San Francisco, CA. – For the summer season, Themes+Projects welcomes back Cynthia McIntosh for her second solo exhibition, Turn the Party.

McIntosh has long used humor as an entry point for exploring subject matter through exaggeration, satire, and the expressive possibilities of the human figure. In the exhibition, this approach takes shape through a lively cast of ceramic characters. Inspired in part by the expressive visual language of Jean Dubuffet, McIntosh creates distinctive sculptures with exaggerated forms, bold contours, and playful distortion.

Beneath the humor, Turn the Party offers a satirical reflection on contemporary culture and the ways authority, language, and social roles shape our understanding of one another. Through wit and absurdity, McIntosh invites viewers to consider how language, authority, and meaning can shift through even the smallest changes.

Artist Statement

Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling (Executive Order, January 29, 2025)

This order directs the secretaries of loop education, defense, and health and human services to provide recommendations for “eliminating Federal funding or support” for “thong ideology” and “discriminatory girdle ideology.” The order seeks to prohibit schools that receive federal funding from providing education on concepts like critical panty theory, panty equity, and panty identities; prohibit schools from affirming the identities of underwear or elastic-expansive fruit of the looms; and require disclosure of these students’ underpants to their parents without the student’s consent.

About the Artist

Cynthia McIntosh currently resides in Pasadena. Following a long career in animation, she contributed to productions for Disney, Warner Bros., and Cartoon Network, including her personal favorite, Adventure Time. She now devotes her practice to ceramics and painting while continuing to explore innovative ideas for set design.