Carnival, curated by Joe Coleman

About

Artists have long been inspired by the themes of the carnival and the circus. They often identify with the craft, the courage, and the sometimes marginal existence of circus and carnival performers. The carnival is a unique social space where attitudes and behaviors that might be unacceptable in “polite society” are allowed to thrive. Artists occupy a similar marginal space, separate from social conventions.

Drawing on this colorful, subversive, and often provocative world, Jeffrey Deitch has invited artist Joe Coleman to curate Carnival, an exhibition opening on May 3 at our 18 Wooster Street gallery. The artists featured in the show engage with themes of spectacle, rebellion, and free expression in unexpected and thought-provoking ways. As Coleman describes:

I believe that the carnival is a kind of profane, holy place where the private desires, fantasies, and fears of a society are given uninhibited free expression. This expression produced unique works of art to embody this mysterious part of ourselves. I have long been fascinated by these works, and in this show, I explore the many forms that this expression takes—from the amazing banners produced for side shows and crime shows, the spectacular costumes of the burlesque house, the Mardi Gras, and the art parade. The influence extends to puppet show figures, whose roots trace back to ancient theater, the wax figures that evolved from medieval votive saints to the criminal and celebrity effigies of the sideshow museum, and even the miniature and flea circuses.

While the exhibition includes numerous contemporary artists whose work draws from the carnivalesque, Coleman has also invited his “family of friends” from burlesque and sideshow communities to contribute. This blending of artistic voices creates a dynamic and immersive celebration of these rebellious and theatrical subcultures.

Artists participating in the exhibition include Derrick Adams, John Ahearn, Diana Yesenia Alvarado, Henry Alvarez, Mario Ayala, Elias Baeck, Bambi the Mermaid, Ana Benaroya, Matthias Buchinger, Camille2000, Nadia Lee Cohen, Joe Coleman, George Condo, Danny Cortes, Karon Davis, Raúl de Nieves, Guillermo del Toro, Jane Dickson, Tom Duncan, John Dunivant, Celeste Dupuy-Spencer, Johnny Eck, Mike Elizalde, Chris ‘DAZE’ Ellis, Isaac Psalm Escoto, Scott Ewalt, Walton Ford, Mark Frierson, Mr. Gorgeous, Red Grooms, Anne Imhof, Jamian JulianoVillani, Laura Kaplan, KAWS, Austin Lee, Randal Levenson, Patrick McDonnell, Johnny Meah, Elberto ‘SLUTO’ Muller, Narcissister, Theophilus Nii Anum Sowah, Mu Pan, Kembra Pfahler, Liz Renay, Ari Roussimoff, M. Santaguida, Peter Saul, Kenny Scharf, Jim Shaw, Alake Shilling, Garo Sparo, Al Stencell, Mickalene Thomas, Rigoberto Torres, Fannie Tunison, Chuck Varga, Whitney Ward, Marnie Weber, Weegee, Jo Weldon, Robert Williams, Karl Wirsum, August Wolfinger, and Snap Wyatt.

Joe Coleman (b. 1955, Norwalk, CT) is an internationally recognized painter, writer, and performer who has been exhibiting in major institutions internationally for four decades, including solo exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; Barbican Centre, London; and Wadsworth Atheneum Museum, Hartford. Coleman was featured in the Jeffrey Deitch and Gagosian collaborative exhibition Unrealism in Miami and more recently Luncheon on the Grass at Jeffrey Deitch, Los Angeles in 2022. He is represented by Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York.

Coleman’s performance work from the 1980s was some of the most radical of its time, and is documented in films and books about the period. He is the subject of several monographs including A Doorway to Joe, the largest tome to date of the artist’s work and life, published by Fantagraphic Books last year.

An avid and passionate collector, Coleman’s “Odditorium” is a private museum where sideshow objects, wax figures, crime artifacts, and works of religious devotion live together to form a dark mirror that reflects an alternative side of the American psyche. The collection has been published in numerous books, prints, and records.

Joe Coleman is the subject of an award-winning feature length documentary, Rest in Pieces: A Portrait of Joe Coleman (1997). He has appeared in acting roles in films such as Asia Argento’s Scarlet Diva (2000) and as himself in the “Lower East Side” episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown (2018). A new documentary film on Coleman and his wife Whitney Ward titled How Dark My Love will have a film festival premiere in 2025. Coleman lives with his wife, muse, and long-time partner Whitney Ward in New York.