THE CONTEMPLATIVE IN THE LABORIOUS, IN NEW YORK
Apexart presents the work of seven Latin American artists who, through meticulous and repetitive handcraft processes, transform labor into an act of resistance, joy, and the creation of possible futures.
Obsesión! Labor as Pleasure brings together a group of US-based Latin artists whose practices center labor, materiality, and pleasure as deeply intertwined forces. Working across multi-media collage, sculpture, textiles, and painting, the artists in this exhibition embrace labor-intensive, detail-driven processes that honor repetition, care, and obsession as radical acts of expression.
Through practices often associated with domesticity and immigrant labor—such as hand-stitching, embroidery, and embellishment—these artists transform their materials into meditations on identity, migration, feminism, environmentalism, and cultural memory. For them, labor is not only a physical act but a space of contemplation, healing, and resistance.
Echoing adrienne maree brown’s concept of “pleasure activism,” the exhibition asserts that pleasure is not a luxury but a necessity for survival—especially for marginalized communities. Pleasure becomes both the outcome and the method of creation, offering joy as a mode of critique, protest, and reimagination.
The exhibition, curated by transnational artista Francisco Donoso, invites viewers to reconsider the political potentials of slowness, small gestures and layered collaborations in art. It offers a vibrant, immersive space where labor is sensual, joyful, and liberatory—and where obsession becomes a powerful tool for crafting new futures. Viewers will be able to contribute to a participatory weaving in the gallery set along a resource library for the duration of the exhibition, and participate in various public programs throughout the run of the exhibition.
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Maria Yolanda Liebana. Conjuring Her Myth, 2025. Mixed media, acrylic, mirror tiles, wallpaper, foam, foam clay, plastic decals, inkjet on paper, sequins, fabric paint, glitter, rhinestones, and beads on wood panel 96 x 60”, diptych
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Lina Puerta. Rombo Vivo, 2024. Recycled potato sack, Embera Chami necklaces and Nukak bracelets (Colombian); discarded food nets; repurposed fabric, fake leather, trims, chains from broken jewelry and glass beads; Huayuro seeds and seed beads -some previously worn by the artist; embroidery and silk thread. 36” h x 26” x 7/8 D. 91 x 66 x 2 cms
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Daniela Gomez Paz. Alas enmarañadas, 2023
Obsesión! Labor as Pleasure was selected through apexart’s Open Call. Justin Favela, Daniela Gomez Paz, Juan Hinojosa, Jessica Lagunas, Maria Yolanda Liebana, Gloria Martinez Granados y Lina Puerta are the artists featured in the exhibition.
Francisco Donoso is a transnational artist and curator based in NYC. As a curator, he’s interested in practices that engage liberatory notions of self and society. Originally from Ecuador, he’s been a recipient of DACA since 2012. His books, zines and works explore the psychic dimensions of migration.
Obsesión! Labor as Pleasure will be on view from September 5 until October 25, 2025, at apexart, 291 Church Street, New York City (United States), and 3D Online.
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