The Stand

Doug Ashford, Royce Dendler, eteam, Jason Fulford, Edgar A. Heap Of Birds, Frank Heath, The Hinterlands, Kuperus & Miller, Marcos Lutyens, Faheem Majeed, Julio César Morales, Trevor Paglen, Ben Peterson, Paul Pfeiffer, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Lisi Raskin, Connie Samaras, Beatriz Santiago Muños, Dana Schutz, Xaviera Simmons, Jonathan Bruce Williams, Roger White, James Wines / SITE, Anicka Yi, John Zurier

Stephen King’s bestselling post-apocalyptic novel, The Stand (1978/1990), is set in the aftermath of a devastating, government-engineered plague, which decimates 99.4% of the population of the USA. The survivors are summoned through dreams to choose between two opposed leaders—one saintly, the other profane. Organizing behind each figure, they rebuild America into contrasting societies, while preparing for a prophesied final confrontation with the other.

Informed by this narrative of conflict and authority, The Stand at P! assembles a cast of artists living and working in the USA whose artwork speaks to the divisions and uncertain promises of our current state. Presenting video, sound, performance, sculpture, painting, drawing, and photography, the exhibition uses the novel’s content and context to examine the character of dualism within a fractured nation.

King’s book is pervaded by pressing issues of the 1970s, including militarization and terrorism, economic instability, environmental crisis, racial tensions, increased radicalization, and the threat of autocracy. The exhibition responds to these themes both directly and obliquely through its curatorial framework and installation, connecting the novel with the struggles of our moment to ask how action can arise out of fiction.

Special performances:

Marcos Lutyens, “Bird of a Feather,” Sunday, 15 January, 2–4pm

The Hinterlands, “History is a Living Weapon,” Sunday, 12 February, 2–4pm