By Dana Tyrrell
(Image above: John Opera’s ‘Solar Eye’)

Welcome to the first in a weekly series of exhibition highlights from Buffalo Hive. This showcase is meant to point people to gallery openings, closings, artist talks and happenings in the visual arts community of Western New York for the week/end ahead. These lists are not designed to be comprehensive, instead providing a keyhole into the creative hum of our region. 

1. John Opera: When the Sun is Done, on view at Rivalry Projects.
   Opening Reception, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, 5:00-9:00 p.m.
   106 College Street, Buffalo, NY, 14201

UB Associate Professor John Opera’s exhibition, When the Sun is Done, features new work born from his innovative experiments with alternative photographic printing that blends elements of photography and painting. Inspired by philosopher Jean-François Lyotard’s concept of “solar collapse,” the show offers an otherworldly meditation on the beauty found in entropy and the gradual fading of physical and symbolic forms.

2. Amid/In Western New York 2025, on view at Hallwalls
   Opening Reception, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, 7:00-10:00 p.m.
   341 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY, 14202

Following a formula devised in 2015, curators John Massier and Kyle Butler embark on a rapid-fire series of studio visits to see who is making what and what do they have NOW? The intention of Amid/In is to survey the current state of artistic production in the region and highlight artists within the scenario of a group exhibition, but in a manner more fulsome than a one-work-per-artist strategy.

Amid/ In 2025 features artwork by Sheila Barcik, Nia Jael Bronner, Dylan England, Ed Hallborg, Dana Hatchett, Barbara Hart, Lawrence Kinney, RJ Melnyk and Sara Zak. 

3. SLUSH: A Winter Group Show, on view at The Good Stuff
   CLOSING Reception, Friday, Jan. 17, 2025, 5:00-9:00 p.m.
   65 Allen Street, Buffalo, NY, 14202

This 40-artist group show at The Good Stuff (formerly Pine Apple Co.) includes: Kelly Bucklaew, Quinn Carroll, Roberta Anderson, Sarah Sophie Artistry, Christopher McGee, Olympia Nicole, Kaleigh Day, Sam Palmer, Erin Reilly, Amanda Rae Collins, O. Possum, Sydney Strano, Lolliath, Betsy Marie, Artkennyb, Madison Perrelli, Audrey Parker, Jennifer Hanson, Stacee Ryan, Salem Browning, Sabrina Parsons, Jamey Alea, Renée, Victoria Swier, Rabbitsun Studio, Sussan Giallombardo, Autumn Zaionz, Cole Pawlowski, Eyas Moumani, Valerie D’Agostino, Danger Benzin, Johanna C. Dominguez, Madison Gardner, Joshua Carnegie, Hannibal Kilroy, Robert Harris, Teresa Grace and Declan Brown