Paradise, an exhibition at Stove Works in Chattanooga, Tennessee, curated by Graham Feyl and J. Sova, presents works by thirteen artists centered on queer futurity and abundance. The show features installations, sculptures, paintings, and textiles, including Lisa Waud's artificial flower installation 'tread/tender' (2026), Nicholas Elbakidze's erotic Meissenettes (2026), Brian Smith's beaded nets, Aaron McIntosh's quilted 'Invasive Queer Kudzu' (2015-ongoing), and works by Yu Yan, E. Saffronia Szanton Downing, Angie Jennings, Michael Childress, and Hannah Banciella. The exhibition transforms the former foundry into a space of playful, erotic, and joyful refusal, drawing on Audre Lorde's definition of the erotic as a source of power.
The exhibition matters because it foregrounds queer perspectives and bodily autonomy in the contemporary American South, using art as a means of resistance against despair and political threats. By emphasizing more-than-human entities, ancestral knowledge, and communal strength, 'Paradise' offers a model of hopeful, resilient creativity that challenges viewers to imagine alternative futures. It also highlights Stove Works as a vital non-profit space for socially engaged, regionally rooted contemporary art.