Whitewall

Susan Chen, When Plan B is Plan A

The artist’s second solo show at Rachel Uffner is on view now through April 20 in New York. It brings together paintings and works in clay that address the overturning of Roe v. Wade, community, and care.

SARAH BOCHICCHIO

11 APRIL 2024

At the entryway to Susan Chen’s “Plan B” at Rachel Uffner in New York (open through April 20) sits a small Purell bottle, tucked into a corner beside the pile of press releases and checklists. “Now more than ever,” the Purell bottle is how we are welcomed. It is a balm to ease your mind, a passive reminder to cleanse, and a demonstration that this institution is thinking about you. If you reflexively move your hand towards its pump, here, you would be disappointed. The Purell bottle in “Plan B” is ceramic. If the Purell bottle acts as a sentinel, Chen’s version asks us, what is our first line of defense? What happens when that falls through?

VISIT WEBSITE