The Afterlife Exhibition Elevates Emotion Through Art in SoHo

On Saturday, December 20, 2025, the heart of SoHo will beat a little differently. The address 219 Bowery will host The Afterlife, an evocative, RSVP-only exhibition debuting The Shadow Dancers, a new body of work by artist and former ballet dancer Mari Gior. Curated by the visionary Marina Dojchinov, this immersive showcase invites guests into a quiet, sacred atmosphere where survival, memory, and art converge in breathtaking ways.

The evening begins with a VIP and press reception from 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM, followed by the general gallery event from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM. While SoHo is no stranger to compelling visual experiences, The Afterlife distinguishes itself not with loud gestures but with a hushed intimacy, a sacred stillness that cuts through the city's usual clamor. The RSVP-only format adds to this intentional exclusivity, offering a space designed not just to be seen, but to be felt.

At the core of The Afterlife is Gior’s evolution as both artist and individual. Once celebrated as a principal ballet dancer and fashion muse, Gior now channels her physical intuition into brushstrokes rather than choreography. Her dancers, suspended mid-motion, are not memories—they are presences. Each figure seems to hover between appearance and disappearance, as though caught in the delicate space between breath and release. It is this liminal quality that defines the exhibition’s tone—subtle, reverent, and resonant.

Gior’s journey to this collection is personal. Created in the wake of profound loss, The Shadow Dancers is not an exploration of grief as spectacle, but rather a meditation on survival. “I didn’t paint grief,” Gior shares. “I painted what survives it. The Shadow Dancers are the parts of us that keep moving when everything else falls away—unfinished, in motion, and still devoted. If love has an afterlife, this is what it looks like”.

That devotion is rendered not only through imagery but through texture. Gior’s signature use of mixed media—particularly her integration of deconstructed antique book pages into oil on canvas—imbues each piece with temporal depth. The pages act as fragile archives, connecting the present tense of paint with the past’s lingering presence. This duality transforms every work into an artifact, where heartbeat and history collide. The standout piece, The Return of the White Rabbit, exemplifies this synthesis, capturing both the artist’s enduring thematic motifs and her tactile narrative style.

The aesthetic mood of the exhibition is as carefully curated as the artwork itself. Marina Dojchinov, a curator known for building emotionally resonant atmospheres, ensures that the space reflects the ethereal quality of Gior’s paintings. Together, the artist and curator have created a room that feels more like a whispered confession than a gallery. Dojchinov, whose career spans from owning a gallery at 25 to launching immersive, high-concept shows, understands the power of subtlety. Her vision transforms the gallery into a sacred container for rebirth and reflection.

This isn’t the first collaboration between Gior and Dojchinov. Their previous venture, Down the Rabbit Hole, introduced audiences to a world where fantasy and fine art collided. The Afterlife acts as both a sequel and a maturation of that vision. Where their earlier work played with whimsy, this collection grounds itself in emotional gravitas. Still, the rabbit returns—not as escapism, but as a symbol of reinvention. In this show, the creature leads not down a rabbit hole, but toward a deeper, more intimate truth.

The dancers in Gior’s paintings are not choreographed—they are felt. Her background in ballet is not incidental but instrumental to her practice. The discipline of the stage has become the restraint of the studio. Her strokes carry the emotional precision of choreography and the softness of memory, rendering the figures both tactile and intangible. This body of work is where the dancer's body becomes the artist's brush, and movement translates into mood.

Yet, beyond their artistic resonance, these works embody a new era for Gior—a transformation from muse to maker, from ingénue to innovator. Her practice is no longer about being seen; it’s about seeing clearly. The exhibition marks a rebirth not just thematically, but personally and professionally. As a new mother, a painter, and a woman shaped by love and loss, Gior stands at a unique intersection of identity, channeling each facet into her canvas.

The Afterlife is ultimately a meditation on what remains. It asks viewers to consider how we carry love forward when its vessel is gone. How do we move through sorrow without being consumed by it? Gior answers not with

statements, but with silhouettes—

figures that float, pause, and whisper across time.

For SoHo’s art lovers, this is not a show to passively observe, but one to absorb. The space at 219 Bowery will not echo with conversation or spectacle. Instead, it will hum with quiet emotion, inviting attendees to sit with the work—and themselves—for a while.

With every figure Gior renders, and every antique page she resurrects, The Afterlife becomes a sanctuary. Not for grief, but for grace. Not for endings, but for the beauty that lingers beyond them.