At a glance: Cameo by Jamie Isenstein was on view at the University Art Museum (UAM), New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, from 27 March to 18 July 2026. The exhibition has now closed and there is no further edition. This page records what the exhibition was and why it mattered (its live sculpture was set to become the first live work in NMSU’s collection), introduces the artist, and lists similar live art events and opportunities you can still visit or apply to.
Similar Events and Opportunities
| Event / opportunity | Type | Where | When | Why it’s relevant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Performa Biennial | Performance art biennial | New York, USA | Next edition expected autumn 2027 | New commissions of live performance by visual artists; Isenstein presented an early work at Performa 05 |
| University Art Museum, NMSU | University art museum | Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA | Year-round programme, free | The venue of Cameo; regular contemporary, student and collection exhibitions |
| SITE SANTA FE | Contemporary art centre and International exhibition | Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA | 12th International ran 27 June 2025 – 12 January 2026; next edition to be announced | New Mexico’s leading contemporary art space and a major biennial-style exhibition |
| LIVE WORKS – Centrale Fies | Performance residency and open call | Dro, Italy | Recurring since 2013; check the current call | Production residency and presentation for live and performative works |
| Performance art opportunities on ArtInfoland | Open calls, residencies, grants | International | Updated regularly | Current calls for artists working with performance and live art |
About the Exhibition
Cameo centred on a new work, Still Life with Flowers (2026), shown in the Bunny Conlon Modern & Contemporary Art Gallery. It was a sculptural performance in Isenstein’s signature format, in which parts of a living human body become part of the artwork: a hand grips a bunch of flowers, gleaming objects rest in a pool of light and a sheet of paper is crumpled by an invisible hand. The work asked what is real and what is fake, and how far we can trust what we see. Those questions run through art history and museum display, and the exhibition connected them to current debates about artificial intelligence. Visitors were treated as an essential part of the experience.
A Live Work Enters the Collection
At the close of the exhibition, Still Life with Flowers was set to enter the NMSU Permanent Art Collection as the first live work in the collection. Acquiring a performance means acquiring the instructions and conditions for restaging it, not just an object, which makes Cameo a notable case of a university museum collecting live art.
Made with NMSU Students
NMSU Department of Art students were involved in almost every stage of Cameo. The project began in spring 2024 in Dr. Megan Metcalf’s museum and curatorial studies course, where students researched Isenstein and curated virtual exhibitions inspired by her work. Nine students continued in her autumn 2025 seminar “Performance and Museums”, interviewing the artist, searching the UAM collection for related works and developing their own exhibitions. Students also helped install the show and performed the sculpture in the gallery on a regular schedule throughout its run.
About Jamie Isenstein
Jamie Isenstein (born 1975, Portland, Oregon) is a multimedia artist whose work plays with the lines between subject and object, animate and inanimate, fact and fiction, and life and death. She studied at Reed College (BA, 1998) and Columbia University (MFA, 2004). She is known for works that hide her own body inside the artwork: she sat for hours as a wingback chair in Arm Chair (2006), showed only her hand through an oval frame in Magic Fingers, and used a “Will Return” sign to mark her breaks. Her early radio piece Inside Out with Jamie Isenstein was presented at Performa 05 in New York. She has exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Hammer Museum, MoMA PS1, Tate Liverpool, Palais de Tokyo and ICA Chattanooga, and lives in Portland.
Exhibition Facts
| Status | Closed |
| Artist | Jamie Isenstein |
| Featured work | Still Life with Flowers (2026) |
| Venue | University Art Museum, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces |
| Gallery | Bunny Conlon Modern & Contemporary Art Gallery |
| Dates | 27 March – 18 July 2026 |
| Admission | Free |
Visiting the University Art Museum
The UAM is at 1308 E. University Ave., Las Cruces, New Mexico 88003, open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am–4pm, with free admission to all programmes. Check the museum’s website for current exhibitions.
Official links: Cameo exhibition page (English) · Español · Artist website
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Is Cameo by Jamie Isenstein still on view?
No. Cameo closed on 18 July 2026 after running from 27 March at the University Art Museum, New Mexico State University, in Las Cruces. It was a one-off exhibition, so there is no future edition; see the table above for similar events.
2. What was Cameo by Jamie Isenstein?
Cameo was a 2026 exhibition built around Isenstein’s new live sculpture Still Life with Flowers. Developed with NMSU art students, it used real body parts and staged objects to ask how far we can trust what we see, linking that to debates about AI.
3. Who is Jamie Isenstein?
Jamie Isenstein is an American artist, born in 1975 in Portland, Oregon, known for sculptures and performances that hide parts of her living body inside the work, such as Arm Chair and Magic Fingers. She has shown at the Whitney, the Hammer Museum and MoMA PS1.
4. Why is Still Life with Flowers significant for NMSU?
Still Life with Flowers was set to become the first live work in the NMSU Permanent Art Collection at the end of the exhibition. It was also performed in the gallery by NMSU students, who helped research and install the show.
5. Where can I see similar live art or performance exhibitions?
In the US, the Performa Biennial in New York is dedicated to new performance by visual artists, with its next edition expected in autumn 2027. Artists can also find current performance open calls and residencies in ArtInfoland’s performance category.
2 Comments
I missed Cameo. Will Still Life with Flowers be performed again now that it’s in NMSU’s collection?
The museum hasn’t announced a new presentation yet. Because Still Life with Flowers was set to become the first live work in the NMSU Permanent Art Collection, it can in principle be restaged in the future, so it’s worth following the University Art Museum for updates. In the meantime, see our page on the Performa Biennial for live art in New York.