Sable Elyse Smith's FAIR GROUNDS exhibition explores carceral systems through playful yet unsettling installations

Sable Elyse Smith's exhibition FAIR GROUNDS at Regen Projects in Los Angeles examines carcerality and state control through a blend of whimsical and disquieting elements. The show features prison-stripe wallpaper that references cartoonish carceral uniforms, transforming the gallery into an immersive environment. Metal prison furniture has been reconfigured into nucleus-like sculptures resembling playground equipment. Photographs from Smith's family archive, including visits to her incarcerated father, are presented with titles marking time, such as 9855 Nights, and are matted on black suede to emphasize emotional distance. A neon poem titled Landscape VII provides moments of visual rest. The exhibition includes blown-up coloring-book pages with cartoon pigeons and judges explaining the criminal justice system, part of a series on carceral pedagogies for children that Smith began in 2013. These screenprinted works use vivid colors and errant lines. Smith cites scholar Christina Sharpe's concept of weather as a metaphor for anti-Blackness, suggesting carcerality and surveillance form the landscape of such oppression. The exhibition runs through October 26, 2023, and aims to materialize these diffuse forces through objects that oscillate between playfulness and nausea.