A world on fire. The heat of passion. Feverish. Hot topics. Who’s hot, who’s not. Overheated rhetoric. Tik Tok trends. Hot wars, not cold ones. Too hot to handle.
This summer of 2024 will be too hot, but it’s not just the climate. Our culture is characterized by heat. 2023 was the hottest year in the past 125,000 years. 2024 looks to be no different. Wildfires raged on every continent; we live in a polarized society. Political rhetoric is overheated, wars are hot and getting hotter, consumerism remains a driving force.
Our world faces a cacophony of issues that are Too Hot to handle, including materialism, economic inequality, climate change, racism, immigration, reproductive freedom, and gender norms. We are living through threats to democracy, rising authoritarianism, a never-ending pandemic, social isolation, and grief. What is the new normal?
Over the centuries artists have described both the suffering and the beauty of their worlds, depicted and defined issues that were too hot to touch, or used their art as an antidote, to offer connection and healing, or provide respite from the fires raging around them. This moment is no different.
We are interested in how artists respond to the phrase TOO HOT!, in every definition of the words. Kingston Gallery is seeking artists who are actively creating work around these heated topics, or in response to the overheated intensity.
Juror: Jessica Roscio, Museum Director and Curator, Danforth Art Museum, Framingham, MA Jessica joined the Danforth Art Museum in 2011, was appointed Curator in 2015, and Director in 2020. She specializes in exhibitions of contemporary, regional artists, working in all media. Prior to the Danforth, Jessica held positions at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C., and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She is a regular contributor to Aspect Initiative, an online gallery focusing on contemporary photography in New England. Jessica has an MA in Art History from the University at Buffalo and a Ph.D. in American Studies, with a focus on the History of Photography, from Boston University.
