The exhibition highlights the distinct approaches of its artists. Liz Zito’s multimedia works draw on pulp film posters and early cinema, staging personal narratives that reclaim sexuality through performance and storytelling. Ellie Krakow’s sculptural practice investigates systems of support—both physical and social—using forms such as armatures and medical devices to examine vulnerability, resilience, and interdependence. Her work Stone Smile reflects on the mechanics of posing and the transformation of spontaneous expression into controlled gesture.

Júlia Standovár’s Chain Forest anchors the exhibition with photographic compositions of heavy chains laid across rural landscapes in upstate New York, evoking entanglements of memory, thought, and the body. Lavanya Radhakrishnan’s practice merges precious metals with found materials, collapsing distinctions between value and perception while inviting reflection on adornment and meaning. Shayna Miller’s paintings challenge the flatness of the medium, as protrusions press through the surface, suggesting a body beneath and a painting aware of its own form.

A historical thread runs through the exhibition with Thomas Lanigan-Schmidt’s Prayer Card (1985), a mixed-media work that exemplifies his signature “trashy opulence,” combining everyday materials with references to religious iconography, sexuality, and class.

Michael Reid is based in Brooklyn and the Hudson Valley and works in the New York arts and culture field, with experience at MoMA PS1, The Morgan Library & Museum, and other institutions. He studied art history at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.