Francisco Goya’s The Straw Manikin (1791–92) presents a carnival custom: a group of four women tossing a helpless male dummy into the air. Characteristically for carnival traditions and for Goya’s paintings, this ostensibly lighthearted scene is suffused with violence. The tight smiles on the women’s faces evoke a shared complicity, the straw doll’s neck appears to be broken from the game, a fantasy is being played out. At Den Frei—Denmark’s oldest artists’ association, well known for its collaborative ethos—Amy O’Neill unpacks what the carnivalesque means today by uniting themes of production and performance, celebration and corruption. Installed near the entrance is STRAW MAN Vestment (all works 2025), one of three works which isolate Goya’s limp doll. Made of quilt tops and digitally printed fabric, O’Neill’s piece transforms the tortured figure into a prêt-à-porter object. The garment anchors the show, allowing the sightlines and angles that the artist creates around it to feel carefully measured. Curated by Laura Gerdes-Miranda, in partnership with Line Ebert and Gianna Surangkanjanajai, the show features large-scale drawings, bespoke outfits (such as chasubles embellished with silkscreen imagery or iron-on transfers, snaps, and ribbons, along with papier-mâché masks and rope belts), and an analog slideshow. …