S M I L E R S

Gao Hang (b. 1991, Baoding, China; lives+works Houston)
Igor Simić (b. 1988, Belgrade, Yugoslavia; lives+works New York+Belgrade)

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EXXxxCLUBsively offered by (free) tee time only, this interactive, rooftop exhibition features two HOT BOYZzz—Gao Hang+Igor Simić—who welcome greedy Americans to feast upon their alien take on our greenest pasture: GOLF! ⛳

Gao Hang, in his retro-effervescent style, which physically manifests the low poly graphics of nineties and early aughts videogames^①⎚/, creates a freshly minted group of sculptures staged as obstacles on a miniature golf course set [[[[using the a$pect ratio of a dollar bill]]]] by Igor Simić, another artist working between the realms of virtual//and//reality. Simić does so with an inverse relationship to Hang, as he designs darkly humorous videogames that blend poignant societal critique with lighthearted (and higher-res) animation (he also creates haunted IRL neon sculptures). Hang’s neon-colored renderings of contemporary iconography are totally cute, although they are similarly coded with an astute understanding of the lived effects of global connectivity and rapid, internet-fed consumerism on the human psyche, global economy, and environment.

Both Hang and Simić point to a losslessly compressed, post-capitalist future (or apocalypse) as young international artists taking on the American art market (both sans-commercial gallery representation in the States). Coinciding with this exhibition, Simić and his game design operation, Demagog Studio, are releasing an expansion that will feature 🆕 territory for the videogame Golf Club: Wasteland, 2018/2021, and approached S M I L E R S with the brilliant idea to take up putt-putt: an exoticist-kitsch tradition (with a history on Manhattan rooftops^②⎚/) that is, ironically, somewhat foreign to both artists... S M I L E R S thought, what FUN❗to pair the occasion with another rising talent—Hang—who brings worldbuilding to the neXT>>>>level by inserting his neo-pop pixelations to interrupt Simić’s smooth, variably pitched 9-hole map. DIGITAL×ACTUAL is the word, so listen up, old boyzZZ club:

⚔️

Living their own Legends (of Zelda), Millennials do not play games—they beat them. Economically savvy as a generation by way of navigating fad after fad (pre- and post-scourge of social media), they are now ripe to responsibly consume. As the last vestige of an analog past, voicing the impact of digital ubiquity is a birthright that cannot be silenced by gatekeeping Ganondorfs. Funny enough, Laura of S M I L E R S and Laura Burton of (the gallery) went to public (not art) school together—it’s a small world after all!!!!!!!!!!!

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^①⎚/ “Fifth generation” home gaming consoles, dating from approximately 1993–2006, such as the best-selling Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64 (with 32- and 64-bit CPUs, respectively), are noteworthy for their technological advancements in 3D graphics.

^②⎚/

Fred Astaire and Hortense Lowits play miniature golf on a course atop the Hotel White at Lexington Avenue and 37th Street, c. 1929–30. Mini-golf was common on New York City rooftops in the nineteen-twenties and thirties; the pastime’s broader popularity in America fluctuated in correlation with volatile, Depression-era conditions.

(Photo: George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images).

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Laura Tighe
January 1, 2026
[updated June 12, 2026]

SMALL WORLD! is presented in collaboration with Laura (the gallery).

Fabrication: Hallie Doane (tempra studio; Brooklyn)
Course Design: Matija Pogorilić+Ðorðe Bulajić (BUMP; New York)

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