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Mala Iqbal’s paintings are on view at JJ Murphy gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, according to a Hyperallergic review. The review focuses on works about urban encounters, mediated images and the ways people construct reality; the supplied source does not give exhibition dates or visitor details.
Mala Iqbal’s paintings are on view at JJ Murphy gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, the subject of a Hyperallergic art review that reads the works as studies of city encounters, mediated images and shared public space. The review describes subway scenes and layered compositions in which strangers appear close together while remaining absorbed elsewhere.
The review centers on paintings including “Subway Riders” (2026), shown by the gallery’s front windows, and “Through the Curtains” (2026). In the latter, the critic describes a sequence that moves from a scene of collapse obscured by a tulle curtain, to a figure’s muted reaction, and then to another curtain bearing a pictograph-like pattern. The critic interprets that progression as a way of depicting how images of violence reach viewers through screens faster than they can process them.
Iqbal’s canvases often place figures in an orange and yellow glow, which the review connects to life under electric light. Other paintings take a different visual approach. The review describes “Times Square” (2026) as having a chalky palette associated by the critic with Ben Shahn, while noting that the work does not tip into despair. The source also names “Transparent Friend” (2025), though it provides little detail about that painting.
Several works use subway settings to examine proximity without familiarity. Riders share a confined space, yet faces turn away, are blocked, or become stylized shapes. In “Subway Riders,” one figure is identifiable as artist Angela Dufresne, Iqbal’s partner, according to the review. The critic notes that Dufresne appears to be recording something while looking toward, but not directly at, the viewer.
Urban Encounters and Screen-Mediated Reality
The review’s central reading is that Iqbal treats the city as a place people occupy together without necessarily attending to one another. Subway riders are physically close, but their turned faces and withheld attention preserve the distance between strangers. That subject gives the paintings a recognizable point of entry for viewers familiar with crowded public transport and the social habits that shape it.
The works also connect that distance to how people encounter images of crisis. The critic reads “Through the Curtains” as a metaphor for screen-based exposure to collapse and violence, with visual layers standing between an event and a person trying to absorb it. This is the critic’s interpretation, not a stated explanation from Iqbal in the supplied material. The distinction matters: the review offers a considered reading of the compositions, but does not establish the artist’s intended meaning.
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The Paintings Named in the Review
The supplied Hyperallergic report presents the exhibition through individual works rather than a full exhibition listing. It identifies “Subway Riders” and “Through the Curtains,” both dated 2026, alongside “Times Square” (2026) and “Transparent Friend” (2025). The report credits its photographs to Hrag Vartanian and places the gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
The critic describes Iqbal’s paintings as drawing on social realism, while also finding an ease associated with Matisse in their mood. These are comparisons made by the reviewer. The account emphasizes how Iqbal arranges figures, images and signs to suggest that reality can be assembled, layered or transformed, rather than presenting the paintings as straightforward documentary scenes.
“The world is a room we share with strangers, most of whom are looking elsewhere.”
— Hyperallergic review
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Exhibition Dates and Artist’s Intent
The supplied report does not state when the exhibition opened or closes, how many works are on view, or whether the gallery has announced related events. It also does not provide a direct statement from Iqbal about the paintings’ meanings. The reading of “Through the Curtains” as a response to screen-delivered violence belongs to the reviewer and should not be treated as a confirmed account of the artist’s intent.
The source offers no information about sales, visitor response or plans for the paintings after the exhibition. Those details remain unavailable in the material provided.
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Check the Gallery’s Exhibition Details
Readers interested in seeing the paintings should consult JJ Murphy gallery for current opening hours and exhibition dates, which are not included in the supplied report. The available material does not identify a closing date or announce a next exhibition milestone. Any further account of the show’s schedule, public programming or Iqbal’s own interpretation would require additional information from the gallery or artist.
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Key Questions
Where are Mala Iqbal’s paintings on view?
The review places the paintings at JJ Murphy gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The supplied material does not include the gallery’s address or visiting hours.
Which paintings does the review discuss?
It names “Subway Riders,” “Through the Curtains” and “Times Square,” all dated 2026, and “Transparent Friend” (2025). The review gives the most detail about the first three.
What is “Through the Curtains” about?
The critic describes a layered scene involving a collapse, a figure reacting and patterned curtains. The critic interprets it as a metaphor for receiving images of violence through screens, but the supplied report does not include Iqbal confirming that interpretation.
When does the exhibition close?
No closing date is given in the source material. Check with JJ Murphy gallery for current exhibition dates and access information.
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