LewAllen Galleries opens Bette Ridgeway solo show Chromatic Luminosity

LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe will present Chromatic Luminosity, a solo exhibition of new paintings by colorist Bette Ridgeway, from October 16 to November 14, 2026. The show spotlights Ridgeway’s stain-based abstractions and her longtime connection to light, nature and Romanticism.

Why it matters: - LewAllen Galleries is adding Bette Ridgeway’s new paintings to its roster, signaling continued gallery support for a color-driven abstract painter with a long exhibition history. - The Santa Fe show gives collectors and viewers a focused look at Ridgeway’s latest work, which blends technical stain painting with a high-desert palette. - The exhibition runs during Santa Fe’s fall art calendar, including the Last Friday Art Walk, which can broaden audience reach.

What happened: - LewAllen Galleries announced representation of Bette Ridgeway and a solo exhibition, Chromatic Luminosity. - The exhibition opens October 16, 2026, and runs through November 14, 2026, at LewAllen Galleries in Santa Fe, New Mexico. - Artist receptions are scheduled for October 16, 2026, from 5–7 PM, and October 30, 2026, during Santa Fe’s Last Friday Art Walk from 5–7 PM. - The gallery address is 1613 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe, NM 87501. - Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 AM–6 PM, and Saturday, 10 AM–5 PM.

The details: - Chromatic Luminosity features signature stain works alongside recent compositions using fresh, vibrant pigments. - Ridgeway’s paintings use thinned fluid acrylics on large, unprimed cotton duck canvas laid flat on the studio floor. - Ridgeway works with sponges, mops, scrapers and pure rainwater collected in New Mexico. - The pour-and-stain process lets pigment sink into raw canvas fibers instead of sitting on the surface. - Light moves through the stained layers, creating atmospheric depth and luminous color fields. - As moisture evaporates in the high-desert climate, the pigments settle into chromatic waves, horizon lines and structural pops of color. - Ridgeway describes color as “a vibrating frequency that interacts directly with the viewer.” - Ridgeway also says, “One color tells me the next; the moment paint meets wet canvas, the composition takes over.” - The exhibition connects Ridgeway’s work to Tachisme in France in the 1940s and 1950s and to mentor Paul Jenkins, known for poured and stained paint. - Ridgeway’s current work is also described as extending Romanticism through a response to nature and personal emotion.

Between the lines: - Ridgeway’s practice sits between spontaneity and control, with the gallery framing the work as deliberate rather than purely gestural. - The references to Tachisme, Jenkins and Romanticism place the paintings in a broader art-historical line while keeping Santa Fe’s landscape central to the reading of the work. - Ridgeway’s use of New Mexico rainwater and unprimed canvas reinforces the idea that place is part of the medium, not just the subject.

What's next: - Visitors can see the exhibition in person beginning October 16. - The two receptions offer the main opportunities to view the work with the artist present. - The show remains on view through November 14, 2026. - More information is available through LewAllen Galleries.

The bottom line: - Chromatic Luminosity positions Bette Ridgeway’s latest abstractions as both materially rooted in Santa Fe and connected to a wider modern color tradition.