Whitehot Recommends: Fun House at Van Der Plas Gallery

Installation view, Fun House at Van Der Plas Gallery

By WM April 27, 2025

From the press release:

Rolling logs, twisters, teeter boards, moving floors, whistle traps, cage maze, shuffleboard, crash bumper, lily pads. It’s the early 20th century, and you’ve just walked into America’s playground; the Funhouse. Spawning from the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in Chicago, the American Carnival would soon explode into a kaleidoscope of wonder and oddity, bringing a yearly spectacle to small towns and cities alike. Before evolving into today’s neon-lit fever dream, the funhouse, a component of the traveling carnival, was a hands-on labyrinth of illusions–a hall of mirrors, uneven floors, dark corridors, sound effects; a humble wooden structure where inside, nothing was as it seemed.

As the carnival was popularized, it began to nurture a home for those marginalized by American society. Carnival worker crews welcomed international and seasonal workers, and ‘freak shows’ took shape, forming experimental communities. Coney Island’s The Dreamland Circus Side Show offered stability to former circus acts, and legendary parks like Steeplechase, Luna, and Dreamland became a fun and affordable escape for people from all different walks of life.

Fun House, presented by Van Der Plas Gallery, brings together two artists, Alejandro Caiazza and Doug Groupp, who explore the carnival’s paradox—both its whimsy and its madness. This exhibition captures the untamed spirit of American culture: the thrill of spectacle, the search for belonging, the beauty of the absurd. It celebrates the dreamlike allure of the funhouse while offering a space for nostalgia, raw emotion, and the echoes of a more hopeful time. WM

Exhibition continues thru May 4, 2025