Jesse Ly at USI

we love not only seeing what our MNA artists are up to, but also helping make these connections! We’ve worked with Jesse Ly for a few years now and when Greg Blair, another MNa exhibitor, reached out about who would be great for an exhibition at USI, we immediately recommended Jesse. It’s so excited to see these connections come to fruition through exhibition, and to be continually introduced to talented artists like Rachael Banks. Congrats, Jesse and Rachael!

Kismet & Control 
Rachael Banks & Jesse Ly
September 9 - October 30, 2026

Kismet & Control is a survey of works that examine the parallel of practice and process of Rachael Banks and Jesse Ly. A space of vulnerability and narrative are intertwined through their varied documented lived experiences. They both operate through photographic procedures focused towards holding and shaping their environments – while consistently relinquishing to chance. This balance observes the give and take they are forced to carry out – making meaning via fate. Through documentary and staged familial interactions, interstitial moments, and adapted symbolism and iconography Banks and Ly navigate the chances of circumstances and what they come to construct with them.