Out Of Joint
April 29 - May 27, 2023
Five New York-based artists who examine how rapidly changing global processes—from ecological to socio-political—destabilize our anticipation of a recognizable future. Each artist scavenges for evidence of these amorphous, often invisible systems, and then laboriously transforms the physical materials and latent data into lush, site-responsive installations and richly patterned drawings. Formidable challenges like the COVID pandemic, with its social and psychological aftershocks, and the ever-escalating effects of climate change, represent two instances of these emergent processes: one acute, the other ubiquitous. Both breed uncertainty, and, in retrospect, seem inevitable.
Through playful juxtapositions of found objects, figurative sculptures, follies of language, and dance—the artists in Out of Joint utilize humor as a way to highlight the contradiction inherent in this feeling of inevitable uncertainty, and to gain agency over it. In addition, The Boiler space itself frames the premise of destabilization: on the one hand it’s a majestic icon of an industrial past, and on the other, an obsolete architectural relic that feels more like an ancient cave. Each artist’s work reciprocally engages with this space, either directly or circuitously, framing the architecture as a stand-in for the world at large.
About the Artists
Levani is a Tbilisi-born, Brooklyn-based transdisciplinary artist whose immersive installations, sculpture, and image-making explore queer ecology and post-binary systems of care. Their work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Socrates Sculpture Park, and the Beijing Biennial, and is held in several public collections.
Melissa Stern is a multidisciplinary artist based in New York City and the Hudson Valley. Her work is included in numerous museum and corporate collections, and her traveling multimedia project The Talking Cure has been exhibited at institutions across the United States. She has presented solo exhibitions throughout New York and beyond.
Yasmeen Abdallah is an interdisciplinary artist whose work explores memory, empowerment, trauma, and resilience through found materials and creative reuse. She holds degrees in Anthropology and Studio Art from the University of Massachusetts Boston and an MFA with distinction from Pratt Institute.
Louisa N. Pancoast is a choreographer and performer who has collaborated with leading contemporary choreographers including Yvonne Rainer, Pat Catterson, and Pramila Vasudevan. She has created choreography for gallery and performance spaces, is the recipient of the Cornell Tech /Art grant, and holds a BA in English Literature and Art History from New York University.
John O'Connor is a painter whose work has been exhibited internationally and is included in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum, and other major institutions. A recipient of numerous grants and residencies, he teaches and co-chairs the Visual Arts program at Sarah Lawrence College.
Etty Yaniv is an artist whose sculptural works explore transformation, impermanence, and materiality. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Venice Biennale, the Newark Museum of Art, and the Haifa Museum of Art. She is the founder of Art Spiel and teaches graduate courses in the MFA program at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
Organized by Etty Yaniv