Alex Da Corte: Cadavre Exquis

Join us for an engaging evening with acclaimed artist Alex Da Corte as part of the Exhibition Lecture Series. On Friday, February 28 at 6 pm, Da Corte will present “Cadavre Exquis” and engage in conversation with Alison Hearst, the exhibition’s organizing curator.

Alex Da Corte: The Whale marks the first comprehensive museum exhibition to explore Da Corte’s dynamic relationship with painting. Spanning the past decade, the exhibition features over forty paintings, drawings, and a video work that examines painting as a performative act.

Known internationally for his interdisciplinary installations that merge painting, video, performance, and sculpture, Da Corte draws from art history, design, and pop culture. His works blend fantasy with darker undertones, while traversing high and low cultural themes. In The Whale, Da Corte views painting as a space that captures cultural “ghosts”—referencing the Jungian concept of a journey into the subconscious, likened to the mythical “belly of the whale.”

The exhibition includes Da Corte’s signature reverse-glass paintings, evoking the invisible labor of traditional animation and sign-making; Puffy Paintings, crafted from stuffed neoprene; Shampoo Paintings, created with everyday hair products; and Slatwall Paintings, which incorporate found objects. By taking up such unconventional techniques, the artist challenges the dominance of painting on canvas, expanding the boundaries of the medium and revealing new opportunities for expression.

Organized by the Modern, the exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue with contributions from Da Corte and essays by Hearst, scholar Kemi Adeyemi, art historian Suzanne Hudson, and poet Hanif Abdurraqib.