Entering this group exhibition, it feels as though I’ve walked into a rave frozen at its peak. The only thing active is a raunchy techno mix by Marie Karlberg, which swirls out of a pair of small Bluetooth speakers in the breasts of Casja von Zeipel’s bust Heart Breaker, 2018. Meanwhile, its sister, Party girls don’t get hurt, 2018, is a sculpture of a woman swinging from the ceiling—both of her legs are intertwined with a tilted chandelier. Von Zeipel’s pieces are brimming with the kind of kinetic energy that makes me almost scared to look away. The uncanny curation here forms a palpable kinship among the characters in each of the works on display. I can imagine the wistful fairy that fires up a cigarette on a flaming stiletto in Lila de Magalhaes’s painting Lighter, 2018, floating over to the stylish crew of creatures in Will Sheldon’s canvas Demento, 2018, to share a smoke—and some secrets—behind my back. Then again, I might be tripping.

In the very back of the room, TM Davy’s Horses (xoo), 2016, hangs in twisted tranquility. This mesmerizing painting of a horse and foal grazing in a kaleidoscopic clearing becomes the spiritual center of “Altered.” The yin-yang that emerges from the steeds’ particular placement is striking from afar, but as I move closer, it’s their soft hairs, skillfully imbued with a rainbow sheen, that I find most breathtaking. This bit of aesthetic LSD (or perhaps ’shrooms, like the ones growing from the patch of green in Davy’s picture) makes me see a room absolutely alive, with a full spectrum of colors and queer joy.

— Sam Clarke