To Float like Butterflies: Masha Keryan and Lavaughan Jenkins Recast the Boxer for a Contemporary Moment

Boston-area artists Masha Keryan and Lavaughan Jenkins are featured in a two-person exhibition titled 'Misfits' at Simmons University's Trustman Art Gallery in 2026, exploring boxing's long artistic lineage through a contemporary lens. The show situates their work within a historical tradition spanning ancient Greek sculpture, Théodore Géricault's 1818 lithograph 'Boxers,' and Gordon Parks's photographic series of Muhammad Ali from 1966 and 1970. The exhibition also draws on Ali's own 1979 screenprint 'Sting like a Bee,' which serves as a personal self-portrait of the boxing champion.