Lower East Side, New York
Group Exhibition
Campus: Signals
Sitting RoomClayman A., Andrew Basinski, Juliette Collet, Clara Collins, Izzy Dent, Jake Hasapopoulos, Samira Henninge, Sofia Leilani Kugelberg, Danka Latorre, Jamison Pearl, Tashi Salsedo, Drew Sedlacek, Dylan Teaford, Jack Vinetz, Dean Winter Sitting Room is pleased to present Signals, a group exhibition by Campus. Signals looks at the persistence of American optimism after the social and economic conditions that once sustained it have broken down. In this exhibition, optimistic belief is treated less as a reflection of present reality and more as something learned, rehearsed, and maintained, even as its foundation becomes increasingly uncertain. Bright, hypnotic colors lure viewers with the promise of pleasure and possibility, only to reveal more difficult and unsettling realities beneath the work's initial seduction. This tension reflects a broader condition in which the expectation of a better future continues to shape behavior, desire, and self-perception, despite growing evidence to the contrary. At the center of the show sits the only monochrome black piece, functioning as a visual escape from the surrounding field of color while simultaneously acting as a trap. It pulls the viewer inward like a tar pit, offering momentary relief that ultimately loops back into the surrounding system of spectacle. What remains is not optimism as a stable truth, but optimism as a lingering presence, the afterimage of a future once imagined and still grasped at, sugarcoating every piece of news, every purchase, and every experience in order to make it all worthwhile.