PAROXYSM
Exhibition Dates: February 8-23, 2023
Opening Reception: February 9, 2023, 6-9pm
Video + Performance Night: February 16, 2023, 6-9pm
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 1-6pm

Westbeth Gallery
55 Bethune Street
New York, NY 10014

Paroxysm brings together 65 artists working across sculpture, painting, photography, video, and
performance to explore and diagnose the worsening physical, mental, and social symptoms of
our disordered world. Catalyzed by recent events, this group exhibition explores underlying
chronic social diseases such as racism, misogyny, bigotry, xenophobia, and ableism.
From para- ‘beyond’ and oxus- ‘sharp,’ paroxysm is defined as a sudden attack or violent
expression of a disease, emotion, or activity. This cohort of artists, based in the United States
and abroad, grapple with outbreaks of social and systemic violences that have sparked
paroxysms of mental and bodily illness worldwide. The psychological impacts of isolation, the
spread of infection, the marginalization of identity, and threats to bodily autonomy are all made
visible through Paroxysm’s array of introspective works.

A paroxysm marks a moment of climax. The siren wails. The glass cracks. The body spasms.
The works in this exhibition embody a sense of accumulation and surfacing—of emotions,
inequities, traumas, catastrophes, physical symptoms—and the resulting effects on the body
and psyche. The artists transform these pivotal moments into psychosomatic expressions that
reflect and address our collective and individual experiences. Paroxysm’s engagement with
these shared multi-sensory experiences go beyond today’s contagions, inviting viewers to
consider the ailments that have been building in our collective corpus for centuries.

Participating Artists:

Curated by Alison Pirie
Follow along at www.paroxysm.online
@paroxysmprojects