UCROSS ART GALLERY TO OPEN "LUMINOUS FORMS"

Ucross Art Gallery announces the opening of Luminous Forms, on view from May 31, 2025, to January 10, 2026. Curated by Ucross alumna Emily McElwreath of Brooklyn, New York, the exhibition features work by eight nationally acclaimed artists, including Ucross alumni Darina Karpov of Brooklyn, New York; Nancy Y. Kim of Bologna, Italy; and linn meyers of Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Other featured artists are Damien Davis of Newark, N.J.; Inka Essenhigh of New York; Alannah Farrell of New York; Will Hutnick of Sharon, Connecticut; and Marilyn Minter of New York. 

Opening in conjunction with the fourth annual Ucross Founder’s Day celebration on May 31,  Luminous Forms explores the material, symbolic, and emotional dimensions of light. Across painting, sculpture, video, and mixed media, the featured artists engage with luminosity as subject, metaphor, and catalyst — inviting viewers to consider how light transforms perception, memory, and embodied experience. 

“In an era dominated by artificial light and mediated experience, Luminous Forms invites a return to the elemental,” McElwreath said. “These artists engage with light not as a neutral condition, but as a charged force: emotional, philosophical, and deeply human.” 
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From the seductive shimmer of Marilyn Minter’s dye-sublimation prints to the submerged luminosity of Nancy Y. Kim’s video work, the exhibition presents a dynamic range of approaches. Damien Davis uses transparency and layering to explore identity; Inka Essenhigh bends space and narrative through glowing, surreal figures; and Alannah Farrell renders queer portraiture in soft, glowing tones that affirm presence without spectacle. Together, the works reflect a shared desire to go beyond representation — to offer instead a felt, transformative encounter with light. 

The exhibition marks McElwreath's curatorial return to Ucross, where she was an artist-in-residence invited to work on this project for the Ucross Art Gallery in 2024. “On my first evening at Ucross, time seemed to slow,” she recalled. “What struck me most was the light: uninterrupted and unfiltered, it moved across the landscape like breath. That experience inspired this exhibition and its commitment to deep looking.” 

McElwreath is an independent curator, art advisor, and educator with more than 18 years of experience in the contemporary art world. She is the founder of McElwreath Art Advisory and the creator and host of The Art Career Podcast. She has developed programs and lectured at the Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, and previously led communications and education at The Brant Foundation. McElwreath’s expertise spans museum-quality collections, cultural programming, and strategic artist engagement, making her a trusted voice in the evolving landscape of contemporary art. 

Located at 30 Big Red Lane in Ucross, Wyoming, the Ucross Art Gallery is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visitors can also enjoy espresso and fresh pastries at the onsite Ucross Café, which operates during the same hours. 

A free public reception, including a curator's talk by McElwreath, will be held at the gallery on Saturday, May 31, at 1 p.m. as part of the Ucross Founder’s Day celebration, which also includes artist open studios, live performances, and more. Learn more and RSVP for the free event here. 

Luminous Forms is supported in part by the Wyoming Arts Council and the Wyoming Cultural Trust Fund, a program of the Department of State Parks and Cultural Resources, with additional support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming Legislature.