Altered States: Off the Playa

The Arthur Roger Gallery is pleased to present ALTERED STATES, an umbrella exhibition bringing together three distinct presentations that examine transformation through light, perception, memory, and technology. Featuring artists whose practices have largely developed outside the traditional commercial gallery system, the exhibition highlights visionary approaches that challenge conventional boundaries between art, experience, and innovation.

The exhibitions will be on view from August 1 through September 12, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, August 1, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM in conjunction with White Linen Night.

Visitors first encounter Off the Playa, an exhibition featuring artists whose immersive installations and sculptures have appeared at Burning Man. A monumental window installation by Wendo Brunious introduces the exhibition before leading into works by Los Angeles artist Matt Elson alongside New Orleans artists Walker Babington, JoLean Barkley, Wendo Brunious, William Nemitoff, Josh Pitts, and Brennan Steele.

At the center of the exhibition is Elson's Infinity Box, an interactive light installation in which two participants stand opposite one another as shifting reflections merge their faces into a single image. Throughout the gallery, light and participation become sculptural materials. William Nemitoff's suspended "soft coral" installation invites tactile interaction, while Josh Pitts' Ketleflower transforms an eleven-foot-diameter sunflower into a luminous environmental sculpture. Together, these works extend the experimental spirit of Burning Man into the gallery, where spectacle becomes an invitation for contemplation and connection.

The second exhibition, Vignettes of an Autistic Mind, introduces the first public exhibition of drawings by New Orleans artist and musician Ché Reed. Working primarily in ink on handmade paper, Reed creates intricate compositions that reflect decades of sustained artistic practice.

A graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, Reed continued his studies in both visual art and music at Southern University at New Orleans while maintaining a lifelong commitment to drawing and tenor saxophone. Under the mentorship of the legendary saxophonist and educator Edward "Kidd" Jordan, Reed embraced the improvisational language of avant-garde jazz, developing an artistic practice in which visual rhythms parallel musical expression. His drawings reveal an intensely personal visual language—iterative, layered, and remarkably precise—offering insight into a mind where memory remains vividly intact. A respected figure within New Orleans' musical community and a member of the distinguished Mayfield family, Reed has been described by Wynton Marsalis as "the incorruptible Ché."

The third exhibition is Machine Hands, a solo presentation by Sean Svetlik that explores the evolving relationship between artificial intelligence and human authorship. Beginning with AI-generated portraits, Svetlik transforms each image through custom software into elegant single-line compositions. These drawings are then rendered physically by a pen plotter, translating digital algorithms into delicate “hand-drawn” marks through mechanical precision. During the opening reception, visitors will have the opportunity to watch the plotter produce works in real time, revealing the collaboration between artist, machine, and code.

Though varied in medium and origin, the three exhibitions comprising ALTERED STATES share a common interest in expanded states of perception. Whether through immersive environments, deeply personal acts of memory, or emerging technologies, each artist invites viewers to reconsider how images are constructed, experienced, and transformed.

For more information, please contact Arthur Roger Gallery at (504) 522-1999 or visit www.arthurrogergallery.com.