Pleasure Garden consists of one recent short 16mm film, Salacia (2019), and a series of newer photographs named after garden-pollinating butterflies (all 2020), pictures that use the film as a jumping-off point for experimental self-portraiture. Once you let it in, there is no turning your back on pleasure. Here, too, is where pleasure is planted, manicured, and groomed. But it is clearly a place where pleasure lies. The title of New York City–based artist Tourmaline’s first solo show, Pleasure Garden, feels like the name of a place that has yet to take complete shape. Tourmaline: Pleasure Garden, Chapter NY (pop-up location), 126 Madison Street, New York City, through January 24, 2021 Tourmaline, Salacia, 2019. 16mm, sound, 6 minutes 4 seconds.
