Gladstone Gallery Opens 'The Vandals' Exhibition Exploring the Act of Looking
The Facts
Gladstone Gallery presents 'The Vandals,' an exhibition organized by directors Alissa Bennett and Julian Ehrlich, which examines how desire, ownership, and spectatorship shape the perception of art. The show originated from two short stories—Edith Wharton's 'The House of the Dead Hand' (1904) and Honoré de Balzac's 'The Unknown Masterpiece' (1831)—chosen independently by Bennett and Ehrlich, which surprisingly converged on similar questions about looking and longing. The exhibition includes works by artists who resist easy access, such as Huguette Clark in her first public exhibition, Vivian Maier, Weegee, Pope.L, Celia Paul, and Rachel Harrison, among others. The installation at Gladstone's New York space encourages viewers to reconsider the act of looking as an active, often intrusive force.
The Signal
The exhibition signals a growing curatorial interest in using literary fiction as a framework for exhibition-making, while also highlighting the market's tension between accessibility and refusal. By featuring artists who worked in obscurity or deliberately conceal their subjects, Bennett and Ehrlich challenge the dominance of painting in the contemporary market and advocate for slower, more critical viewing. The inclusion of Huguette Clark's self-portrait, never before publicly shown, underscores a broader institutional push to recover overlooked or private practices. For collectors and artists, 'The Vandals' offers a case study in resisting the commodification of looking itself.
- Artists: Huguette Clark, Vivian Maier, Weegee, Graham Little, Aaron Gilbert, Mark Leckey, Pope.L, Celia Paul, Rachel Harrison, Joseph Cornell
- People: Alissa Bennett, Julian Ehrlich
- Galleries: Gladstone Gallery
- Locations: New York
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