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Z Behl (born 1985) is an American artist and filmmaker whose work includes sculpture, installation, performance, and film. Her artistic practice has included site-specific installations, paintings, video art, and narrative filmmaking.[1][2]
Education
[edit]Behl graduated from Wesleyan University in 2007, where she studied English and visual art. In 2017, she participated in the Venice Biennale Cinema College with her film Geppetto.[3]
Career
[edit]Behl's work has incorporated sculpture, photography, video, and installation. In 2015, Interview described her practice as drawing on myths, and discussed her background in theatre set design and work as scenic director for the film Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012).[1][4]
Her 2015 exhibition Joker's Solitaire at Kai Matsumiya Gallery in New York included photographs of nude men, large wooden playing-card sculptures, and a video of Behl playing solitaire. The project explored the figure of the female trickster and the representation of gender and sexuality.[1][5]
In 2018, Behl was included in Filmmaker Magazine’s annual 25 New Faces of Independent Film feature. The profile discussed her transition from visual art into filmmaking and her use of installation-based approaches to image-making, comparing her work to that of Alejandro Jodorowsky and Sergei Parajanov.[2]
Selected exhibitions and installations
[edit]- Battle for Lagniappe — 7ELEVEN Gallery, New York (2012).[6]
- Joker's Solitaire — Kai Matsumiya Gallery, New York (2015).[7][8]
- Climb to Glory — site-specific public art installation, Mana Contemporary, Miami (2018).[9]
- SHIFT:22 — site-specific sculptural installation commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (2022).
- Stand in My Danger — Pamela Salisbury Gallery, Hudson, New York (2025).[10][11]
Filmography
[edit]Behl has worked as a writer, director, and performer in narrative and experimental films. Her film Geppetto was included in Filmmaker Magazine’s 2018 25 New Faces of Independent Film feature.[2]
| Year | Title | Format | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Joker's Solitaire | Video art | Writer, Director, performer |
| 2018 | Geppetto | Narrative short film | Writer, director, lead actor |
| 2019 | A Cow's Tail | Narrative short film | Writer, director, performer |
| 2020 | Geppetto 2.0 | Two-channel video installation | Writer, director, performer |
| 2025 | Ecstatic Wanderer | Experimental Short Film | Writer, director, performer |
Curatorial work
[edit]Behl has curated multiple projects addressing art, trauma, and historical memory. Exhibitions she organized include Holding Time (2021), concerning artists who came of age in New York City around the September 11 attacks, and Chapel of Traumaturgy (2023), which explored the gamification of artwork about trauma. Behl herself was a Junior at Stuyvesant High School during 9/11.[12]
In 2012, she co-organized the Flooded Art Show, a presentation of artworks damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and exhibited these works altered by the hand of the storm.[13][14]
Collaborative projects
[edit]Behl collaborates with artist Kim Moloney under the name Baloney Steel. Their first collaboration, in 2024, involved a 25 foot scrap metal statue called Thatcher the Snatcher for an exhibition curated by Jacob Rhodes from Field Projects. [15]
In 2026, Behl and Moloney undertook The Mule's Passage, a durational canoe performance along the Erie Canal in New York. The artists traveled approximately 350 miles from Waterford to Buffalo, combining the journey with interviews and research concerning the canal's history, ecology, and social impact.[16][17][18]
Z Behl and her brother, Walker Behl, also developed and manufactured Storm the Capitol: Insurrection in a Box, a satirical board game presented as both a commercial object and an immersive installation at Spring Break Art Show in Los Angeles in 2024. The game was released with support from Truenon, the podcast, in 2024. [19] Z Behl directed the youtube short presenting the project, starring John Early, Chloe Cherry, Lauren Servideo, and Cole Escola. The project was covered by The Art Newspaper in its report on the fair, as well as in Rolling Stone Magazine.[20] [21][22]
Residencies, Grants, and Public Artworks
[edit]Behl has completed residencies including Pioneer Works (2012), the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency at Collar Works (2019), MacDowell Fellow (2025), and the Erie Canal Artist-in-Residence program (2026).[3] She has received grants from the Adrienne Shelly Foundation for film (2019), Emergency Grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation and the Pollock Krasner Foundation, and Commissions from SUBMERSE NY: Cornell's Soil and Water Flood Education Public Art Initiative. In 2022 Behl built nine monumental sculptures in five weeks for Shift 22, Curated by Shai Baitel, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Behl also has permanent outdoor work on exhibition at Mother-in-Law's Gallery in Germantown, NY since 2024[23]. In 2026 Behl was commissioned by Debra Simon to make a sculpture called "Ancient Spat" for display at the Brooklyn Army Terminal. [24]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 Small, Rachel (28 January 2015). "Playing With Nudes". Interview Magazine.
- 1 2 3 Macaulay, Scott (15 September 2018). "25 New Faces of Independent Film: 2018". Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1 2 "Z Behl: CV". Z Behl.
- ↑ Butman, Jeremy (2024-08-19). "MANA CONTEMPORARY All the Best Artists Are My Friends | The Brooklyn Rail". brooklynrail.org. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ McVey, Kurt (7 March 2015). "Z Behl's Nude Male Solitaire". Artnet.
- ↑ Jr, Ralph Gardner (2012-03-14). "Artist Afloat in TriBeCa". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Jr, Ralph Gardner (2015-03-10). "Urban Gardner: In the Buff: Nudie Playing Cards That Call Your Bluff". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ internet (2015-01-27). "Z Behl "Joker's Solitaire" at Kai Matsumiya, New York - purple ART". Purple (in French). Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ "Z Behl | The Brooklyn Rail". brooklynrail.org. 2024-08-19. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ "Z Behl | Pamela Salisbury Gallery". pamelasalisburygallery.com. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Thomas, Taliesin (2025-03-04). "Art Review: "Z Behl: Stand in My Danger" in Hudson". Chronogram Magazine. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ "Where Were You Then?Holding Time in NYC". www.neworleansreview.org. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Jovanovic, Rozalia (2012). "Red Hook Artists Showcase Flood-Damaged Art at Sandy Relief Benefit". ARTINFO.
- ↑ "Art in the Aftermath: Unpacking the Flooded Art Party with Artists Charlotte Kidd and Z Behl". Art21 Magazine. 6 December 2012.
- ↑ Jr, Ralph Gardner (2024-08-24). "Margaret Thatcher rises from a local dump". WAMC. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Thomas, Taliesin (1 September 2026). "The Artists Paddling 350 Miles Up the Erie Canal". Hyperallergic.
- ↑ "Artists Paddling Full Length of Erie Canal Make Their Way Through Little Falls". The Daily Post. 19 August 2026.
- ↑ Saunders, Cameron (2026-09-03). "Onward to Buffalo". SMATTER Magazine. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Petti, Matthew (2024-09-13). "Review: A Monopoly-style game about the January 6". Reason Magazine. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ "Spring Break art fair in Los Angeles puts personality first at fifth edition". The Art Newspaper. 29 February 2024.
- ↑ Garber-Paul, Elisabeth (2024-10-26). "Jan. 6 Is Looming Over the 2024 Election. They Made It Into a Board Game". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ Research, Do Not (2024-04-29). "Z & Walker Behl: Storm the Capitol". Do Not Research. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ "Chance Encounters at Upstate Art Weekend". Hyperallergic. 2025-07-22. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
- ↑ NYCEDC. "NYCEDC Announces 'In Plain Sight' Public Art Exhibition in Sunset Park | Brooklyn Army Terminal". brooklynarmyterminal.com. Retrieved 2026-09-20.