Pat Oleszko: Fool Disclosure

Pat Oleszko’s (BFA ​’70) large-scale inflatables are featured in Fool Disclosure, a new survey exhibition opening January 29 at SculptureCenter. Oleszko was the subject of a November 2025 Financial Times profile by author Julie Halperin, and Fool Disclosure, Oleszko’s first solo exhibition in a New York City institution in over 35 years, has been previewed in Artforum and is included in Cultured’s 13 U.S. Museum Shows You Need to See in the First Three Months of 2026.

Rooted in humor, sharp social commentary, and defiance of all forms of authority, Oleszko’s sculptures lend themselves to raucous performance, using linguistic wit to address various concerns, including accessible housing, women’s issues, and world politics. Spanning SculptureCenter’s entire building, this survey exhibition is constructed around Oleszko’s singular inflatables and brings together dozens of these airy, monumental works for the first time.

In addition to using air as a sculptural material, Oleszko devised the strategy of exhibiting work on her body, building intricate costumes that ​“walked out the door,” and, in her words, used ​“all the world as a stooge”. The exhibition includes key works from her decades-long career, such as costumes, sculptural chapeaux, films, performance documentation, and archival material from the 1970s to the present.

The presentation will be accompanied by the artist’s first institutional publication, which will be available later this year, and expands on the performance histories around her sculptures with newly commissioned essays by Columbia University professor and art historian Julia Bryan-Wilson; New York-based cultural worker, writer, and researcher Marie Catalano; Budapest-based curator, writer, and artist Gyula Muskovics; and American chef, food writer — and close friend of Oleszko — Ruth Reichl, along with a biographical timeline by the artist in her own idiosyncratic language. The publication will be designed by Tiffany Malakooti.

Pat Oleszko: Fool Disclosure is curated by Sohrab Mohebbi, Director, and Jovanna Venegas, Curator, with Sharon Liu, Asymmetry Curatorial Fellow. Research assistance by Ray Camp, 2025 Summer Curatorial Fellow.

Pat Oleszko: Fool Disclosure
Jan 29 – Apr 27, 2026

SculptureCenter, 44 – 19 Purves Street Long Island City, NY 11101
Open Thursday – Monday, 12 – 6 p.m.