Facing Fire:
Art, Wildlife and the End of Nature in the New West
July 8 - December 16, 2023
Fire as omen and elemental force, as metaphor and searing personal experience —these are the subjects explored by the artists of Facing Fire. California’s diverse ecologies are fire-prone, fire-adapted, even fire-dependent. In the past two decades, however, West Coast wildfires have exploded in scale and severity. There is a powerful consensus that we have entered a new era. The artists of Facing Fire bring us incendiary work from active fire lines and psychic burn zones. They face fire, sift its aftermath, and struggle with the implications.
This exhibition has been curated by Douglas McCulloh and organized by UCR ARTS: California Museum of Photography. Artists include: Noah Berger, Kevin Cooley, Josh Edelson, Samantha Fields, Jeff Frost, Luther Gerlach, Christian Houge, Richard Hutter, Anna Mayer, Stuart Palley, Norma
I. Quintana, and Justin Sullivan.
Luther Gerlach
Burning Bush, 2017
Unique Silver Gelatin Print
Courtesy of the artist