PRELUDE 2026: Manhunter

This event is free and open to all, with entry on a first-come, first-served basis.

Installation Hours: 2–4pm

Performance by Jake Brush begins at 3pm, followed by discussion between Jake Brush and Dylan Sherman and Charlotte Strange at 3:00pm MANHUNTER by Jake Brush

ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE

MANHUNTER is a work in progress series of videos, facial prosthetics, and performances surrounding Jake Brush's experience receiving a series of anonymous, sexually explicit voicemails. After identifying the caller, Brush invited him to his studio to have a conversation about his life and create a silicone mold of his head. The completed work will volley between video documentation of this encounter, exaggerated reenactments of it featuring performers wearing prosthetic applications of the caller's face, and CGI animations. Through this approach, MANHUNTER intends to explore the dark side of digital lust and confront the boundaries of anonymity.

For Prelude, Brush will present a video installation and performance featuring footage from the mold making process and the conversation with the caller, alongside casts of the caller's face, the original voicemails, and wearable prosthetic pieces. At 3pm, the installation will be activated through a performance with Brush followed by a conversation with Dylan Sherman.

At 3:00pm, the installation will be activated through a performance with Brush followed by a conversation with Prelude assistant curator Dylan Sherman and writer and editor Charlotte Strange.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Jake Brush (b. 1994) is an artist living in New York. He is interested in reality television, gossip, and interpersonal conflicts. He works in video, performance, sculpture and installation. Recent work has shown at Wave Hill, Duplex, The Shed, International Objects, Below Grand, The Emily Harvey Foundation, Nina Johnson Gallery, MIX Film Festival, and Electronic Arts Intermix. He has participated in residency programs Shandaken: Storm King, Signal Culture, and the Institute for Electronic Arts at Alfred State. His work has been featured in BOMB and Cultured Magazine. His first European solo exhibition, “Mall, Interrupted,” opened with Kunstplaats Vonk (Hasselt, Belgium) in May 2025. His video work is distributed by Electronic Arts Intermix.

Charlotte Strange is a writer and editor in New York City. They are a PhD student in the department of Media, Culture, and Communication at NYU, where they study contemporary art history and the histories of technology, science, and medicine. Their chapbook Strange Biology was published by Wendy's Subway in 2026.

Image: MANHUNTER, video still, courtesy of the artist