As part of Yerba Buena Museum Morning, join us for early opening hours and a guided tour of The Prince of Homburg: A Solo Exhibition by P. Staff. Beginning at 10am, curator Jeanne Gerrity and artist P. Staff will lead visitors through the exhibition, offering insight into the work’s themes, process, and relevance today.
Guests are also invited to explore Bay Area Then, and enjoy complimentary coffee and pastries.
Join YBCA for an evening celebration marking the U.S. premiere of The Prince of Homburg, a major solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist P. Staff. Mingle with artists, curators, and community members while exploring the installation, which examines freedom, control, and the pressures placed on queer and trans bodies today.
Enjoy music, light refreshments, and a vibrant atmosphere as we share this powerful work with our community.
About the Exhibition
On view for the first time in the United States, The Prince of Homburg explores freedom, repression, desire, and the queer body through prints, sculpture, and a dream-like video installation.
Loosely inspired by Heinrich von Kleist’s 1810 play of the same name, the work explores exhaustion as a response to structural oppression. The centerpiece of the installation is a 23-minute video, which alternates between nighttime scenes of a sleepwalking protagonist in a dystopic landscape, and daytime clips of scholars, activists, and artists reflecting on contemporary queer and trans identity.
The video is projected within an intimate, cabaret-style gallery, with visitors seated at café tables. The immersive installation also includes photograms and a security fence sculpture with impaled objects, both featuring items related to the video.
Originally commissioned by Dundee Contemporary Arts in Scotland and the Irish Museum of Modern Art, YBCA is proud to present The Prince of Homburg at a moment when questions of identity, autonomy, and social control feel especially urgent.
Curated by Jeanne Gerrity
About the Artist
P. Staff (b. 1987, Bognor Regis; lives and works in Los Angeles and London) studied at Goldsmiths College, London (2009) and was part of the Associate Artist Programme at LUX, London (2011).
Selected solo exhibitions have been held at Bonner Kunstverein, Bonn (2025); David Zwirner, New York (2025); Ordet, Milan (2024); Kunsthalle Basel (2023); Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles (2022, 2018); LUMA, Arles (2021); Institute of Contemporary Art, Shanghai (2020); Serpentine Galleries, London (2019); Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin (2019); Chisenhale Gallery, London (2015).
Selected group exhibitions have been held at Taipei Biennial (2025); Serralves Museum of Contemporary Art, Porto (2025); Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (2024); 59th Venice Biennale (2022); 13th Shanghai Biennale (2021); Julia Stoschek Foundation, Berlin (2021); 47 Canal, New York (2021); Walker Art Center, Minneapolis (2019); Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2018); New Museum, New York (2017); Gasworks, London (2016). Staff is a recipient of Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Award (2019) and the Paul Hamlyn Award for Visual Artists (2015). Staff has participated in residencies at FD13, Minneapolis (2018); LUX, London (2014); The Showroom, London (2014); Fogo Island Arts (2012); and Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Alberta (2010).
Staff’s work is in the collections of Akeroyd Collection; Julia Stoschek Foundation; LUMA Arles; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Saastamoinen Foundation, Helsinki; Tate, London; and Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.