Contributed by Bill Arning / Plunked in the middle of Matthew Gilbert’s solo exhibition “Pretend Till It Hurts” at Jane St. Art is a five-foot-tall steel construction crane buckling under the weight of a rented bouncy castle. Titled Until the Whole City Falls Over, the sculpture turns an ordinary suburban party rental into something strangely unsettling. Inflatable castles felt perfectly natural at children’s birthdays until Gilbert reminded us what castles actually are: military edifices built to withstand siege and slaughter.
Tag: Matthew Gilbert
Outsider Art Fair 2026: Hunters and prey
Contributed by Jac Lahav / Timothée Chalamet, the 30-year old actor, recently rage-baited internet audiences by saying he wouldn’t want to work in “ballet or […]
NYC Selected Gallery Guide, February 2026
Contributed by Sharon Butler / It’s February and my head is already spinning. I saw a few shows yesterday and recommend a trip to 15 Orient on 72 Walker Street (enter on Cortlandt Alley) to see Mitchell Kehe’s show “Bonded by the Spirit of Doubt,” in which enigmatic composition seems to affirm and concretize the pit I feel in my stomach. If narrative is more your jam, stop by LUNCH, a pop-up space downstairs from NADA headquarters at 311 East Broadway. Bill Arning has curated a show called “Ambiguous Storytellers” featuring Hannah Barrett, Tyler Brandon, Ario Elami, Matthew Gilbert, T.J. Griffin, Paula Hayes, Brian Kenny, Phil Knoll, Steven Lack, Jean Paul Mallozzi, Daniel Morowitz, Donna Moylan, Rajab Ali Sayed, and Erik Daniel White. Don’t miss Hilary Harnischfeger’s “Song for Clouds,” the artist’s fifth exhibition at Uffner & Liu. She crafts handmade objects that uncannily reflect the geological processes of tectonic pressure, sediment layering, and mineral buildup. Two Coats fave Alex Kwartler returns to Magenta Plains with “Off-Peak,” a solo show in which he presents “an inventory of passing attentions” that perfectly capture this age of distraction.






















