Friday, I'm In Love

Friday, I'm In Love, Wassaic Project’s 2026–2027 Winter Exhibition, presents twelve artists throughout the seven floors of Maxon Mills.

Featuring:

Natalie Baxter
Taha Clayton
Lauren Cohen
Marianna Rothen
Darryl Alexander Hines
Loc Huynh
Maria Yolanda Liebana
Katie Peck
Marina Peng
Julia Policastro
Deborah Simon
akeylah wellington

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“Friday I’m in Love.” Robert Smith makes this declaration in The Cure’s 1992 hit of the same name. It’s a lighthearted celebration of the relief that comes at the end of a long week: the light at the end of the tunnel. Looking back on the last ten years, there is plenty to make us feel weary and lost. Not that we’ve reached the end of anything, but sometimes hope itself brings hope, its own light in the tunnel, and that’s worth remembering.

This summer I was at a party watching kids dance and sing along to this song, and a friend turned to me and said, “The fact that they even know this song gives me hope.” There is something calming in remembering the cyclical nature of history, of our own emotions, and even of the simple dualities we live with daily: good and evil, comfort and discomfort, hope and despair. Every generation fears the next one isn’t “tough enough,” or is too much of something, or is simply “screwed,” and every time, that generation surprises us with resilience and new ideas. That, too, is part of the cycle. It’s not just that “the kids are alright.” It’s that because they will be, so will we.

This winter’s show embodies the persistence and endurance of the human emotional rollercoaster, beautifully illustrated in Marina Peng’s The Chain: a woven Möbius strip in which humans continue endlessly together, following, changing, but always returning to what they fundamentally are. Maria Yolanda Liebana’s work cherishes love’s beginnings through mythical throwbacks and an aesthetic that plays nostalgically with rainbows, unicorns, and glittery bits. akeylah wellington uses hair beads to create imagery that explores the cosmos and honors her own childhood fascination with science.

The exploratory, playful nature of this show may seem to stand in stark contrast to the pain being felt in the world. But it is this essential relationship, the ongoing tension and release, that gives us definition, context, and hope.
And now it’s Friday, and I’m in love.

— Jeff Barnett-Winsby, Wassaic Project Co-Executive Director