On view from May 2nd through June 14th, 2025, Glottal Stop marks a powerful new chapter in Ilana Savdie’s practice. Presented at White Cube New York, the exhibition transforms the space into a feverish dreamscape of transformation, where abstraction and embodiment merge. Ilana Savdie, a Colombian-born, Brooklyn-based artist, channels what she calls “frantic paralysis”—a stillness born of ongoing global crisis—through lush biomorphic paintings and tactile installations.
At White Cube New York, Savdie draws inspiration from the ukiyo-e-like parable of the boiling frog, suggesting a society slowly succumbing to catastrophe. Her works fuse oil, acrylic, and pigmented beeswax into skin-like, hyper-saturated surfaces. In Arena (2025), a black oval hovers between portal and abyss. In Pipa Pipa (2025), inspired by the reproductive rituals of the Surinamese toad, tentacle-like forms burst from fleshy voids, echoing a cycle of life and unmaking.
Throughout the exhibition, Ilana Savdie employs recurring symbols—mouths, frog eyes, dismembered limbs—to express decay, resistance, and transformation. A latex curtain installation, referencing Frankenstein’s creature, becomes a synthetic membrane, mediating viewer and work with both horror and intimacy.
For Ilana Savdie, camouflage is more than concealment; it’s a survival mechanism—used by predator and prey alike. At White Cube New York, Glottal Stop becomes a space where inertia gives way to expressive force. In the hush before language, Savdie’s work vibrates with meaning, reminding us that transformation often begins in silence.
Installation views Ilana Savdie: Glottal Stop, 2025. Courtesy of WHITE CUBE, New York