Dean Sameshima has spent thirty years documenting the vestiges of queer spaces. His recent series, being alone (2022), pictured anonymous subjects in porn theaters facing screens of ethereal light. In his latest body of work, The Intervals (2026), Sameshima reproduces his entry tickets into those same theaters over a decade-long period. Like On Kawara’s Date Paintings, Sameshima’s works keep time, but only register the time spent after hours.
The kinokarte is a business-card-sized entry ticket into Berlin’s sex cinemas. It allows 24-hour admission into all locations, only three of which remain. Each is neutrally marked with a label, date, time of arrival, and finished with an attendant’s signature—its contents withholding the erotic potential they promise. The design has changed slightly since Sameshima’s project began, but the handwritten element remains as a lingering emblem of human touch.
The Intervals extend the artist’s long-term practice of screen printing. Sameshima has developed a newfound use for the silkscreens which transferred images of previous works, repurposing them as surfaces for his latest series. The kinokarte calendars which now occupy these frames coexist with ghost images containing the histories of past works—ethereal surfaces which carry remnants accrued during the passage of time.
Sameshima’s tickets form grids which seem to stretch beyond the plane, implying an endless cache of longing. His repetitive use of banal formal cues allow symbols to be interpreted freely, similar to experiences within the porn theaters themselves. A time stamp may trigger other memories for the viewer, but anyone embroiled in the act of interpretation is a voyeur. Looking engages the solitary conditions of our desire.
The artist’s subject and media draw a parallel to Warhol’s 1976–78 VIP Ticket - Studio 54 paintings. In both, the rhythmic process of pushing ink through a veil generates a space for pleasure. While Warhol printed on canvas, Sameshima’s use of the silkscreen privileges the action above its representation. Warhol’s tickets formulated in the decade which preceded the AIDS Epidemic, and Sameshima began working in its immediate aftermath: a ghostly presence.
ABOUT:
Dean Sameshima (b. 1971; Torrance, California) lives and works in Berlin. Sameshima’s being alone series was included in the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennial in 2024, and his work was the subject of a major exhibition at Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen in 2025. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Soft Opening, London (2026, 2024); Galerie 5b, Glasgow (2026); Good or Trash, Paris (2025); PPOW, New York (2024); and Queer Thoughts, New York (2023). Sameshima has been featured in recent institutional group exhibitions at Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2026); Getty Museum, Los Angeles (2025); Museum of Art Sao Paulo (2025); California Museum of Photography, Riverside (2024); Institute for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2024); Museum of Sex, New York (2023); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2021); and Henry Art Gallery, Seattle (2021). His work is held in the permanent collections of the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University; Lafayette Anticipations, Paris; Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and Museum of Art Sao Paulo, among others.
The kinokarte is a business-card-sized entry ticket into Berlin’s sex cinemas. It allows 24-hour admission into all locations, only three of which remain. Each is neutrally marked with a label, date, time of arrival, and finished with an attendant’s signature—its contents withholding the erotic potential they promise. The design has changed slightly since Sameshima’s project began, but the handwritten element remains as a lingering emblem of human touch.
The Intervals extend the artist’s long-term practice of screen printing. Sameshima has developed a newfound use for the silkscreens which transferred images of previous works, repurposing them as surfaces for his latest series. The kinokarte calendars which now occupy these frames coexist with ghost images containing the histories of past works—ethereal surfaces which carry remnants accrued during the passage of time.
Sameshima’s tickets form grids which seem to stretch beyond the plane, implying an endless cache of longing. His repetitive use of banal formal cues allow symbols to be interpreted freely, similar to experiences within the porn theaters themselves. A time stamp may trigger other memories for the viewer, but anyone embroiled in the act of interpretation is a voyeur. Looking engages the solitary conditions of our desire.
The artist’s subject and media draw a parallel to Warhol’s 1976–78 VIP Ticket - Studio 54 paintings. In both, the rhythmic process of pushing ink through a veil generates a space for pleasure. While Warhol printed on canvas, Sameshima’s use of the silkscreen privileges the action above its representation. Warhol’s tickets formulated in the decade which preceded the AIDS Epidemic, and Sameshima began working in its immediate aftermath: a ghostly presence.
ABOUT:
Dean Sameshima (b. 1971; Torrance, California) lives and works in Berlin. Sameshima’s being alone series was included in the 60th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennial in 2024, and his work was the subject of a major exhibition at Neuer Aachener Kunstverein, Aachen in 2025. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Soft Opening, London (2026, 2024); Galerie 5b, Glasgow (2026); Good or Trash, Paris (2025); PPOW, New York (2024); and Queer Thoughts, New York (2023). Sameshima has been featured in recent institutional group exhibitions at Kölnischer Kunstverein, Cologne (2026); Getty Museum, Los Angeles (2025); Museum of Art Sao Paulo (2025); California Museum of Photography, Riverside (2024); Institute for Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2024); Museum of Sex, New York (2023); Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2021); and Henry Art Gallery, Seattle (2021). His work is held in the permanent collections of the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University; Lafayette Anticipations, Paris; Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; Henry Art Gallery, Seattle; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and Museum of Art Sao Paulo, among others.