836M’s 2026 program revolves around the theme of Metamorphosis: at a time when society is transforming at an unprecedented pace, the theme of metamorphosis speaks to the urgency of reinvention, highlighting how we must evolve to keep pace with the world around us. Throughout the year, a variety of pop-up exhibitions, concerts, screenings and talks will populate 836M’s calendar–starting with an immersive installation by Delphine Diallo, January 14-26, 2026.
For her pop-up exhibition, Diallo will create an immersive installation titled Earth Oracle, aiming to transform 836M’s storefront gallery into “a living, ceremonial space of elemental remembrance.” At the heart of the experience will be an altar formed from local stone and sand—a vulva-shaped centerpiece honoring the earthly source of microcomputing and A.I. chips: silica. Two films—one a mythic travel dreamscape, the other an alchemical meditation—will be screened as part of the installation.
Together with Diallo’s photographs and miniature prints mounted along the walls, Earth Oracle invites viewers into “an encounter with the unseen architecture of becoming, bridging technology, ancestral storytelling and the natural world.”
Residency Events
January 14 – Opening
January 21 – Panel Discussion
Clarisse Neu from Google DeepMind and Patricia Buffa from Adobe Firefly GenAI will join Diallo in a panel discussion on artificial intelligence as a catalyst for the evolution of art, society, and storytelling.
January 26 – Closing
Witness Metamorphosis for the final time, where stone, sand, and A.I. awaken the unseen.
EXHIBITION DATES:
CURRENTLY BASED:
RSVP HERE
Delphine Diallo is a Brooklyn-based artist and photographer of French and Senegalese descent, born into a creative family that nurtured her artistic talents across music, graphic design, and artistic direction. Her artistic journey took a pivotal turn when she met renowned North American photographer Peter Beard, who inspired her to delve deeper into photography and embrace her agency. Critically aware of the traditional representations of women in photography, Diallo is dedicated to deconstructing the biases and injustices embedded in its history.
Since 2014, she has developed a unique visual language that empowers herself and the women she portrays, often transforming friends and family into goddesses. This homage to the “divine female body” is expressed through body paint, jewelry, and unique attire, reflecting her vision for female empowerment. Diallo emphasizes ethical practices by cultivating long-term relationships with her subjects, ensuring their representation is authentic. Her work blends spiritual symbolism and mythology, positioning black women within a revered pantheon while challenging conventional portraiture.
In an evolution of her artistic practice, Diallo explores self-portraiture, transforming mental images and lucid dreams into carefully constructed scenes. Recently, she has embraced new technologies, including AI, to expand her storytelling methods, incorporating collages and montages as innovative tools alongside digital and analog photography. By juxtaposing found imagery with her own creations, she pushes the boundaries of visual representation. For Diallo, image-making serves as a sanctuary for acceptance, beauty, strength, and mystery—elements she believes are universal. Her art celebrates black women and envisions an inclusive, transnational future rooted in matriarchy. Through provocative visuals and innovative iconography, Diallo challenges viewers to engage with their politics and imaginations, inviting them to experience a reimagined narrative full of complexity and depth.