Bent neon, translucent sculptures, and unexpected turns invite a closer look at the artist’s Tribeca exhibition.
A neon sign usually tells you something. In Nairy Baghramian’s nameless at Marian Goodman Gallery in New York, it asks you to look a little longer instead. On view from November 11, 2026, to January 16, 2027, the exhibition brings recent sculptures first presented at WIELS in Brussels to the United States for the first time. Across the gallery’s three floors at 385 Broadway in Tribeca, bent neon, wax reliefs, and translucent resin objects turn familiar materials into things that are harder to pin down. The visit begins with a tilted wall. It interrupts your route, encouraging you to walk around it before discovering the softly glowing work beyond. Letters in the exhibition’s title have been distorted and joined together, making the neon feel less like a readable sign and more like a drawing in space. Nearby, works from the selves series offer another kind of almost-recognition. Made from layers of paraffin wax, these wall-mounted reliefs suggest faces or bodies without becoming clear portraits. Their colours and cloudy surfaces give you something to study rather than a fixed image to identify. Upstairs, the oreiller sculptures introduce quieter forms. Their translucent resin shells suggest cushions or places where a body might rest. Other nameless works leave the usual job of neon—delivering a message—behind. There is a serious history beneath these delicate materials. Baghramian draws on artists who continued working after fleeing oppressive regimes in 1930s Europe, often without proper studios or supplies. Fragility and displacement become part of how her sculptures are made and encountered. On the third floor, her work meets Lawrence Weiner’s AS LONG AS IT LASTS, bringing language back into the conversation. You don’t need to decode everything to enjoy this exhibition. Take your time, follow the unexpected turns, and notice what changes as you move. Nairy Baghramian: nameless is on view at Marian Goodman Gallery, 385 Broadway, New York, NY 10013, through…