May We Dance in the Face of Our Fears
Antonia Wright, Barbara von Portatius, Brad Kahlhamer, Cannon Hersey, Claudia Peña Salinas, Corey Escoto, Finley, Ghost of a Dream, Jen DeNike, Jennifer Wen Ma, José Carlos Martinat, LigoranoReese, Maynard Monrow, Nene Humphrey, Rico Gatson, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Tomas Vu, Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos), Thomas Beale
Curated by Maureen Sullivan
Opening Reception: Wednesday, January 7, 2026 | 6-8 PM
January 7 - January 28, 2026
As the world continually spirals in a Mad Max trajectory, May We Dance in the Face of Our Fears greets the new year armed with hope, resolution, and a daily dose of sage. The exhibition celebrates the indefatigable human spirit that rises like a phoenix from the ashes, faces down apathy and despair, and creates balance, beauty, and contemplative work that reflects this challenging journey.
The artists explore many paths of healing, renewal, and transformation. Some connect with their inner shamans, the universe, ancestors, and the earth’s restorative powers. Others explore spirituality and mystical re-enchantment through practicing rituals, alchemy, and affirmations. Processing loss and grief, many artists tap into deep reserves of resilience and deepen connection with themselves, their communities, and the natural and spiritual worlds, in search of wonder over fear.
Cannon Hersey, Claudia Peña Salinas, Jen DeNike, José Carlos Martinat, Sara Siestreem (Hanis Coos), and Thomas Beale draw from history, ancestral knowledge and practices, cosmology, and both the vernacular and the sacred. Sources as varied as the mystery survivor trees of Hiroshima, temples and ancient archaeological sites, and crystals and curative minerals unearthed in Arkansas, Mexico, and Peru infuse silkscreens, levitation performance, installation, and sculpture, activating channels of remembrance, strength, and mystical power.
Jen DeNike, Mirror Levitation, Vision 3, 2022, Framed archival print on watercolor paper, 62 x 42 in. Courtesy artist and Central Fine.
Through a Victorian mourning braiding ritual, examining the process of decay and rebirth in rebuilding memory and connection after an extended coma, and performances of crying on street corners around the world, Nene Humphrey, Barbara von Portatius, and Antonia Wright make space for grief, healing, compassion, and empathy, while also discovering moments of wonder, resilience, and connection with the self, others, and the natural and spiritual worlds.
Language, political gesture, and social meditation shape works by Corey Escoto, LigoranoReese, Maynard Monrow, and Rirkrit Tiravanija with Tomas Vu, presented in the form of engraved bronze tissue boxes, water bottled from a melting ice sculpture, and text works of hope, resistance, and revolution. Finley and Rico Gatson’s vibrant geometric paintings, based on iconography found in ancient art, architecture, and feminist and Black history, create a visual language that bridges the cosmic and the cultural.
Brad Kahlhamer’s dreamcatcher, edged with NY punk, and Jennifer Wen Ma’s hanging paper and handblown glass installation posit worlds of duality represented in light and darkness, chaos and order, and energies in flux in search of balance. Ghost of A Dream’s Aligned by the Sun, launched during a time of travel bans, persecution, climate change, and a global pandemic, brings universal connection through the collective experience of watching sunsets, filmed by artists in 225 nations around the world for this artwork.
The title of the exhibition is inspired by a quote from author Gloria Anzaldúa: “Though we tremble before uncertain futures, may we meet illness, death, and adversity with strength; may we dance in the face of our fears.”
José Carlos Martinat, Purificador #11, 12, 13, 14, 2024, Medical cotton gauze, dyed with ayahuasca, crushed quartz, sangre de grado, tul, bronze, and colored powders used by healers for cleansing and recovery rituals, 6 x 4 ft. Courtesy artist.
Claudia Peña Salinas, Tunich, 2020, Brass, dyed thread, ceramic, and river stone, 24 x 53.5 x 24 in.
Thomas Beale, Tramp, 2012, Found wood, paint pigment, metal, glass, fabric, 45 x 32 x 30 in.
Jennifer Wen Ma, Night Which Contains the Sea, 2017,
Hand-crafted glass, laser cut black paper, Size variable.