We’ve Only Just Begun

Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts
Morris Gallery, Historic Landmark Building, Philadelphia, PA
Curated by Leah Triplett, Curator of Contemporary Art

April 12 – December 31, 2026
Opening to the public on April 12, 2026, 10am - 5pm
Reception on April 15, 2026, 5-7pm

Press Release, via Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts:

Rooted in painting but extending into architecture and social space, the exhibition positions love not as a private or sentimental subject, but as a serious aesthetic, political, and communal structure.

To reinaugurate the newly renovated Morris Gallery, PAFA presents Kati Gegenheimer: We’ve Only Just Begun, an immersive monographic exhibition exploring love–familial, romantic, or brotherly–at this moment of profound social division. Anchored by a symbol-laden painted musical score of the titular line from the Carpenters’ 1970 song, the exhibition presents works surveying how love is a necessary choice to be cultivated, measured, sustained, or dismissed, over time.

Rooted in painting but extending into architecture and social space, the exhibition positions love not as a private or sentimental subject, but as a serious aesthetic, political, and communal structure. Gegenheimer's markmaking, symbolism, and vibrant use of color reclaim emblems of care and tenderness (hearts, love notes, hinges, calendars, keyholes, to-do lists), and ponder how love is practiced over time rather than experienced in a singular instance. In an era driven by speed, extraction, and instant gratification, the exhibition insists on return and continuity.

Gegenheimer's paintings are devoted expressions of love, luck, and time, drawing inspiration from art history, architecture, popular culture, and craft. Her works embrace the decorative and diaristic, each an altar to a fleeting moment. Reliant on color, tempo, and composition, each of her paintings is a sign, symbol, and record all at once.