P. Staff's exhibition at David Zwirner in New York transforms the gallery's Upper East Side town house into a haunted house without supernatural elements, instead evoking a visceral dread of having a body. The centerpiece is a video titled *Penetration* (2025), split across three floors, showing a laser beamed at a person's bare stomach, while jaundiced window films, heartbeat sounds, and latex-draped sculptures with wood spikes create an immersive, dysphoric environment. This is Staff's first show with David Zwirner and their first with any New York gallery, following their controversial contribution to the 2024 Whitney Biennial.
The exhibition matters because it represents a rare, ambitious swing in New York's gallery scene, challenging viewers to confront bodily awareness in a space typically designed for aesthetic detachment. Staff's work, rooted in what they call "trans poetics," avoids neat political statements while provoking intense debate about the role of discomfort and ambiguity in contemporary art. The show's critical reception may mirror the polarized responses to Staff's Whitney Biennial piece, underscoring their growing influence as an artist who pushes boundaries within major commercial and institutional contexts.