Reception: Thursday, August 6, 6 - 8pm

Carter Burden Gallery presents three exhibitions: Animal House featuring depictions of animals across multiple mediums; Friends and Family Four bring together an extraordinary combination of ten different artist; and Joysticks a large-scale installation celebrating spirit and community by Elisabeth Jacobsen. The reception will be on Thursday, August 6 from 6pm to 8pm. The exhibitions run from August 6 – September 1, 2026, at 548 West 28th Street in New York City. The gallery hours are Tuesday - Friday, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Featuring animals made using a range of methods by five artists, Barbara Lubliner, Ira Pearlstein, Katharine Butler, Nieves Saah, and Vija Doks. Each artist explores different materials such as wood, chalk, and plastic bottles and utilizes unique techniques to bring each animal to life. Animal House seeks to compare and contrast artists’ processes through the diversity of their animals. Each animal reflects the artist who made it.

“Perhaps the greatest gift an animal has to offer is a reminder of who we really are” 
- Nick Trout

Friends and Family Four features the unique collaboration of ten artists. Olivia Beens, Helen Iranyi, Judith Iranyi, Lynn Katsafouros, Phyllis Manner, Vera Sapozhnikova, Stewart Siskind, Debra Solomon, Gail Winbury, and Young Ja Yoon have come together to create this exhibition in support of the Carter Burden Gallery’s mission. From the old technique of batik to bright, and vividly colored geometric shapes, many different styles and mediums are represented.

In Joysticks, Elisabeth Jacobsen presents a large-scale installation that celebrates spirit and the power of community. Conceived in the summer of 2024 during Kamala Harris's presidential campaign and inspired by the candidate's frequent invocation of joy, the work embraces visual exuberance through a vivid palette and dynamic composition. The installation reflects Jacobsen's interest in creating work that responds to the cultural moment while fostering connection through shared creativity. Working with her longstanding practice of incorporating found and discarded materials, Jacobsen discovered bamboo, a material she viewed as particularly meaningful. Known for its durability and flexibility, bamboo serves as both a natural element and a symbol of resilience and growth. Brightly colored forms are further animated as the artist plays with surface details, which provide a visual richness.

Throughout the creation of Joysticks, Jacobsen considered the importance of her immediate community and the collaborative relationships that have informed many of her past projects. Elaborating on this, Jacobsen said, “…so here too I invited my sister Andrea Jacobsen, my niece Cortney Jacobsen, and my close friend Carol Massa to add their marks to a stick. I deeply valued our collective attention to create and connect us to the notion of joy.”