A group exhibition curated by Mary Shah and Rick Wester.

In this post-election world, the voting population has selected who will lead every community, from small towns to the country itself, into the future. The lead up to this moment has been fraught with actual and implied violence, threats and untruths, presented without facts. Seemingly, the contest has been about who can sow more anxiety, unto a public divided by watered down ideology. By the time this exhibition opens to the public, the world will be poised for change.

It is in this atmosphere that Rick Wester Fine Art presents FusionFlareHeat, the third group show co-curated by Rick Wester with painter and gallery artist, Mary Shah. Love Devotion Surrender Dedication (July 15 – September 11, 2021), spoke to the indomitable spirit of living beings and makers as we emerged from a post-Covid world. Invincible Summer (January 6 – February 10, 2024) meditated on the transcendent power of art and communing with it in person and with each other again. These were broadly themed and featured RWFA gallery artists alongside special guests, who were invited to augment the overall statements of the shows’ theses. In this third iteration of their cooperative effort, Shah and Wester’s focus is more specific. FusionFlareHeat was conceived when the current political season’s effect on the media and the population began to take hold, inspiring the curators to again pursue a gathering of artworks by the gallery’s artists and friends that would lyrically reflect the disquiet and uncertainty generated by the energy of conflicts reflected in American culture today. As curators, Shah and Wester work under the the belief that visual messages have their own language, trusting in their power of communication. So, while the exhibition touches thematically on the angst of the moment, be it politically, environmentally, or spiritually, each artists’ works are allowed their own life and prominence. Less so a “political” statement, the exhibition invites our audience to contemplate the state of the world through their references, encouraging us all to reflect on what the artworks portend for our future.

Featuring:

Cat BALCO

Christopher COLVILLE

Greg LINDQUIST 

Amanda MARCHAND & Leah SOBSEY

Lilly McELROY

Tom McGLYNN

Roxy PAINE

Aaron ROTHMAN

Donna RUFF

Mary SHAH

David TAYLOR & Marcos Ramìrez ERRE

Rachael WREN

Torrance YORK