Summary
- PLATO gallery presents Phantasma, a group exhibition exploring imagination and illusion, drawing on philosophical debates from Plato and Aristotle
- Seven artists bridge classical philosophy and digital-age imagery through diverse works on canvas and paper
- On view until April 19, 2026
Currently on show at PLATO Gallery, the Phantasma group exhibition explores imagination, dreams and illusion in contemporary painting. Drawing on philosophical debates from Plato and Aristotle about the nature of fantasy and perception, the show situates painting as a site of apparitions — where ghosts of the past, personal memory, and mass media converge. Featuring artists Alex Sutcliffe, Alic Brock, Darina Karpov, Henry Hung Chang, Jamie Adams, Tang Shuo and Vickie Vainionpää, the exhibition proposes that illusion is not mere deception but a generative force that bridges the external, the internal and the sublime.
Among the notable works, Jamie Adams revisits Jean Seberg’s iconic role in “Breathless” through portraits like “Jeannie’s Blue Suit” and “Mama’s Dream,” blending film history with personal memory. Darina Karpov’s emotive canvases weave together childhood recollections of Saint Petersburg with Soviet cartoons and cinema, while Henry Hung Chang’s Bonfire draws from Taiwanese folk rituals, queer identity and immigrant experience.
Alex Sutcliffe reinterprets Old Master scenes with painterly blurring that evokes digital imagery and Vickie Vainionpää’s Diana in the Bath (Excerpt I) transforms eye‑tracking software data into sculptural, sinuous forms that blur the line between digital and physical.
Other highlights include Tang Shuo’s “Lake,” a magical realist self‑portrait that merges myth with contemporary identity and Alic Brock’s “Bullseye,” which synthesizes American cinema, surreal dream logic, and digital aesthetics in airbrushed acrylic.
Phantasma will remain on view at the PLATO Gallery until April 19, 2026.
PLATO Gallery
202 Bowery, New York,
NY 10012, USA
