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Alex Prager

Matinee

New York

Jun 11–Aug 21, 2026

Photograph by Alex Prager

501 West 24th Street

New York, NY 10011

Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present Alex Prager: Matinee, a solo exhibition of new work by Alex Prager in New York. Bringing together four new large-scale photographs, the exhibition positions Los Angeles as both subject and muse, examining the construction of distorted memory and myth-making through the city’s enduring allure and ephemerality. Influenced by artists whose respective portrayals of Los Angeles have profoundly informed contemporary understandings of the city, Prager’s work considers how our perceptions of reality may, in turn, shape what the future becomes. Matinee follows a landmark year for Prager, marked by the premiere of the artist’s feature film, Dreamquil. This exhibition serves as a prelude to Prager’s solo presentation in New York in 2027, which will coincide with a major museum exhibition by the artist, to be announced in the coming months.

Over the last two decades, Prager has developed a multidisciplinary practice characterized by uncanny, surreal images and films that explore the human condition. Working simultaneously across film, photography, and sculpture, Prager constructs highly emotional moments that feel like a fabricated memory or dream. Prager’s work is defined by a distinctive and carefully constructed mise-en-scène, where every element within the frame is created practically and captured physically and entirely in-camera. Her process is intuitive, guided by experimentation, atmosphere, and an instinctive approach to image-making that gives the work its singular visual language.

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

American West (Rehearsal), 2026

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Behind the scenes with Alex Prager on the set of Matinee

Installation view of Alex Prager: Matinee at Lehmann Maupin New York
Installation Views: 1 of 4

“In Ceremony, Prager celebrates the tradition of theatricality in Hollywood. Here, Prager uses her distinct characters and meticulously planned use of color to create a contemporary renaissance style tableau with multiple viewpoints. In Los Angeles, the ritual of dressing for significant events has become its own form of performance—an extension of the city’s broader culture of image-making. At a moment when established systems are visibly shifting and the future of an industry that sustains much of Los Angeles feels uncertain, the scattered attention of the audience carries new weight and fragility, mirroring our own efforts to seek a path forward.”

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

Ceremony, 2026

Alex Prager photograph

Alex Prager

Hidden Hills (Invitation), 2026

Installation view of Alex Prager at Lehmann Maupin New York

Press Highlights

Portrait of Alex Prager

Alex Prager (b. 1979, Los Angeles, CA; lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) is an American artist, director and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Prager is known for her uncanny images and films that blur the line between artifice and reality to explore the human condition. Prager has spent over two decades honing her signature style, which draws on traditional movie making techniques from golden-era period styles (like film noir and Technicolor), classical mythology, and the allegorical works of Dutch Renaissance painters Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brugel. Over time, large-scale productions have become synonymous with her work.

Working simultaneously across film, photography, and sculpture, Prager constructs highly emotional moments that feel like a fabricated memory or dream. Her distinctive use of archetypes, everyday objects, humor, and allegory—along with her signature technicolor facades—allow her to explore dark and complex topics. Existential concerns are central to her practice, including collective and individual identities and the impact of technology on society. Like the psychological works of artists including Alfred Hitchcock, Edward Hopper, Pipilotti Rist, August Sanders, and Bill Viola, Prager’s work invites the viewer to contemplate the human experience by revealing that the extraordinary lurks within the ordinary.

Learn about the artist
Matinee | Lehmann Maupin