Joyce Pensato:
Eyes For You
10 October 2026 – 4 April 2027
About the exhibition
With her bold, gestural painting style, New York artist Joyce Pensato became the icon of the fusion of American pop culture and Abstract Expressionism. Mickey, Donald, Batman, The Simpsons, and South Park—through Pensato’s subversive appropriation, these familiar comic and cartoon characters reveal a darker, often unsettling yet deeply affecting side. EYES FOR YOU is the first major solo exhibition in Europe dedicated to the artist since her death in 2019.
»I just don’t want the work to be nice or sweet. Disney’s cartoons are usually very sweet. I want the work to be deeper, to have more personality.«
Joyce Pensato
About Joyce Pensato
Joyce Pensato (1941–2019) was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to a father who had immigrated from Sicily and an Italian-American mother. Her father worked as a printer and printmaker, collaborating with artists on their books, and encouraged her early interest in art. Pensato first studied at the Art Students League of New York and then, beginning in 1973, attended the New York Studio School for about six years. There, Mercedes Matter in particular became a formative teacher and mentor; Joan Mitchell, whom Pensato met during her final year of study, also played a significant role in her artistic development.
