FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
[Pittsburgh, PA, October 2, 2025] – ALMA | LEWIS is pleased to present Élan Cadiz: Healing The Erotic, a solo exhibition by New York-based multidisciplinary artist Élan Cadiz. The exhibition opens on October 23, 2025, with a free public event featuring an artist and curator-led tour, and will remain on view through March 13, 2026.
Grounded in the wisdom of Audre Lorde’s writings in Sister Outsider: Essays & Speeches and drawing upon the seven stages of spiritual alchemy, Healing The Erotic is a meditation on intimacy, vulnerability, and empowerment as pathways to both personal and collective healing. Through portraiture, painting, and assemblage, Cadiz frees the erotic from its narrow associations and reclaims it as a lifeforce of creativity, resilience, and self-determination.
The exhibition features works from various ongoing series, including Limits the Sky in which Cadiz revisits and reinterprets her own family histories; SCAFFOLDING the EROTIC which draws from community members and their narratives; and the lead piece America, a powerful portrait embodying Cadiz’s exploration of identity, belonging, complacency, and history. It captures the interplay between personal history and collective struggle, introducing audiences to the layered themes of the exhibition. By weaving together memory, imagination, and historical references, Cadiz constructs visual scaffolds that hold space for healing, reflection, and transformation.
Every intricate detail of America is intentional. “I figured if I create a dense, intricate pattern of imagery that people have to get close to, then they’ll spend more time with it,” she states. “Hopefully, they see something that pushes them to look further.”
“Élan Cadiz is a highly perceptive artist working with ease and gravity across a variety of media,” notes curator Kilolo Luckett. “ALMA | LEWIS is proud to provide a critical platform for Élan’s spirit and collective work that connects us with our past and offers a courageously reimagined just future for humanity.”
Join us for the opening of Healing the Erotic on October 23, 2025 from 5:30-7:30pm at ALMA | LEWIS. This free event will include an artist and curator-led tour and an opportunity for deep thought and reflection.
About Élan Cadiz
Élan Cadiz’s work explores the relationships between societal and personal memory, identity, intersectionality, and the connections between individuals. Her practice incorporates research, portraiture, sculpture, and public art to initiate reflection and encourage discovery. She graduated from City College of New York with a BA in Studio Art, and later received an MFA Fine Arts degree from the School of Visual Arts. She has been featured in a number of solo and group exhibitions, with one of her most recent being INHERITED SUCCESSION: Instill and Inspire at the James K. Schmidt Gallery at Principia College (2024). Cadiz’s art has been commissioned by Studio Museum in Harlem, Art in Flux Harlem, El Museo del Barrio and other institutions. Her An American Family Album Series was featured in VOGUE (2019).
Website: https://almalewis.org/artist/elan-cadiz/
Instagram: @elanhiart
About ALMA | LEWIS
ALMA | LEWIS is an experimental contemporary art platform dedicated to Black culture, fostering critical thinking, dialogue, and creative expression. Through artist residencies, world-class exhibitions, and the Black Archive—a research space featuring rare books, publications, and artifacts—ALMA | LEWIS provides a foundation for artists, scholars, and writers to engage deeply with Black history and culture. Serving as both a home and a hub within the broader arts ecosystem, ALMA | LEWIS is committed to sustaining rigorous artistic practices and presenting transformative work that challenges and expands the intersection of art and equity.
Website: www.almalewis.org
Instagram: @almalewis
For media inquiries, please contact:
| Victoria MacLaren | Reiley Freed |