E.V. Day and Kembra Pfahler transform The Hole into a campy Giverny garden with Playboy support
From March 30 to April 24, E.V. Day and Kembra Pfahler presented a whimsical exhibition at The Hole gallery in New York City, recreating Monet's gardens at Giverny. Funded by a Playboy grant, the installation included a gravel pathway winding through AstroTurf hills, vibrant flowers, mulched beds with tulips and roses, and a lily pond featuring goldfish and a small arched bridge. Day showcased her photographs on vinyl wallpaper adorned with weeping willows, some illuminated while others remained hidden. During her 2010 Munn Artist's Residency at Giverny via the Versailles Foundation, Day invited Pfahler to pose nude in striking hot-pink body paint and bondage boots. The exhibition blurred the boundaries between reality and artifice, with Pfahler resembling a futuristic wood sprite.
Key facts
- Exhibition ran from March 30 to April 24 at The Hole gallery
- E.V. Day and Kembra Pfahler collaborated on the show
- Playboy provided a grant for the project
- Installation recreated Monet's gardens at Giverny in New York City
- Day participated in the Munn Artist's Residency at Giverny in 2010 through the Versailles Foundation
- Pfahler posed nude with pink body paint as a Playboy Femlin-inspired character
- Photographs were digitally manipulated into symmetrical Rorschach-like images
- Gardeners at Giverny spied on and later posed with the artists
Entities
Artists
- E.V. Day
- Kembra Pfahler
- Monet
Institutions
- The Hole
- Playboy
- Versailles Foundation
Locations
- Giverny
- New York City
- Bowery
- Bleecker Street
- Houston Street