Nick Doyle transforms denim, Americana, and artificial intelligence into a layered critique of the American Dream at Perrotin New York.
Exhibition Overview at Perrotin New York
Perrotin New York presents Collective Hallucinations, a solo exhibition by Brooklyn based artist Nick Doyle, on view through May 30, 2026. The show brings together new denim collages and an immersive installation that blends physical sculpture with digital systems to question the myths surrounding American identity, land, and consumer culture.
Doyle, originally from Southern California, is known for large scale wall works built from collaged denim. His practice reworks familiar symbols of American life to explore themes of capitalism, masculinity, and cultural mythology. In this exhibition, he reframes the American Dream not as a promise of success, but as a shared illusion shaped by shifting historical and technological forces.
Denim Americana Reimagined as Cultural Critique
Across the gallery, Doyle constructs oversized denim based reinterpretations of American iconography. Objects such as aviator sunglasses, car keys, and cacti become sculptural stand ins for cultural memory, while references to landscape photography are transformed into obstructed and disrupted images.
Famous mountain scenes are reimagined and physically blocked, including versions concealed behind chain link fencing or covered with brick like surfaces. These interventions shift the imagery from idealized nature toward commentary on commodification and control. Other works extend this language through indigo dyed cotton compositions that reference global trade systems and the material history of production.
Mirror Mirror and the AI Installation
A key installation titled Mirror Mirror marks Doyle’s first major experiment with artificial intelligence. The structure resembles a modest strip mall building advertising psychic readings, but inside visitors encounter an AI powered avatar named Ava, described as a diva oracle.
Ava interacts directly with guests using performative personality traits while simultaneously collecting personal data, turning engagement into extraction. The work draws a parallel between contemporary data harvesting and older systems of cultural storytelling, suggesting that persuasion and consumption have simply evolved into new forms.
By combining handcrafted denim works with digital intelligence systems, Doyle presents a vision of shifting frontiers where technology continues to reshape how myths are created, consumed, and believed.
