NEW MEXICO MUSEUM OF ART

107 W. Palace Avenue, 505-476-5072, nmartmuseum.org

Man on fire

With A Fiery Light: Will Shuster’s New Mexico, Santa Fe celebrates an artistic pioneer who left the city with a unique legacy. After serving in World War I, Shuster came to Santa Fe in 1920, expecting that lung damage, caused by poison gas during the war, would end his life. Instead he crafted a new life, resulting in 49 years of artistic innovation that captivated the imagination of the Santa Fe arts colony and the larger community. He was “part of a younger bohemian crowd” interested in the “potential of art enriching the lives of everyday people,” says Christian Waguespack, curator of the exhibit. It features paintings and prints by Shuster and other members of Los Cinco Pintores (the Five Painters), the collective he formed with Willard Nash, W.E. Mruk, Jozef Bakos and Fremont Ellis. Shuster also left Santa Fe with a fiery legacy to transform angst into ashes: the annual burning of Zozobra, or Old Man Gloom — a growling, gyrating 50-foot effigy. Shuster built and burned the first puppet in his backyard in collaboration with artist Gustave Baumann. The cathartic conflagration is scheduled for Sept. 3 this year. The exhibit shows through July 25, 2021.