Joyce Pensato: ‘EYES FOR YOU’ at the Falckenberg Collection, Deichtorhallen Hamburg

Opening soon at the Falckenberg Collection, Deichtorhallen Hamburg, ‘EYES FOR YOU’ is the first major solo exhibition in Europe dedicated to Joyce Pensato since her death in 2019. Bringing together works spanning four decades, the exhibition traces the development of Pensato’s distinctive visual language, from her early still lifes and Batman drawings of the 1970s to her large-scale black-and-white enamel paintings of the 1990s and beyond.

Pensato’s subversive appropriations of familiar figures including Mickey, Donald, Batman and The Simpsons bring the visual language of popular culture into dialogue with the gestural energy of Abstract Expressionism. Her shift from oil to enamel marked a decisive turning point, opening up new possibilities for gesture, material and abstraction. Through these works, seemingly familiar characters become darker and more unsettling, challenging the conventions of popular imagery while retaining its immediacy and emotional force.

The Hamburg presentation brings together works from international and European collections and is accompanied by a presentation of works from the Falckenberg Collection. The exhibition is organised in collaboration with ICA Miami and Frac des Pays de la Loire.

10 October 2026 – 4 April 2027

Falckenberg Collection, Deichtorhallen Hamburg

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Image: Joyce Pensato, Who’s Looking at You, 2007. © The Artist, Courtesy Lisson.