Australian artist Ben Quilty will make his New York solo debut with Devil/God, a new exhibition at Albertz Benda that examines masculinity, power, and ecological crisis. Opening October 15, 2026, the exhibition brings Quilty’s expressionistic painting practice into dialogue with climate change, colonial violence and institutional authority.
The exhibition takes its title and conceptual starting point from Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1928 short story When the World Screamed. In the story, Professor Challenger drills into the Earth to demonstrate that the planet is a living organism, triggering a scream and violent earthquakes. Nearly a century later, Quilty revisits the premise against a backdrop of environmental instability.
Masculinity Under Pressure
Known for heavily impastoed paintings, Quilty uses thick, aggressive brushwork to examine the structures that shape contemporary life. Central to the exhibition is masculinity, a recurring concern within his practice.
Cars appear throughout the work as symbols of male pride, aggression and power. Rather than depicting them conventionally, Quilty distorts their proportions and replaces heads with automotive components. In one striking example, an oversized carburetor scoop becomes so large that driving the vehicle is no longer possible.
Consequently, familiar symbols of masculine identity become dysfunctional. The transformation also introduces an element of absurdity, challenging the relationship between power, performance and control.
Climate change provides another layer to the exhibition. Quilty connects ecological damage with broader systems of authority and consumption, suggesting that the environmental crisis cannot be separated from the social structures that produce it.
Religion, Violence and Ambiguity
Quilty also addresses institutional power through sculpture. One carved figure of the Virgin Mary is constructed from alternating layers of leather and plywood. The materials reference straps historically used to punish children in church schools.
As a result, a familiar religious image becomes an ambiguous object. It can suggest comfort and devotion while simultaneously invoking institutional violence and complicity.
Across Devil/God, Quilty avoids straightforward divisions between victim and perpetrator. Similarly, the works move between beauty and brutality, anger and empathy. Mutated bodies, threatening forms and aggressive brushwork coexist with moments of tenderness and apparent innocence.
This tension gives the exhibition its central complexity. Rather than presenting a single argument about masculinity or ecological collapse, Quilty creates images that remain psychologically unstable and open to interpretation.
Ultimately, Devil/God positions the artist’s expressive visual language within a broader examination of power and vulnerability. By connecting Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional planetary scream with contemporary environmental anxiety, Quilty turns a century-old science-fiction premise into a framework for considering the pressures facing both society and the natural world.
Devil/God is on view at albertz benda in New York from October 15 through November 14, 2026.
albertz benda
515 W 26th St.
New York, NY 10001
