04/03/2026
Please Do Not Touch | curated by Sihan (Tara) Chen and Ankita Bhat
Chen and Bhat present a room populated entirely with pedestals, structures typically relegated to the background as passive supports. With no objects to display, the pedestals themselves emerge as central figures. Stripped of their conventional function, they are reimagined as active subjects, drawing attention to the architecture of display itself.
Each pedestal is subtly altered through the integration of domestic materials and references: crown molding trims their bases, lace curtains cascade down their sides. These interventions reintroduce ornament and texture, evoking sensations tied to memory, place, and bodily presence. The pedestal, traditionally a symbol of sterile exhibition, becomes a site of warmth, tactility, and recognition.
Please Do Not Touch interrogates how our ways of seeing, feeling, and living have been shaped by the aesthetics of the white cube. What does it mean to re-domesticate the gallery? To bring ornament, memory, and touch back into a space that has for so long demanded sanitization? ……………………………………………………………………………………………….
AS220 GALLERIES — APRIL OPENINGS
Opening Reception
Saturday, April 4 (Tomorrow!)
5–7 PM
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MAIN GALLERY
115 Empire St.
Creature Comforts
Sydney Bienstock
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ABORN GALLERY
95 Empire St. (2nd Fl — same building as Main Gallery)
Please Do Not Touch
Curated by Sihan (Tara) Chen & Ankita Bhat
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PROJECT SPACE
93 Mathewson St.
Easter
Emily Falkowski
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READING ROOM
93 Mathewson St. (inside Project Space)
Suffering Ones
Obasi Osbourne
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Exhibition Dates:
April 4 – 25