Sara Stern, a 2017 alumna of the Visual and Environmental Studies program at Harvard, has opened her fifth solo exhibition, 'STALL,' at Turley Gallery in Hudson, New York. The installation transforms the gallery's interstitial space, The Light Well, into a horse stall featuring a toy theater that plays a video of horseshoe crabs spawning. The exhibition runs from July 19 to September 7, 2025, and includes elements such as straw, a velvet curtain, and an adorned horseshoe crab shell, creating a mise en abyme effect.
The exhibition matters because it highlights Stern's interdisciplinary practice, which blends performance, video, sculpture, and architectural intervention to explore themes of landscape, urban development, and speculative fiction. By referencing the horseshoe crab as a 'living fossil,' Stern uses the concept of 'stalling' to comment on survival and deep time. The show also underscores Turley Gallery's commitment to showcasing emerging and established artists who push the boundaries of their mediums, and it reflects the growing trend of site-specific installations that engage with liminal spaces.