Hayden Dunham’s Cosmic Installation “NEVER IS OVER” Opens at Company Gallery
Hayden Dunham’s latest solo exhibition, titled “NEVER IS OVER,” will debut on April 30, 2026, at Company Gallery in New York. This immersive experience merges sculpture, sound, and video to delve into themes of connection, rupture, and return. The atrium features hundreds of floating lilies and handwritten notes, while a large glass battery drips fluid into the lower gallery, where a water ladder links the floor to the ceiling. A soundscape intertwines whale songs with the 526-hertz frequency of a black hole. Seven vessels hold recorded voices of notable figures such as Marsha P. Johnson, Octavia Butler, Pippa Garner, Radclyffe Hall, and Sally Ride, kept sealed until they are broken. Dunham, known as Hyd, DD, QT, or elixir, incorporates diverse materials like tourmaline powder and pearls in her multidisciplinary work. Her art has been showcased at MoMA PS1, Jeffrey Deitch, Fondation Louis Vuitton, and the Shanghai and Gwangju Biennials. She resides in Los Angeles.
Key facts
- Exhibition title: NEVER IS OVER
- Artist: Hayden Dunham
- Venue: Company Gallery, New York
- Opening date: April 30, 2026
- Third solo exhibition with the gallery
- Includes four-channel video, 11-minute loop
- Features suspended lilies and handwritten notes in the atrium
- Monumental glass battery leaks fluid downward
- Ladder formed of water connects floor and ceiling
- Soundscape blends whale song and 526-hertz black hole frequency
- Seven vessels contain recorded voices of Marsha P. Johnson, Octavia Butler, Pippa Garner, Radclyffe Hall, Sally Ride
- Voices are sealed and require breaking open to be released
- Draws on atomic bonding, stellar collapse, Buddhist thought
- Dunham uses materials like tourmaline powder, pearls, volcanic water, lithium, silicon
- Previous exhibitions at MoMA PS1, Jeffrey Deitch, Fondation Louis Vuitton, Shanghai and Gwangju Biennials
- Artist lives and works in Los Angeles, California
Entities
Artists
- Hayden Dunham
- Marsha P. Johnson
- Octavia Butler
- Pippa Garner
- Radclyffe Hall
- Sally Ride
Institutions
- Company Gallery
- MoMA PS1
- Jeffrey Deitch
- Fondation Louis Vuitton
- Shanghai Biennial
- Gwangju Biennial
Locations
- New York
- Los Angeles
- California
- Reykjavik
- Iceland
- Sydney
- Australia
- Paris
- France