The Leonard Pearlstein Gallery at Drexel University's Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts & Design has announced its Fall 2025 exhibition, "Of the Grid: Systems + Structures in Contemporary Art," running from October 14 to December 15. The show features 36 artists working across media including photography, video, drawing, weaving, sculpture, embroidery, printmaking, painting, book arts, and interactive installation, with works that use the grid as a formal, conceptual, or narrative device. Co-curated by gallery director Mark Stockton and Cindy Stockton Moore, the exhibition includes a dynamic mix of Philadelphia-based and international artists, with highlighted pieces such as Jacob C. Hammes's IKEA-hacked fountain, Anne Schaefer's optical color window installation, and a suspended quilt by Jody Graff.
This exhibition matters because it demonstrates how a seemingly simple formal constraint—the grid—can serve as a powerful tool for artistic experimentation and social commentary across diverse media and cultural perspectives. By centering a strong local Philadelphia roster alongside international contemporaries, the show reinforces the role of university galleries as vital platforms for contemporary art discourse. The inclusion of works addressing climate data, capitalist critique, and historical narratives also reflects how contemporary artists use systematic structures to engage with pressing global issues, making the exhibition relevant beyond purely aesthetic concerns.