YBCA Presents the U.S. Debut of P. Staff’s “The Prince of Homburg”

Acclaimed work by P. Staff explores freedom, repression and the queer body

December 4, 2025 – San Francisco, CA: Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) announces the U.S. premiere of The Prince of Homburg, a major solo exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist P. Staff, curated by Jeanne Gerrity. Opening January 17, 2026, the exhibition features a 23-minute video installation and sculptural works examining freedom, state control, and the pressures placed on queer and trans bodies today.

“The Prince of Homburg is a work that asks us to pay attention to the emotional and physical toll of living under systems that demand our exhaustion,” said P. Staff. “I wanted to create a space that feels both intimate and disorienting, like stepping into someone’s dreams while still recognizing your own reality inside them.”

Loosely inspired by Heinrich von Kleist’s 1810 play of the same name, the work explores exhaustion as a response to structural oppression. The centerpiece of the installation is a 23-minute video, which alternates between nighttime scenes of a sleepwalking protagonist in a dystopic landscape, and daytime clips of scholars, activists, and artists reflecting on contemporary queer and trans identity. 

“The Prince of Homburg is visually arresting, emotionally honest, and deeply relevant,” said Mari Robles, CEO of YBCA. “P. Staff brings audiences into a dream world where vulnerability becomes a form of resistance. At a time when questions of autonomy and identity are shaping national dialogue, this exhibition feels deeply, and urgently of our time.”

Sculptural elements including a security-fence structure embedded with impaled objects and a suite of photograms extend the installation’s themes of violence and the body’s relationship to power.

“Staff’s work operates at the edge of dream and reality,” said Jeanne Gerrity, Guest Curator.  “This exhibition invites audiences to immerse themselves in a dizzying installation that considers how systems of power shape daily life.”

In conjunction with the exhibition, YBCA will present a public conversation with P. Staff, UC Berkeley professor Mel Y. Chen, and art historian Mara Hassan, moderated by Gerrity. The program will take place on January 24, 2026 at 12 noon. 

Originally commissioned by Dundee Contemporary Arts (Scotland) and the Irish Museum of Modern Art (Dublin), The Prince of Homburg arrives in San Francisco as part of YBCA’s renewed commitment to presenting groundbreaking contemporary artists who challenge dominant cultural narratives.

YBCA programs are made possible in part by Blue Shield of California, the City and County of San Francisco, The Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Svane Family Foundation, Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, James R. Lilienthal Trust, California Arts Council, Yerba Buena Partnership, Meridee Moore, Beard Family Foundation, Schwab Charitable Fund, Gaia Fund, David and Carla Crane Foundation, Andrew Skillman and Lydia Choy Charitable Fund, Amy and Hannah Eliot, Maria Kim, Tides Foundation, Wayee Chu and Ethan Beard, Amanda Minami, Klau Family Fund, Peter Rigano and Cody Hicks, Harvey and Leslie Wagner Foundation, Robert and Junko Kenmotsu, The San Francisco Foundation, The Ron Conway Family, and YBCA Members.

For more information visit www.ybca.org.

About YBCA:

Opened to the public in 1993, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) was founded as the cultural anchor of San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens neighborhood. Our work spans the realms of contemporary art, performance, film, civic engagement, and public life. By centering artists as essential to social and cultural movement, YBCA is reimagining the role an arts institution can play in the communities it serves. For more information, visit ybca.org.

YBCA is open Wednesday through Sunday from 11:00am to 5:00pm. General admission is $10, and $5 for students and seniors. Admission is free every Wednesday. For tickets and information, visit ybca.org.

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For media inquiries:

Lauren Macmadu / (415) 350-1884 / [email protected]

David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / [email protected]