Combining the thrill of a rowdy circus-show infused with frisky vaudeville charm and a magical Burning Man-meets-Bread and Puppet edge, “Z Behl: Stand in My Danger” at Pamela Salisbury Gallery is a dynamic aesthetic riot that rips through the psyche and nourishes the soul. With notions of anthropomorphism and “identity as transgression” as playful conceptual threads running through the work, this ambitious solo show features 45 recent artworks by Behl (and her collaborator Kim Moloney, who together go by BALONEY), including installation, videos, sculptures, and paintings.
The main event of this outrageous scene is Portrait of the Artist as Filmmaker (2025), a monumental lace-clad female harlequin suspended upside down and cascading in all her glory from the top floor to the ground of this four-story historic Carriage House (a separate building outside the back of the gallery). We come upon her massive colorful head nearly hitting the floor, her yellow eyes bulging and her hair spread out in a serpentine mess. Looking up, her fabric and metal body is a tremendous sight at 40-feet high. She is accompanied by a motley romantic soundtrack that blasts at intervals and infuses the space with a lovely yet haunting energy that pulls at the heartstrings—a gypsy melody one minute, a Parisian-style tune the next.
Not only is Portrait an impressive feat of engineering (Behl spent weeks welding this oversized goddess outside during frigid temps), but it is also a marvelous vision of the artist as badass and Behl’s potent talent and theatrical bent. The graphic footnote to this piece is her Technical Drawing of Installation (2025) that details this beloved character balancing on one hand in her yoga power-pose.
This massive matron rules as the queen over 10 wild life-size sculptures, including archetype female tricksters and crones such as The Spinner (3 Fates) (2024) and The Harpy (3 Fates) (2024). Fabricated from concrete, metal, and found materials, each of these ghostlike figures seduce us into their vignette, entrancing us with their bewitchery. Even without distinct facial features, the countenance of The Snipper (3 Fates) (2025) appears mischievous and heightened, and this entire vintage troupe is poised to share their supernatural secrets with us. Among the most striking of these characters is Skeleton Woman (2023) made of cast concrete and bones, her hollow body reaching in all directions and her sunken mouth ajar as if singing. Artist as Cow (2024) is a curious vision of a hybrid creature (a cross between a cow and a monkey with human qualities) next to a series of stuffed animals hanging limply on the wall, including the mangled Stuffy #2 (2024) and Stuffy #3 (2024).
Behl’s paintings reveal an unbridled and surrealist realm of curiosity where works such as Baby on Fire (2023) reflect a sinister streak and Embroidering the World (after Remedios Varo) (2025) border on Hieronymus Bosch-ian in their intensity. Her patchwork paintings layered with leather and other fabrics are a delight and reverberate with the same themes as seen in her sculptures and videos, and Pinocchio Tapestry (2025) and Cow Tapestry (2025) are fun examples of this. This brings us to the show within this show: Behl’s three narrative short films that explore strange worlds with a melodramatic verve, including Cow’s Tail (2019), which, at seven minutes, is a bit of kinky fun that includes the pronounced round rump of a puppet cow (the artist herself) running wild in a pastoral environment.
An outrageous spectacle with a mystical edge and one of the most outstanding in situ installations I have ever encountered in the wild art world at-large (where all the wild things are), “Z Behl: Stand in My Danger” is danger in its most audacious incarnation.
Installation view of Z Behl: Stand in My Danger (February 1 - March 30, 2025) in the Carriage House at Pamela Salisbury Gallery, in Hudson, NY