Opening Reception + Artist Talk: “The Useful Life of Objects”

Materials for the Arts (MFTA) presents “The Useful Life of Objects,” a group exhibition featuring recent work by New York–based artists Ronen Gamil, Baseera Khan, Armita Raafat, and Justin Sterling. Opening January 15, 2026, and co-curated by Kendal Henry and Sara Reisman, the exhibition explores the aesthetic, conceptual, and emotional potential of objects diverted from waste streams and given new life through creative reuse.

Featuring works in sculpture, installation, painting, and hybrid forms, “The Useful Life of Objects” examines what it means to extend the lifespan of waste material. Whether reconfiguring scraps from the fashion industry, reframing household remnants, reconfiguring commercial surplus, or incorporating found elements from the public realm, each artist approaches material as both physical matter and cultural record. Their works reveal the poetic qualities of the provisional — and the many ways that objects persist, accumulate meaning, and inform the stories that the remains of our consumption tell.

MFTA will celebrate the opening of “The Useful Life of Objects” with a free public event on Thursday, January 15, 2026, from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM with an artist talk led by curators Kendal Henry and Sara Reisman. 

Thursday, January 15, 2026 l 6:30 — 9:00pm
at the Materials for the Arts warehouse
33-00 Northern Blvd, 3rd fl.
Long Island City, NY 11101

Image: Armita Raafat, Untitled, 2024. Handmade paper, pigmented paper pulp, embroidered textile (khoos doozi), mesh, mirrors. 15 x 11.5 inches. Courtesy of the artist.