Joyce Pensato
10 October 2026 – 4 April 2027
About the exhibition
The exhibition traces the evolution of Joyce Pensato’s work—from the early still lifes and Batman drawings of the 1970s, which were still strongly influenced by her training at the New York Studio School and the Abstract Expressionism prevalent there, to the large-format black-and-white enamel paintings of the 1990s, in which she combined drawing and painting for the first time. This phase marks a decisive turning point in her artistic practice: the switch from oil to enamel also opened up new freedoms for her in terms of gesture, material, and abstraction.
The New York artist (1941–2019) transformed popular figures such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Felix the Cat, and characters from “The Simpsons” and “South Park” by overpainting, sanding down, and breaking down layers of imagery into expressive, often somber icons that thereby gained emotional depth and power. In her later years, she expanded her body of work to include installations and collages that incorporated painted objects from her studio as well as images from film and pop culture.