ArtYard will premiere CaveTech Ltd., a new mixed-media installation by award-winning writer, director, and comedian Julio Torres and Brooklyn-based sculptor and painter Sam Doubek, on Nov. 7, as part of our 10-year anniversary celebration and gala. The exhibition marks Torres’ debut in visual art and is part of a four-part installation co-commissioned by ArtYard, Canyon, and the Hopkins Center for Art at Dartmouth College, and organized by THE OFFICE performing arts + film.
The collaboration brings together Torres’ surreal storytelling and world-building with Doubek’s sculptural practice and interest in fictional relics. Through a cartoonish distortion of contemporary life, they imagine a prehistoric universe populated by strange devices and systems that feel simultaneously ancient and uncannily modern.
“I have really enjoyed bringing this reimagined prehistoric world to life with Sam and all the artists and creators behind CaveTech Ltd.,” Torres said. “I truly believe collaborating with other artists makes the work better, with each person inserting a bit of themselves along the way. At times it feels like you don’t know where your own ideas begin and end. It was a great experience having the time, space, and creative runway during our residency at ArtYard.”
The first work premiering at ArtYard on Nov. 7, Perinico, the Megaphone, places visitors in the position of an unseen real estate developer surveying a Stone Age construction site through a pair of sculptural binoculars. Through video, sculpture, and a trompe-l’œil painting, visitors encounter Perinico, a worker portrayed by Torres who finds himself relaying instructions within an increasingly absurd chain of command. As Perinico begins to question his position between those giving orders and those carrying them out, the work turns a prehistoric construction site into a playful examination of labor and authority.
“I’m endlessly fascinated with the idea that we are biologically identical to our “cavemen” ancestors,” Doubek said of the inspiration behind the installation. ”There’s a lot of humor and insight when you realize their brains were just as powerful as ours are now, and our brains remain just as primal as theirs were then. I feel that what separates us more than time is the devices we’ve made to augment the natural world and our relationships to one another.”
Torres, Doubek, and collaborators worked with ArtYard’s team to design the interactive installation. The artists were in residence at the arts center in Frenchtown to film CaveTech Ltd.’s video components. The installation’s three remaining sculptures will premiere at Canyon in the spring of 2027. The complete installation will then travel to Dartmouth College in late 2028.
Torres is known for his whimsical, surrealist, and visual comedy style. His work on Saturday Night Live earned four Emmy nominations and received wide acclaim. His first solo hour, My Favorite Shapes by Julio Torres, received rave reviews and was released as an HBO comedy special in 2019. Torres is a two-time Peabody Award winner for his HBO series Los Espookys, which he co-created and starred in alongside Fred Armisen and Ana Fabrega, and HBO’s Fantasmas, which he wrote, directed, and starred in. He made his feature directorial debut with Problemista with A24, which he also wrote and starred in alongside Tilda Swinton. Torres’ first book, I Want to Be a Vase, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2023. Most recently, his one-man show Color Theories was filmed during its sold-out Off-Broadway run and released as an HBO comedy special in March 2026. Merging art with theater, Torres recently debuted Marina, which he directed and co-created with artist Martine Gutierrez, and which the Whitney Museum commissioned for a limited run at Little Island as part of the Whitney Biennial.
Torres’ new book, The Perfect Gift, will be released on Nov. 3, just days before the premiere of CaveTech Ltd. at ArtYard, and will be available at ArtYard’s Contrary Art Shop.
Doubek lives and works in Brooklyn, where he often creates fictional relics through sculpture, painting, and digital arts. Informing his studio practice, Doubek has also gained an international following for translating his stoney relics into tattoos that appear 3-D on the skin’s surface. Doubek has recently exhibited at Hashimoto Contemporary in New York and with The Invisible Dog at The BUoY Arts Center in Japan.
ArtYard’s Tin Anniversary Gala
The premiere of CaveTech Ltd. will be a highlight of ArtYard’s Tin Anniversary Gala on November 7, an evening bringing together artists, supporters, members, and friends to celebrate ArtYard’s first decade and look toward its future.
The gala will recognize two distinguished Culture Bearers, Isabella Rossellini and Julio Torres, whose creative practices exemplify the expansive spirit of artistic experimentation and cultural exchange that ArtYard seeks to foster. The evening will also feature pop-up performances and appearances throughout the celebration.
“We are thrilled to recognize Isabella Rossellini and Julio Torres as Culture Bearers as ArtYard marks a decade defined by transformation, imagination, and creative vitality,” said Jill Kearney, ArtYard Co-Founder and Executive Director. “I’ve learned so much from each of them as they have incubated new works with us in Frenchtown during artist residencies. Both bring a fearlessness and playfulness to their work that has the power to disarm us and encourage us to engage with difficult ideas.”
Tickets begin at $150.
Photo at top by Sandra Dillon
