(No) Recess
May 14 – June 20, 2026
Peggy Ahwesh, Ina Archer, Lili Chin, S Emsaki, Copper Frances Giloth, Narcisa Hirsch, Chihiro Ito, Hey-Yeun Jang, Marni Kotak, Jahi Kijo Lendor, Jeanne Liotta, Rachel Phillips, Yao Qingmei, Kevin Reuning, Lamar Robillard, Joel Schlemowitz, Matt Town
Opening Reception Thursday May 14, 6-8pm
Microscope is excited to present “(No) Recess,” a group exhibition opening Thursday May 14 featuring mostly new and recent paintings, sculptures, single and multi-channel video, installation, photography, and drawings by a selection of emerging to established artists including those from our roster with works by Peggy Ahwesh, Ina Archer, Lili Chin, S Emsaki, Copper Frances Giloth, Narcisa Hirsch, Chihiro Ito, Hey-Yeun Jang, Marni Kotak, Jahi Kijo Lendor, Jeanne Liotta, Rachel Phillips, Yao Qingmei, Kevin Reuning, Lamar Robillard, Joel Schlemowitz, and Matt Town.
The exhibition title “(No) Recess” is partially inspired by the gallery’s experience during the past month of a sudden move and the resulting break in our programming, due to the loss of our gallery space, and our return last week to a new, temporary location in the building next door. It also refers to the themes of time, transition, disruption, and the fragility of our lives and experiences that frequently emerge from the highly varied works.
As a group, the works in “(No) Recess)” point to the contradictions between one’s intentions for their lives and enjoyment on this planet and the realities of it when confronted with authority, power, and control. What is free time, who gets free time, and for whom is free time for are among the questions raised in the show.
Multi-channel 3D animations and video installations, paintings, and E-ink works were made on the job; deal with labor and work conditions; or refer to incidents of gun violence or historical protests. The scenes and settings of these work extend from BP gas stations in Bushwick, Brooklyn to oil fields of Colonial Iran; from rural Walmart stores in the American mid-west to the gardens of China’s Tiananmen Square; as well as from the back shelves of art auction houses in Manhattan to luxurious environments depicted in the advertisements of golf and leisure magazines.
Several paintings, videos, and illuminated installations take their inspiration and content from activities often consider to be time-wasters. However, the doodling, playing puzzle games (e.g. Sudoku), diary-keeping, and other activities reveal lives and situations that are far from stress-free and set within the contexts of mental health crises, constant breaking news and other issues of our current times.
Other works in panting, drawing, and installation feature imagery from or alluding to sports or arts and literature. The imprints of the soles of Nike Air Force 1s; a portrait of costumed singer in a “Soundie,” (a 1940s version of music videos); and the face of Angela Davis on a stained, found T-shirt draw attention to the perceived values and appreciations of these activities, especially in relationship to socio-economic class, gender, and race, while often subverting or reclaiming negative or stereotypical imagery.
Themes of the show subtly surface through the processes and materials used in the making of the works. A ceramic wall sculpture, resembling natural elements, takes shape by joining delicately molded sections of previously unfinished works. The outline of a missing gun is almost completely contained within a case made of aqua-colored silicone rubber. A delicate colored lumen photogram of ferns is imprinted onto a scrap of raw steel. An installation revolves around an old door, outdated technologies, and is augmented with drawings of components that are missing.
Lastly, a realistically rendered sculpture of a slide projector created with cardboard and paint considers the technological means humanity has developed for the recording and preserving of our experiences. And, a single-channel videos offers a philosophical interrogation of time itself and its collapse — in which we see life, from birth to death, flash before us in an instant — and challenges us to consider the possibility no pause or recess ever exists.
(No) Recess opens on May 14 and continues through June 20 with an Opening Reception on Thursday May 14, 6-8pm.
Please note our new temporary address: 527 W. 29th Street, New York, NY 10001. Contact information remains info@microscopegallery.com, 347.925.1433.