Axis Gallery is proud to present its 20th annual National Juried Exhibition, a showcase of contemporary art selected from a diverse national pool of submissions. Juried this year by Nancy Lim, associate curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the exhibition reflects a dynamic cross-section of artistic practices and conceptual approaches.

Lim’s selection highlights artists who engage with both material experimentation and thematic depth. Some works render the everyday unfamiliar through unexpected transformations of form and subject, while others reclaim neglected objects or historical techniques to offer new insights into identity, place, and memory. Environmental concerns echo throughout, with artists drawing attention to organic processes and the tensions between natural and human-made worlds. Representations of the self, the body, and interpersonal relationships - sometimes intimate, sometimes estranged - further expand the emotional and visual range of the show.

Together, the works in the 20th National Juried Exhibition form a richly layered snapshot of contemporary artmaking, unified by a commitment to critical reflection and material curiosity.

 

Nancy Lim is associate curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where she focuses on postwar and contemporary art, with an emphasis on California and Asian diasporic artists. Upcoming projects include an exhibition on postwar Northern California craft history (2027). Previous projects include Creative Growth: The House That Art Built (2024), Chiura Obata (2023), New Work: Anna Sew Hoy (2023), and Joan Brown (2022). She has contributed essays to publications by the Walker Art Center, the National Portrait Gallery, and others, and she is co-editor of the newly published Deborah Remington monograph. She has previously held curatorial positions at the Guggenheim Museum and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.