sales of Chisman’s art work and owed to him.” The artist died in late August 2008 after repeated bouts with respiratory illnesses and hospitalizations.

Cited in the suit, and attributed to Rule, is that at least $56,500 is owed to the estate, which wants an accounting detailing work sold over the past six years.

Earlier this week, Rule’s attorney, Bill E. Kyriagis, of Otten, Johnson, Robinson, Neff & Ragonetti, filed a response to the estate’s claims.

In essence, the response says that the Rule Corp., doing business as Rule Gallery, “owes $56,600 to Dale Chisman and/or the estate.” It also notes that “there was no agreement between Dale Chisman and Rule Corp. and/or Ms. Rule that required that any amounts be paid on or before a particular date.”

Rule’s attorney declined to comment, and said that of his client, too. He also did not respond to a question of whether the amount cited in the response was a different figure, indicating a $100 difference in the alleged contested amount, or perhaps a typographical error. As to the estate’s claim that Rule “unlawfully converted money owed to Dale Chisman to her own use for her personal benefit,” the response is a simple “Denied.”

Running through this is the subtext of the meaning of the word “deadline.”

The next step? Pretty much what you might expect.

“We’ve agreed to have some conversations,” said the estate’s attorney, Paul Hultin, of Wheeler Trigg Kennedy.