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Hyperallergic has published a review of Mala Iqbal’s recent paintings, including works shown at JJ Murphy gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The reviewer reads the paintings’ subway scenes, obscured figures and layered imagery as reflections on shared public space, mediated images and the limits of knowing strangers.
Hyperallergic has published a review of new paintings by Mala Iqbal, including works dated 2026 that depict subway riders, city crowds and images filtered through screens or curtains. The review focuses on how Iqbal portrays people sharing urban space while remaining distant from one another, a subject that connects everyday city life with the ways violence and other events reach viewers through screens.
The review identifies “Subway Riders” (2026) as one of the paintings displayed by the front windows of JJ Murphy gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. It describes the artist’s canvases as crowded with figures and notes that many are lit by orange and yellow tones. The reviewer interprets that artificial-looking glow as fitting for people and places shaped by electric light.
In “Through the Curtains” (2026), the reviewer describes a sequence of images: a scene of collapse partly hidden by tulle, a figure reacting, and another curtain marked with a pictograph-like pattern. The review reads this arrangement as an image of events being filtered, experienced and made difficult to interpret. It also discusses “Times Square” (2026), describing its chalky palette and noting that its treatment of urban life does not settle into despair.
Many of the paintings, according to the review, take place in subways, where strangers sit or stand close together but often look away or have their faces obscured. In “Subway Riders,” one recognizable figure is Iqbal’s partner, artist Angela Dufresne. The review also refers to “Transparent Friend” (2025), but the supplied material does not provide further details about that work.
The paintings draw attention to a familiar urban contradiction: people can be physically close while knowing little about one another. The review describes subway passengers as sharing space and appearing briefly intimate, even as their averted gazes and obscured faces preserve distance. That focus gives the work a clear subject beyond city scenery: the social habits that shape how strangers encounter each other.
The review also connects the paintings’ layered compositions to the experience of seeing events through screens. Its reading of “Through the Curtains” suggests that images of collapse and violence may arrive faster than viewers can understand them. That is the reviewer’s interpretation of the painting, not a statement of Iqbal’s intent in the source material. The distinction matters: the article offers a critical account of what the work may evoke, while the paintings themselves leave room for viewers to interpret their signs and scenes.
For readers, the review provides a way into contemporary painting through recognizable settings rather than specialist terminology alone: a subway car, a city square, a curtain and a face turned away. It links these details to questions about attention, distance and mediated experience without claiming that the paintings resolve them.
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Subways, Screens and Painted Encounters
The source is an art review by Hyperallergic, not an announcement of a new exhibition, sale or public program. It describes several works dated 2026 and places “Subway Riders” near JJ Murphy gallery’s front windows on the Lower East Side. The source text does not give an exhibition title, opening date, closing date or full list of works.
The review places Iqbal’s paintings in relation to social realism, saying that tradition casts a long shadow over the work, while comparing its mood to Matisse’s ease. It also invokes Ben Shahn when discussing the palette of “Times Square.” These are the reviewer’s comparisons, intended to describe the paintings’ visual character; they are not presented as declarations by Iqbal.
Across the works discussed, figures, images and signs appear arranged in layers rather than as transparent records of a scene. The review uses that construction to frame a broader question: how people assemble a sense of reality from partial views, images and brief encounters. The source does not provide a broader biography of Iqbal or a statement from the artist about the paintings.
““the world is a room we share with strangers, most of whom are looking elsewhere.””
— Hyperallergic review
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Exhibition Details Still Missing
The supplied source does not state when the exhibition opened or closes, whether the works remain on view, or whether the paintings are part of a formally titled exhibition. It also does not identify the review’s author in the excerpt provided. Those details should not be inferred from the gallery location or the works’ dates.
The source offers a critic’s interpretations but no direct comment from Iqbal about the meaning of “Through the Curtains,” the screen imagery or the subway scenes. It is therefore unclear whether the artist intended the works to refer specifically to current events, digital media or any particular experience of urban life. The review’s account of those themes remains an interpretation rather than a confirmed statement of artistic intent.
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Check Gallery Viewing Information
Readers interested in seeing the paintings should check JJ Murphy gallery’s current listings for viewing hours and exhibition dates, as those details are not included in the supplied review. Hyperallergic’s article provides the critical account of the works and identifies the gallery location for “Subway Riders,” but the source does not announce a forthcoming event, artist talk or exhibition milestone.
Any further reporting on the show would need to confirm whether the paintings are still on view and obtain the exhibition’s dates and title from the gallery or artist. A statement from Iqbal could also clarify how she approaches the themes the reviewer identifies, while leaving the review’s interpretations clearly distinguished from the artist’s own account.
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Key Questions
What is the news about Mala Iqbal?
Hyperallergic published an art review of Iqbal’s recent paintings, including works dated 2026 and the 2025 painting “Transparent Friend.”
Where is “Subway Riders” shown?
The review places “Subway Riders” (2026) by the front windows of JJ Murphy gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. The source does not provide exhibition dates.
What does the review say about “Through the Curtains”?
The reviewer describes a scene of collapse partly obscured by tulle, a reacting figure and a patterned curtain. The review interprets the sequence as related to images filtered through screens, but does not report that interpretation as Iqbal’s stated intent.
Does the source give dates for the exhibition?
No. The supplied material identifies the gallery location for one work but gives no opening or closing dates and does not say whether the exhibition is currently open.
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