KATES-FERRI PROJECTS 1-54NY Booth #7
Mirrored Histories and Woven Futures
Starrett-Lehigh Building
600 W. 27th Street, NYC
May 13 – 17, 2026
Image:
Samuel Nnorom
Let It Shine (2025)
African Print Fabric
39.37 x 58.26 x 45.66 in. / 100 x 148 x 15 cm.
DM for catalogue
@katesferriprojects
@nnoromsamuel
@154artfair
KATES-FERRI PROJECTS FEATURED IN WHITEWALL
“5 Booths to See at 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair New York 2026
New York-based KATES-FERRI PROJECTS brings together “Mirrored Histories and Woven Futures,” a trio presentation featuring works byDamien Davis, Samuel Nnorom, and Dana Robinson. The booth explores Black identity, memory, and representation through material-driven practices that shift between sculpture, installation, and image-making.
Samuel Nnorom presents two large-scale installations at 1-54 New York 2026, made from African print textiles stitched, bundled, and layered into sculptural forms. What was once tied to commerce and domesticity becomes monumental, with surfaces evoking maps, landscapes, bodies, and cultural memory all at once. Brooklyn-based Dana Robinson reworks vintage Ebony magazine advertisements into linoleum print compositions, stripping away their original commercial context to reconsider consumer culture, representation, and resilience within Black identity. Meanwhile, Damien Davis uses precision-cut plexiglass to reinterpret traditional barbershop imagery through industrial materials and futuristic forms. Hovering between painting and sculpture depending on the viewer’s position, the works question masculinity and the evolving narratives surrounding Black male identity.
What we love: Davis’s openness to interpretation feels especially compelling. Rather than offering fixed conclusions, the artworks leave space for identity and meaning to continuously evolve alongside the viewer.
Swipe and/or Copy & Paste for full article: https://whitewall.art/art/1-54-contemporary-african-art-fair-new-york-2026/
Thank you Victoria Pokovba and @whitewall.art@katesferriprojects@154artfair@damiendavis@nnoromsamuel@alphabet_party
Kates-Ferri Projects & Justin Lim solo booth featured in the Observer NADA NY 2026!
Kates Ferri also reported early sales for its solo presentation of Malaysian artist Justin Lim, whose vibrant paintings transform domestic spaces into intimate psychological landscapes where presence is felt through absence. Empty chairs, cushions, patterned objects and soft pools of light suggest bodies that have just left or might soon return, making the furniture itself feel charged with memory. His carefully composed scenes are rendered with a lush varnished finish that gives the surfaces a heightened clarity, while slightly distorted perspectives pull viewers inside the room and subtly destabilize their sense of place. Bridging Southeast Asian material culture and the lineage of European still-life painting, Lim reveals the cross-cultural influences embedded in domestic interiors. On the first day, the gallery sold three pieces in the $10,000-15,000 range.
Thank you Elisa Carollo!
Copy & Paste for full article:
/2026/05/art-fair-report-early-sales-nada-new-york/
KATES-FERRI PROJECTS
NADA Booth B27
World In My Eyes: Justin Lim
Fair Dates:
May 13 - 17, 2026
Location:
Starrett- Lehigh Building
601 West 26th Street
3rd floor
New York, NY 10001
@kateferriprojects@iamjustinlim@newartdealers@elisartgal@observer
Interview with: @alphabet_party Text: @luccigarcia__
When I first encountered Dana Robinson’s work online, I felt a strange sense of proximity, as if her images had already reached me before we ever spoke.
Working through fragments, cut images, gestures, and surfaces, Robinson draws from the visual language of 1970s Ebonymagazine to revisit Black American optimism as something open, unresolved, and alive. As she tells me, her process is “a very conscious decision to love over and over again” — a gesture both intimate and political. (…) Full interview in bio 🔗
Photography: @lit_liv_1
#art #contemporaryart
154-NY exhibiting artist Dana Robinson featured in SLEEK and in conversation with Nisha Merit.
Nisha Merit:
What is your upcoming exhibition at 1–54 about?
Dana Robinson: I created a series of full-body portraits from advertisements, focusing on how Black excellence manifests – what it means and whether it even exists, or if it’s a construct shaped by white supremacist patriarchal culture. I think the idea of excellence can feel like a trap – like perfection, which isn’t really attainable. It’s defined differently by different people, so it’s elusive. To me, Black excellence might simply be people being themselves and feeling free. That’s not perfection, but self-possession. It’s powerful and allows more freedom when we realise there’s no fixed definition.
DM for available artworks by Dana Robinson and/or visit Kates-Ferri Projects at 154-NY booth #7 May 13 - 17th at the Starrett-Leigh Building
Swipe and/or Copy & Paste for full article: /article/in-conversation-with-dana-robinson/
@katesferriprojects@sleekmag@meritsworld@alphabet_party@154artfair
Kates-Ferri Projects at 1-54NY Featured in Wallpaper!
New York-based Kates-Ferri Projects, which presents a group show, ‘Mirrored Histories & Woven Futures’, with work by Damien Davis, Samuel Nnorom and Dana Robinson, who is inspired by 1970s Ebony magazines and explores themes including Black female identity through media such as printmaking, painting, collage and textiles.
Featured Artist image: Dana Robinson: Where Legends Are Made (2026) Acrylic-on-wood-panel, 20 x 16 in. / 50.8 x 40.64 cm
@154artfair DM for available artworks @alphabet_party@damiendavis@nnoromsamuel@wallpapermag Copy paste full article:
/art/exhibitions-shows/1-54-new-york-2026-afro-brazilian-art
KATES-FERRI PROJECTS presents Mirrored Histories and Woven Futures, a trio presentation of artworks from Damien Davis, Samuel Nnorom and Dana Robinson at 1-54NY Contemporary African Art Fair, Booth #7.
The 2026 edition will take place at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea, positioning the fair in the heart of one of New York’s most vibrant cultural districts.
Returning during Art Week New York, 1-54 offers a dynamic platform to discover contemporary art from Africa and its diasporas.
Within the energy of the city’s wider art world, we will be bringing together artists, galleries and audiences.
We look forward to welcoming you to this exciting chapter of 1-54 New York in the heart of Chelsea. Stay tuned for more details!
VIP & Press preview:
Wednesday 13 May 2026, 11 am – 7 pm
Thursday 14 May 2026, 11 am – 4 pm
Public opening:
Thursday 14 May 2026, 4 pm – 8 pm
Friday 15 May 2026, 11 am – 7 pm
Saturday 16 May 2026, 11 am – 7 pm
Sunday 17 May 2026, 11 am – 5 pm
Location:
Starrett-Lehigh Building, 600 W. 27th St, NYC
The 12th edition of the New Art Dealers Alliance’s annual fair brings together over 110 galleries and art spaces shaping contemporary art today, spanning 46 cities across 15 countries.
KATES-FERRI PROJECTS is excited to announce its participation at NADA New York with a solo exhibition of Malaysian artist Justin Lim.
The exhibition, titled “World In My Eyes” located at Booth #B27.
Fair Dates:
May 13 - 17, 2026
Location:
Starrett- Lehigh Building
601 West 26th Street
3rd floor
New York, NY 10001
