New Exhibition Showcases a Bold New Framework for Understanding Twenty-First-Century Photography and Video

The George Eastman Museum presents GAG, an exhibition that grapples with contemporary experience through a balance of absurdity and dark humor. On view from October 2, 2026 to April 11, 2027, GAG proposes a bold new framework for understanding twenty-first-century photography and video.

What is “gag”? Both noun and verb, gag provokes strong feelings. Beginning with the cinematic sight gag and its long history of comic interruption, the exhibition expands to put in play uses of the word “gag” associated with queer ballroom vernacular, judicial gag orders, BDSM and kink, choking and retching, and the dark feedback loops of social media and meme culture. What emerges is a rich conceptual language for work that refuses easy categorization: violent and slapstick, icky and sublime, funny and anxious, all at once.

“The George Eastman Museum has a long history of groundbreaking exhibitions that highlight major artistic developments, “said Phil Tayor, associate curator, Department of Photography at George Eastman Museum and curator of GAG. “GAG aspires to add to this tradition. The exhibition offers a vibrant critical language for understanding the practices of an exciting group of significant contemporary artists, most of whom are exhibiting with the museum for the first time.”

The exhibition features the work of contemporary artists, including Peggy Ahwesh, Lucas Blalock, Patty Chang, Talia Chetrit, Buck Ellison, Martine Gutierrez, Whitney Hubbs, Steffani Jemison, Arnold J. Kemp, Tommy Kha, Tala Madani, Paul Pfeiffer, Pope.L, Josephine Pryde, Torbjørn Rødland, and Erin Calla Watson. Their works are complemented by a selection of historical photographs from the George Eastman Museum collection that propose a lineage of gag(s) evident in sources ranging from vernacular photographs to significant works associated with the Bauhaus, Surrealism, and conceptual art.

For ticket information, hours, and more visit eastman.org.

Related Publication
An accompanying catalogue, GAG: The Art of Comic Trouble, by author and exhibition curator Phil Taylor will be forthcoming, with additional text contributions by Heather Diack, Tina Post, and exhibiting artists Lucas Blalock, Arnold J. Kemp, Josephine Pryde, and Torbjørn Rødland. Published by the George Eastman Museum. 

Exhibition-related Programming
Exhibition Reception: GAG and Ahndraya Parlato: TIME TO KILL
Thursday, October 1; 6 p.m.; Main Galleries, Project Gallery, and Potter Peristyle
Join us for a special reception celebrating our latest exhibitions, GAG and Ahndraya Parlato: TIME TO KILL. Enjoy opening remarks and light refreshments. There will also be a book signing of TIME TO KILL with Parlato.

GAG PowerPoint Karaoke
Friday, October 2, 5:30 p.m., Dryden Theatre
Get to know the art of GAG through the fun and unpredictable challenge of PowerPoint karaoke. Artists, staff, and friends of the museum will have five minutes to present a slide deck, most of which they have never seen before, improvising their way through the unknown. This round-robin event offers a humorous and engaging look at the diverse work represented in GAG. 

About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 31,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books and archival materials related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. The museum is located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program, and its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. The George Eastman Museum is supported with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. For more information, visit eastman.org.