ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Panteha Abareshi's 'CAREROTICS' Confronts the Spectacle of Illness at Human Resources

exhibition · 2026-05-19

Panteha Abareshi's exhibition 'CAREROTICS: On Giving and Taking' was presented at Human Resources in Los Angeles in November 2025. The show combined video, sculpture, and installation to transform the gallery into a sterile medical clinic, featuring works like 'EXAMINATIONS' (2025) which displayed 'cripple porn' on monitors inside a curtained area. Abareshi monitored visitors from a control room, using surveillance footage to curate content in real time. The artist, who has sickle cell zero beta thalassemia, interrogates the hypervisibility and invisibility of disability. Works such as 'The Ward' (2025) and 'Honorable Mention' (2025) critique ableist care structures. The exhibition references predecessors Bob Flanagan and Donald Rodney, and is contextualized alongside Xixi Edelsbrunner's 'Grudge' at MONTE VISTA PROJECTS. Abareshi's practice refuses legible renderings of their body, challenging the medical gaze.

Key facts

  • Panteha Abareshi's exhibition 'CAREROTICS: On Giving and Taking' was held at Human Resources, Los Angeles in November 2025.
  • The exhibition included video works, conceptual sculpture, and installation, transforming the gallery into a medical clinic.
  • The work 'EXAMINATIONS' (2025) featured 'cripple porn' on CRT monitors inside a curtained area.
  • Abareshi monitored visitors from a control room, switching between disabled erotic material in real time.
  • The artist has sickle cell zero beta thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder.
  • Works like 'The Ward' (2025) use medical equipment and fishing gear to critique medical authority.
  • 'Honorable Mention' (2025) is a rosette ribbon with text 'Get Well Soon' mutating into 'Better Now!'.
  • The exhibition references Bob Flanagan and Donald Rodney, and is compared to Xixi Edelsbrunner's 'Grudge' at MONTE VISTA PROJECTS.

Entities

Artists

  • Panteha Abareshi
  • Bob Flanagan
  • Donald Rodney
  • Xixi Edelsbrunner
  • Johanna Hedva
  • Robert McRuer
  • James Stewart
  • Martin O'Brien
  • Emma Sheppard
  • Virginia Marano
  • Caroline Ellen Lou
  • Kirby Dick

Institutions

  • Human Resources, Los Angeles (HRLA)
  • MONTE VISTA PROJECTS
  • Carla (Contemporary Art Review LA)
  • U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • NYU Press
  • Semiotext(e)
  • Hillman Grad
  • Los Angeles Times

Locations

  • Los Angeles
  • United States
  • California

Sources