Jouissance is a New York City experimental film and performance exhibition running April 3–9, 2026 at the storied Millennium Film Workshop. Curated by Michèle Saint-Michel, the exhibition brings together 45 international artists working across installation, moving image, live performance, and artist publishing.
Positioned at the intersection of experimental cinema, contemporary art, and immersive installation, Jouissance explores how time-based media engages pleasure, embodiment, and sensory intensity.
What Is Jouissance?
Jouissance refers to a form of pleasure that exceeds stability or satisfaction and moves toward intensity, rupture, and transformation. In this exhibition, the concept is used to frame how experimental film and performance operate on the body, producing sensation as much as meaning.
Across installation, film, and live work, Jouissance examines how image, time, and physical presence intersect, making it a key exhibition for audiences interested in avant-garde film, interdisciplinary art, and embodied media practices in New York City.
When and Where to See Jouissance in Brooklyn
The exhibition takes place at Millennium Film Workshop, a historic venue for experimental film and media art in NYC.
Dates: April 3–9, 2026
Opening Reception & Artist Book Launch: April 3, 7:30 PM
Experimental Film Screening Program: April 3, 7:30 PM
Gallery Hours: April 6–9, 11AM-5PM
For visitors searching for things to do in Brooklyn April 2026, Jouissance offers a concentrated program of exhibitions, screenings, and performances in one location.
Installation Exhibition: Contemporary Artists Working Across Media
The gallery exhibition includes works by Aitor Ibáñez, Eileen Ramos, Lucy Swan and Christina May Carey, Lynn Loo, Matthew Berka, and Rozina Pátkai.
These artists work across projection, sculptural installation, text-based work, and participatory formats, treating the body as both subject and medium.
Lynn Loo’s Loops and Lines combines 16mm film loops with digital projection, contrasting hand-scratched film emulsion with contemporary image capture. The work foregrounds the tension between analog gesture and digital systems, a central concern in experimental film practice.
Lucy Swan and Christina May Carey’s 1001 Over Simplifications takes the form of a large-scale textual installation built from accumulated statements. Drawing on conceptual writing traditions, the work moves between contradiction and clarity, creating a shifting field of interpretation.
Rozina Pátkai’s Mammary introduces interactivity, adapting a familiar game format to confront visual norms of the body within consumer culture. The piece situates the viewer inside the work, producing an encounter that is both playful and destabilizing.
Throughout the exhibition, small gestures such as scratching, writing, and recording are treated as forms of embodied image-making, reinforcing the exhibition’s focus on materiality and perception.
Experimental Film Screening in NYC (April 3)
The opening night includes a curated experimental film program in Brooklyn, featuring artists including Dan Sokolowski, Erin Wilkerson, Fanny Aboulker, Kelly Gallagher, Miguel Toledo Menéndez, Nate King, Nina Sarnelle + Julia Gladstone, Piero Fragola, Priyanka Sarkar, Samuel Karow, Steph Provost, Timothy Nohe, Wenwen Zhu, and Zorica Čolić.
The program spans analog film, poetic montage, and experimental self-portraiture, positioning moving image as a tool for exploring memory, sensation, and subjectivity.
For audiences searching for experimental film screenings in NYC, this program offers a concentrated selection of international contemporary practices.
Artists Featured in Jouissance
Installation and Exhibition Artists
Aitor Ibáñez, Eileen Ramos, Lucy Swan, Christina May Carey, Lynn Loo, Matthew Berka, and Rozina Pátkai.
Experimental Film Program Artists
Dan Sokolowski, Erin Wilkerson, Fanny Aboulker, Kelly Gallagher, Miguel Toledo Menéndez, Nate King, Nina Sarnelle, Piero Fragola, Priyanka Sarkar, Samuel Karow, Steph Provost, Timothy Nohe, Wenwen Zhu, and Zorica Čolić.
Performance Artists
Kasper Klop and Morwenna Spagnol, with a poetry reading by Kevin Chen and Alice Shapiro.
Artist Book Contributors
Abigail Hendrix, Alice Shapiro, Annis Joslin, Carmen Gray, Clare Archibald, Dana Teen Lomax, Jennifer Helminski, Kevin Chen, Mandy Eugeniou, Maya Ivona Peiu, Michael Betancourt, Ryan Hooper, Sermon Jeff, Sybil Xyshen, Trish, Wendy Oberlander, Yates, Zach Hammer, and Zoey Solomon.
Artist Book Launch: Experimental Publishing and Performance
The exhibition includes the launch of the Jouissance artist book, published by Bad Saturn Media.
Designed as both a publication and a live event, the book incorporates experimental binding and real-time production, extending the exhibition into print form.
The publication features contributions from over twenty artists and writers, positioning it within the growing field of artist books and interdisciplinary publishing in contemporary art.
About the Curator
Michèle Saint-Michel is a filmmaker and experiential producer working across experimental cinema, installation, and performance. Her work focuses on embodied knowledge, perception, and interdisciplinary collaboration, with projects spanning exhibitions, screenings, and large-scale cultural programming.
About Millennium Film Workshop
Founded in 1966, Millennium Film Workshop is a leading center for experimental film and media art in New York. The organization supports artists through exhibitions, screenings, residencies, and educational programs, and has played a key role in the development of avant-garde cinema in the United States.
Why Jouissance Is a Key NYC Art Exhibition in April 2026
At a time when image culture is increasingly fast and disembodied, Jouissance returns attention to duration, sensation, and physical experience.
For audiences interested in experimental film, performance art, and contemporary installation in New York City, the exhibition offers a rare convergence of practices that prioritize the body, perception, and intensity.
