Lauren Halsey to Unveil New Works at Gagosian New York

New works from her acclaimed plaza sign and protruded engravings series will be on display.

Photo by Allen Chen. Courtesy Of The Artist And Gagosian

Following her successful solo booth at Frieze London, Lauren Halsey will bring a West Coast influence to New York with a new exhibition opening next month at Gagosian's Upper East Side location. Utilizing the aesthetics of her neighborhood, South Central, the presentation will unveil new works that contemplate the mythology of Los Angeles and the broader experience of Black American existence.

A new six-foot-tall sculpture from her plaza sign series will be on display. The work draws inspiration from the visual aesthetics and color schemes of signage from Black and brown-owned businesses, addressing the vital roles that community people and institutions assume in the face of economic disparity, systematic racism, state violence, gentrification, and displacement.

The artist articulated, “These works grow out of my desire to create a vocabulary and practice that exists somewhere beyond celebration and preservation. They represent my dreamscape for a plaza and my yearning to create a unique portrait of a place. I celebrate how color, text and informal language are used in my neighborhood to articulate the promise of a business or community institution.”

Furthermore, her monochromatic sculptural reliefs from the Protruded Engravings series (2022–) delineate Black culture in Los Angeles through historical and mythical narratives, while evoking innovative technical approaches developed during her time in Harlem. Similar to ancient hieroglyphs, these engravings elevate South Central’s ordinary individuals and locations into symbols of different temporal perspectives, connecting its dynamic community and culture with Afro-diasporic mythology, funk music, personal recollections, and collective history. Drawing from the artist's previous endeavors, including her 2023 Met rooftop commission and the sculpture park and garden scheduled to debut in LA in spring 2026, Halsey's next exhibition celebrates local luminaries.

Gagosian Park & 75, 821 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10021