The Lair
Curated by Libby Rosa with Peep Projects
at Icebox Project Space
October 8 – November 15, 2026
The Lair is a sensory revival of Grendel’s Lair, the legendary 500-block sanctuary that served as Philadelphia’s premier cultural crossroads in the 1970s. This exhibition serves as a physical homage to the curator’s uncle, Larry Goldfarb, a producer at the original club.
By reconstructing a simplified facade of the historic venue, complete with its iconic signage, the gallery transforms into a gateway between the exposed city sidewalk and a velvet-drenched subterranean world. Historically, Grendel’s Lair was a site of radical transformation: a place where the high-art improvisation of jazz legends like Dizzy Gillespie and McCoy Tyner met the cosmic Afrofuturism of Sun Ra and the subversive joy of the musical Let My People Come.
While rooted in the “boogie” spirit of the 1970s, The Lair invited a group of close artist friends to explore the timeless concept of the “Safe Space.” The exhibition examines the tension between our public personas and the protected, underground sanctuaries we build to shield our art, identities, and joy.
Presented as part of the citywide Collective Futures project at the Icebox, the exhibition captures the singular, transformative moment of stepping through the door to become one’s truest self.
Participating Artists:
Alex Jackson
Katy Rosenthal Jackson
Mark Thomas Gibson
Kati Gegenheimer
Emily Wells
Samantha Nye
Cobi Moules
Jacob Todd Broussard
Image credits: Temple University Libraries, Urban Archive