EVERY WOMAN BIENNIAL RETURNS MARCH 8TH WITH 400 ARTISTS FOR “SPECTALiA” AT PEN + BRUSH
More than 400 women and non-binary artists are featured in “SPECTALiA,” the 6th edition of the Every Woman Biennial, on view March 8 – April 11, 2026 at the historic nonprofit gallery Pen + Brush in New York City. Opening on International Women’s Day and coinciding with The Whitney Biennial, this expansive month-long exhibition presents a dynamic salon inspired by Dada, Surrealism, and Cabaret, embracing art as a powerful form of radical expression.
Originally founded by artist C. Finley as the Whitney Houston Biennial in 2014, the initiative began as a tongue-in-cheek response to the Whitney Biennial, highlighting the persistent underrepresentation of women artists in major institutional exhibitions. Over the past decade it has evolved into the Every Woman Biennial, a large-scale platform for artistic experimentation, community building, and feminist dialogue.
The 2026 edition draws inspiration from the rebellious spirit of Dada, Surrealism, and Cabaret—movements historically born from moments of social and political upheaval. Artists were invited to respond to the question: what are we creatively building in a troubled world moving at a speed we can barely grasp? The resulting exhibition unfolds as a vibrant salon spanning painting, photography, sculpture, installation, performance, music, video, and digital media. Artists participating in the exhibition include Mickalene Thomas, Swoon, Ashley Chew, Indira Cesarine, Patricia Cronin, Lola Flash, Hilma’s Ghost, Deborah Kass, Katrina Majkut, Mia Brownell, Michele Pred, Suzanna Scott, Victoria Selbach, Nona Hendryx, among hundreds of others.
Executive Director and Co-Curator Molly Caldwell describes the project as a collective act of imaginative resistance, emphasizing the Biennial’s mission to create space for artists to challenge existing systems and imagine new possibilities.
A significant focus of the 2026 Biennial is media and digital technology, reflecting the growing influence of artificial intelligence, interactive systems, and creative coding in contemporary art. Artists working in moving image, XR, AI, and digital installations explore how technological forces are reshaping the way we communicate, create, and experience culture.
Among the works engaging these themes is “Fashionistas: Battle of the Babes,” a camp-inspired multiplayer video game by Tassneen Bashir and Camron Gonzalez, where players compete in surreal fashion challenges that bend gender norms and celebrate the bizarre. Yingxi Adelle Lin’s interactive installation “Soft Upload” invites visitors to confess personal thoughts and anxieties, generating ritualistic responses that merge into a shared archive reflecting the fragility of life.
Large-scale sculptural works also confront the environmental and ethical implications of technology. SEVINCY’s nine-foot-tall robotic sculptures “Three Wise Monkeys,” constructed from plastic and digital waste, mirror contemporary anxieties surrounding artificial intelligence and its environmental footprint.
Other works in the exhibition draw on mythology, ritual, and political symbolism. Indira Cesarine’s neon sculpture “Pandora’s Box (REBEL),” presented within a transparent mirrored cube, expands her “Pandora’s Box” series into a charged reflection on rebellion in an era of political upheaval and human rights crises. The word “REBEL” burns in red neon within the mirrored chamber, multiplying infinitely in a hypnotic field of light. Echoing the ancient myth of Pandora—who released suffering into the world while leaving hope trapped inside—the work questions whether rebellion itself can contain the chaos it unleashes. The endlessly reflected neon becomes both a symbol of defiance and a meditation on the paradox of resistance, capturing the urgency and exhaustion that often accompany the fight against systemic oppression.
Across the exhibition, artists engage a wide range of art historical influences, from Psychedelia and Cubism to Afrofuturism and Pop Art. Mickalene Thomas’s “Tête de Femme” series draws on African fractal patterns and sculptural traditions while reframing early twentieth-century Cubism through a contemporary lens. Photographer Lola Flash presents works from her series “syzygy, the vision,” imagining the artist as a gender-fluid mythical figure channeling Afrofuturist imagery and ancestral memory.
Themes of ritual, transformation, and the occult also appear throughout the exhibition. In “Conjuring Futures,” a digital video work by Hilma’s Ghost, footage from global uprisings is interwoven with imagery from their Hex Paintings to create a spell-like meditation on art’s potential to catalyze social change. Meanwhile, photographs by Polly Dawson capture the ritual intensity of Carnival in Oaxaca, where costumed performers embody demons in symbolic acts of purification.
Expanding beyond the gallery walls, “SPECTALiA” includes a dynamic lineup of performances and participatory events throughout the opening celebrations. The International Women’s Day opening on March 8 will feature a spectacular dance procession by Melissa Riker’s Kinesis Project accompanied by the Hungry March Band, transforming the gallery and surrounding streets into a celebratory procession. Visitors will also encounter performances such as “The Singing Cabinet” by Mathilde Lebeau, a coin-operated automaton-style operatic performance exploring themes of misogyny, witchcraft, technology, and revenge. Additional spontaneous activations and flash-mob style performance interventions will bring the exhibition’s cabaret-inspired spirit to life.
The Biennial also introduces the Every Woman Biennial ART-O-MAT, a vending-machine-style installation filled with miniature artworks created by participating artists. Designed to make collecting accessible to a wide audience, the project allows visitors to take home small works inspired by the larger exhibition.
Hosted at Pen + Brush—an organization founded in 1894 dedicated to supporting women and gender-expansive visual and literary artists—the 2026 edition marks the first time the Every Woman Biennial will be presented as a month-long exhibition. Opening alongside the Whitney Biennial, “SPECTALiA” arrives at a moment when conversations about representation, equity, and the role of artists in shaping cultural narratives continue to gain urgency.
With its carnival-like atmosphere and expansive roster of artists, “SPECTALiA” positions art as a site of collective imagination—where experimentation, performance, and radical creativity offer new ways to envision the future.
Pen + Brush
29 East 22nd Street
New York, NY 10010
Exhibition Dates
March 8 – April 11, 2026
Media & Artists Preview
March 7, 2026
6:30 – 9:00 PM (by invitation)
Opening Reception & Performances
March 8, 2026
1:00 – 6:00 PM
Featuring a dance procession by Melissa Riker’s Kinesis Project with the Hungry March Band, performances by Mathilde Lebeau’s “The Singing Cabinet,” and additional performance activations.
