Exhibition Review: Courtyard Choreography

"Courtyard" installation shot. Photographed by Farfar Studio.

By COLLEEN DALUSONG January 22nd, 2026

Navigating through New York City is a performance in itself. The etiquette of walking on the sidewalk or cramming yourself into a subway car is a choreographed shibboleth that distinguishes seasoned New Yorkers from the ignorant tourists. At one end of the spectrum, the bodies you encounter around New York act as frustrating obstructions that block doors and reek of sweat. On the other hand, when everybody in a space has at least a modicum of common sense and spatial awareness, the effect is comparable to a flawlessly executed Balanchine number. 

In Jen Aitken’s Courtyard curated by Service at Nine, the artist reconfigures the gallery space by constructing a wooden platform in the center of the room, creating a theatre-in-the-round effect. The platform, which doubles as a stage, is populated by Aitken’s Dancers, a series of ceramic forms stitched together with welded steel. The Dancers mark a departure from Aitken’s previous works, embodying a more playful and intuitive artmaking process, with each ceramic bearing its own unique constellation of glaze and welding spatters. As visitors move around the space, the Dancers appear to shift and twirl into different positions depending on the angle in which they are viewed. For instance, what appears to be a couple locked in a passionate tango soon morphs into something that more closely resembles the Sénat chairs one finds in Parisian parks.

Jen Aitken. "Fields 3," 2026. Ink on paper, 12 x 9." Photographed by Farfar Studio.

The theme of movement in relation to architecture is underscored in Aitken’s Fields. The ink drawings are evocative of dance notations which capture choreography through minimal mark-making. Fields’ sweeping curves and staccato strokes echo both the Dancers and the foot traffic within the gallery space as visitors circle, pause, and retrace their own steps. The platform’s central arrangement charges the room with a cyclical rhythm, a mode of being which sociologist Henri Lefebvre denotes as natural for the human body, but is inherently at odds with the linear rhythm of the capitalist and industrialized world. 

Courtyard is not an exhibit that makes itself immediately known. It requires a sustained gaze and a leisurely pace, both of which are a luxury in today’s attention economy. The viewing experience is not unlike sitting in a public plaza or park on the first day of spring: your eyes could rest upon a fountain or a statue you’ve walked past countless times, but today you are able to notice a new detail or piece of information that enriches your relationship to this place. You could also observe the people within your line of sight, sharing the same space as you and imbuing their own energy into the scenario, each of you playing your own part in the dynamic rhythm of urban life.

"Courtyard" installation shot. Photographed by Farfar Studio.

Jen Aitken’s Courtyard is open through January 20th, 2026 at Nine, 9 Monroe St, New York, NY 10002.