Brooklyn-based artist Peggy Chiang, in her first West Coast solo exhibition barn burner at Adams and Ollman, scrutinizes the often-ignored violence and economic pressures at the core of American identity. Her sculptures transform everyday objects—wire hangers, knives, shirt collars, and even petroleum residues—into tools for universal social critique.
Chiang’s mise-en-scène installations provoke emotions that language struggles to articulate. She describes her work Throttle as a lifeless horse saddle made of steel, suspended from the ceiling. The title’s implication of speed and power clashes with the object’s stubborn immobility. Chiang suggests that this power—whether from horses, humans, or engines—defines the relentless, efficient, and productive economic terms of our 24/7 economy.
Another striking work features shirt collars hung on star-shaped hangers. These collars, used in language to distinguish class and labor, form a constellation of ghostly, disembodied necks. This serves as an elegant expression of working-class identity and the metaphor of being “collared.” In pieces like Souvenir (Dammam No.7), inspired by the first oil wells, Chiang uses crude oil components (bitumen for asphalt, motor oil) to question the West’s iconography of expansionism, masculine power, and freedom.
The artist strives for balance in her sculptures: objects float, hover, and vanish. This creates a narrative where content and meaning remain slippery, never resolving into clarity.
Exhibition Details:
Artist: Peggy Chiang
Title: barn burner
Venue: Adams and Ollman, Los Angeles
Dates: On view through October 25, 2025
