Eric N. Mack: All the Oohs, and the Aahs

Fashion, textiles, painting, and space converge in Eric N. Mack’s work to create a unique visual vocabulary that challenges traditional ideas about painting and sculpture. At the core of Mack’s practice is an investigation into how materials, particularly textiles, can offer fertile ground for experimentation. He probes the history of art, architecture, and fashion. His use of fabric is not just an aesthetic choice but an investigation of its ability to evoke specific emotional and social responses, something that he emphasizes with the titles of his pieces, sometimes drawn from literature.
 
Fabric stands out in Mack’s individual works and his medium- and large-scale installations, which often combine different materials. Ladders, flagpoles, rods, chain-link fence, and pieces of fabric come together in works that refuse categorization. Mack has an archive of fabric collected from different sources—from specialized stores in Harlem and Manhattan to fashion houses and renowned global brands like Missoni. These textiles feature in many of his pieces along with images from magazines and newspapers, as well as other printed material. 
 
As you move through the installations, you will experience the way that Mack addresses the relation between space and the body and raises awareness of the body’s movement. His works invite us to engage, to consider questions like, “What is the painting? What is the exhibition space? What is my physical relationship to sculpture? What does it look like for me to walk through an exhibition?” 

Unique to this presentation is Mack’s new Wex-commissioned installation, A Whole New Thing, which will be on view in the lobby from early August 2025. This site-responsive work will activate the lobby, staircase, and café areas, furthering the artist’s engagement with the architecture of these public spaces. The commission will remain on view until May 24, 2026.