FAZE

LaMontagne Gallery is pleased to present FAZE, a group exhibition curated by Bianca Fields, featuring work
by Celeste Diaz Falzone, Hannah Rust, Xyl Lasersohn, and Bianca Fields. Bringing together four Northeast-
based artists, the exhibition considers how “the cute” circulates as an aesthetic category in contemporary art
and visual culture.

Inspired by literary and feminist scholar Sianne Ngai’s theory on cuteness, FAZE highlights figurative works
that evoke “baby-schema” features - large, deep-set eyes, rounded faces, and soft or elastic proportions. These
familiar qualities encourage intimacy and affection, shapes how viewers approach, interpret, and emotionally
respond to artwork.

What happens when cuteness enters the space of fine art?

Unlike the sublime, which relies upon distance and awe, the cute invites closeness through an appearance of
softness, vulnerability, and positivity. Yet this passivity is not without power. The cute occupies a paradoxical
position: it may appear weak, yielding, or infantile which simultaneously asking for attention, affection,
possession, and control. What seems powerless can exert a profound influence over the viewer.

Through varied approaches to contemporary figuration, artists in FAZE examines cuteness as more than a
decorative or sentimental quality. Their work challenge conventional hierarchies of beauty and intellectual
seriousness, softness, and strength, vulnerability and authority, and attraction and control. Together, they
reveal cuteness as an unstable and completing force that draws the viewer closer while quietly determining the
terms of that encounter.