Jacolby Satterwhite “We Are In Hell When We Hurt Each Other”

Mitchell-Innes & Nash (534 W 26th St.)

[Image: Jacolby Satterwhite "Doubt" (2020) Neon, unique 73 by 70 in.]

This event has ended.

Mitchell-Innes & Nash presents a solo exhibition of new works by New York-based artist Jacolby Satterwhite, We Are In Hell When We Hurt Each Other. This exhibition, which marks the artist’s first show with the gallery, will include a new, large-scale virtual reality installation as well as new works in a variety of mediums including sculpture, photography, neon and mixed-medium installation.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the debut of Satterwhite’s most recent immersive, virtual reality video installation, We Are In Hell When We Hurt Each Other. In the video, after which the exhibition takes its title, the current events of our present reality permeate Satterwhite’s quasi-utopic universe. This virtual world is rooted in the expression of Satterwhite’s body movements, which are modeled and transcribed through digital bodysuits into animated fembot form. Within the survival model and alternative reality motif of video games, the performative gestures of Satterwhite’s gender-ambiguous fembots carve out a space of resilient, afro-futurist self-expression.

For over a decade, Satterwhite has used 3D animation, sculpture, performance, painting and photography to create fantastical, labyrinthine universes. Exploring the themes of public space, the body, ritual and allegory, Satterwhite draws from myriad references including Italian Baroque painting, ‘90s video games, Modernism and artworks by his mother Patricia. Patricia’s drawings and recordings have had a significant influence on Satterwhite’s work, serving as a foundation for his otherworldly works. In 2019, Satterwhite released an LP with artist Nick Weiss, Love Will Find a Way Home, in which recordings by Patricia were overlaid onto dance tracks.