Opening reception: April 5, 5:00–8:00pm
Artist talk: April 27, 2:00–4:00pm
Closing Reception: May 10, 5:00–7:00pm
Venue: Atrium Artspace–2029 Maryland Avenue Baltimore, MD 21218
Gallery Hours: 1:00–4:00PM (Wed–Thu) Or by appointment
Artists: Lite Zhang & Pavlos Liaretidis
Curator: Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso
Atrium Artspace is proud to present (un)natural order, a two-artist exhibition offering poetic reflections on the collapse of man-made systems and the cascading consequences of their failures. On view from April 5 through 14, 2025, the exhibition features sculpture and mixed media installations by international artists Lite Zhang and Pavlos Liaretidis. Curated by Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso, the show opens with a public reception on April 5 from 5:00–8:00pm, with gallery hours Wednesday and Thursday from 1:00–4:00pm or by appointment.
“The show offers perspectives on the fragility of existence across different geographic and cultural contexts,” shares curator Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso. “Rooted in surrealist traditions, the works of these two artists reimagine the wreckage of man-made disasters, juxtaposing visceral representations of tragedy with dreamlike interpretations of unknown futures. Zhang and Liaretidis invite us to question the systems and symbols that guide our lives, and to reflect on humanity’s impact on the natural order.”
In one of Zhang’s featured works, created in response to the collapse of Baltimore’s Key Bridge, the artist weaves local materials—crab cages, chains, and concrete—into an installation evoking the elegiac beauty of impermanence. Liaretidis, meanwhile, draws from the devastating 2023 Tempi train crash in Greece: Across three large wall-mounted panels, the artist incorporates plaster, coal powder, and asphalt to create images memorializing destruction while critiquing the fragility of human infrastructure.
Programming for (un)natural order includes artists’ and curator talks, and an interdisciplinary performance with local musicians during the closing ceremony on May 10.
About the Artists
Lite Zhang (b. 1998, Xi’an, China) is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work navigates themes of cultural identity, material transformation, and ecological tension. Inspired by traditional Chinese folk arts and the shifting landscapes of urban and natural environments, Zhang integrates found materials like driftwood, metal, and industrial debris to explore the interplay between memory and impermanence. Often rooted in surrealist traditions, Zhang’s installations and mixed media works blur the boundaries between the real and the fantastic, reimagining familiar objects and systems to reflect on humanity’s transformation of the landscape.
Pavlos Liaretidis (b. 1999, Thessaloniki, Greece) is a New York-based artist whose work examines humanity’s evolving relationship with the environment through a critical lens, addressing social injustices and existential questions. Drawing from personal and collective tragedies, such as the devastating 2023 Tempi train crash in Greece, Liaretidis explores themes of commodification, resource exploitation, and mortality. His multimedia practice is grounded in material experimentation, incorporating industrial and natural elements like asphalt, plaster, and metal into poignant reflections on the systems that govern and exploit life.
About the Curator
Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso (b. 2000, Mexico City) is a curator working in the Baltimore-Washington DC metropolitan area. During the summer of 2023, he worked at Museo de Arte de Querétaro (Mexico) as an associate curator and director’s assistant. Likewise, in 2024, he interned with the art consulting firm Art Collectors Athenaeum, serving as assistant curator for DIALOG: Landscape and Abstraction, an exhibition at the Art Museum of the Americas-Organization of American States (OAS). Alfonso’s current practice explores architecture, design, and our place in the urban landscape as humans and creators. He is also interested in showcasing and promoting artists from his home country.
About the Venue
Atrium Artspace is a gallery space nestled between Old Goucher and Station North that occupies the first floor of a restored 1881 rowhouse. Michel Heitstuman and Matt Moses, Co-Directors of Atrium Artspace, meticulously reimagined, restored, and redesigned the historic residence between 2022 and 2024, transforming it into an evocative and sophisticated space for the exhibition of fine art. Atrium Artspace is devoted to enriching Baltimore’s artistic and cultural landscape by championing and providing a platform for emerging artists based in Baltimore City.
For further information please contact Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso at [email protected] or Atrium Artspace directly.