This Never Happened
Opening Reception, June 28, 11 a.m. - 8 p.m.
A bold and bizarre group art show curated by melovelo. Featuring 5 incredible artists who are bending time, memory, and material through figural oil painting, tufted wool, retro mannequin parts, cyanotypes, glass, and illustration. You’ve never seen a show quite like this, mostly because… it never happened.
More About The Exhibition
This Never Happened — Curated by melovelo — is an immersive group exhibition showcasing five artists whose practices traverse medium, meaning, and memory. This eclectic lineup brings together work that is rich in color, texture, and emotion — drawing viewers into worlds that feel imagined but somehow lived.
Heather Alford fuses analog rebellion and sculptural nostalgia through her night club and punk-inspired cyanotypes and interactive retro sculptures. Drawing from counterculture ephemera and political unrest, her work acts as a time capsule of resistance — part protest, part pop, all deeply personal.
Jana Reneé explores the duality of softness and power in her oil paintings of figural women. Her subjects radiate a confident, often suggestive femininity, reclaiming the gaze and honoring the sacredness of suggestion through a bold, painterly lens.
Austin Fields captures movement and intuition in her “Touch Series,” a collection of hand-blown glass forms shaped mid-melt by deliberate contact. Her process balances spontaneity with control, resulting in organic sculptures that feel as alive as they are fragile — a dance of heat, gravity, and gesture.
Tatyana Jefferson of French75Studios creates illustrations and prints that blend retro vibes with contemporary culture. Her work evokes a deep sense of nostalgia while celebrating the vibrancy of modern life — presenting playful, heartfelt interpretations of everyday moments that feel both timeless and timely.
Apothicc Studios flips domestic fiber art on its head with hilariously irreverent tufted wool wall hangings. Using vibrant colors, layered textures, and graphic patterns, Apothicc turns comedy and chaos into tactile form — creating pieces that are both visual punchlines and intricate works of craft.
PLUS – a DJ set by our resident DJ melo!
Together, these five artists unravel and reimagine what is “real,” constructing a playful and poignant collective hallucination. This Never Happened challenges memory, mocks reality, and invites viewers to get lost in the in-between.
Heather Alford
Punk rock raised me. It taught me that noise can be power, rebellion can be art, and rules are meant to be
rewritten. Growing up surrounded by its raw, defiant spirit, I found not just my creative voice but it would eventually lead me to commit to activism—the same fire that fuels my work today.
My art carries that spirit forward, blending bold themes with a dynamic, evolving style. Through soft colors, playful elements, and deliberate contrasts, I approach serious issues with both intensity and unpredictability. Some pieces invite dialogue, others demand it—reflecting a creative force that refuses to play by the rules. Like the music and movements that shaped me, my work is driven by creativity, determination, and an unwavering belief in art’s ability to challenge, provoke, and ignite change.
Austin Fields
Austin Fields, a native of Texas, has developed a rich exploration of light, reflection, and abstraction through her roles as a fine artist, photographer and glassblower. She earned her BFA in Glass and Sculpture from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2017 and later moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career as a glass artist and creator.
Austin's technique involves sculpting hot glass in a spontaneous and organic manner, with her pieces often echoing the natural curves of the human form, while drawing inspiration from landscapes, lightscapes, and dreamscapes. Her work is showcased in various galleries nationwide including the Sarasota Art Museum and the Dallas Museum of Art Gallery, as well as private and corporate collections such as Mercedes-Benz and numerous private residences.
French 75 Studios
Tatyana Alanis is an illustrator and designer from Anaheim, California now residing in Fort Worth, Texas. Under the name French 75 Studios she creates illustrations inspired by a mix of nostalgia and present day, she depicts timeless illustrations of her interpretation of everyday life.
Her clientele has included Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, Hermès, The New Yorker, ESPN, Sephora, ACLU, Wal-Mart, Adobe Photoshop, Esquire, NHL Dallas Stars, MLB Texas Rangers - among many more! She has had a solo exhibition ‘Melancholy’ at Fort Works Art, and has been featured in group exhibitions at 400H Gallery, Zona7 Gallery, Point of View, and more. She also has received many awards and honors including Communication Arts 2024 Illustration Annual Award of Excellence, Arts Goggle 2024 Featured Artist and Lenora Rolla 12th Annual Juried Art Exhibition (Judge) 2025.
Jana Reneé
Jana Reneé was born in Ithaca, NY 1989, but spent her formative years in Fort Worth, TX from 1997-2012 and again presently. Directly out of high school, Jana began taking work as an illustrator of children’s books, which inspired her to pursue a Fine Art degree officially. She received her AA in Arts at Tarrant County Community College in 2011 and won a Merit Scholarship to Massachusetts College of Art and Design, where she received her BFA in Painting in 2015. Jana worked with an Artist Collective in Boston, MA from 2013-2015 showing work at The Blanc Gallery and The French Cultural Center as well as worked on mural projects at The Beat Hôtel in Harvard Square and The Boston Children’s Museum.
Since living in Texas, Jana has been a part of Art Tooth, Neighborhood Cult Project, and Inspiration Ally. She has shown work at Fort Works Art Gallery debuting her series Reverie in a solo show in 2017. She continues to work on public art work in the Dallas Fort Worth area in the form of murals with over 25 murals in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Jana was voted Best Quarantine Art by the Dallas Observer in 2020, Best Artist editors pick in Fort Worth Magazine 2021 and Best Community Mural for both Critics and Reader's choice in 2022.
Apothicc Studios
Apothicc Studios is a lifestyle brand inspired by color, nostalgia and humor. To create its signature aesthetic, founders Andrew Bayer and Renato Bodeman drew from their professional backgrounds in fashion styling and graphic design and from their lived experiences across the American South and Brazil, and they infuse every design with regional craft and queer sass.
Since its launch in 2019, Apothicc Studios has become recognized and prized by collectors around the world. Whether it’s custom tufted artwork, one-of-a-kind Miss Ma’am dolls or a Tarot deck inspired by Brazilian folclore, Apothicc Studios always aims to spark joy.
Apothicc was created by Andrew and Renato, a couple of old marrieds. Renato brings the bright colors and patterns of Brazil while Andrew brings his country queer sass and design sensibility to create humorous works of art!
Curator: Melovelo
Melovelo (rhymes with Hello Jello) quickly discovered his love of the Fort Worth art scene since moving here in 2001, when he started attending Gallery Night, Third Thursday, and many of the curated events at our world-renowned art galleries. As his appreciation of the local scene grew, so did his desire to be involved.
By day, he runs the city’s bike share program. As a local resident, he sits on the Near Southside Board of Directors and is a regular at neighborhood music venues, watering holes, restaurants and art galleries. From time to time, you can find him DJing at Gallery 440 and other venues under the pseudonym melo (his cover has been blown).
Melovelo is truly honored to curate his first event at Gallery 440. This is a showcase of the artists he admires most in FunkyTown. If you ask him, he’ll probably tell you he secretly curated this for himself, but he wants everyone to experience the works of these talented artists.
A Few Things in the Show
