Z-Coded: Painting While Trans and Incarcerated, on view until May 11th, 2025 at the Dyke+ ArtHaus, features the bold, emotionally-charged work of Kal-El Carey, a Black trans man currently incarcerated in a Pennsylvania women’s state prison. Carey, whose work is full of vibrant colors mixed with symbolic figures, describes his style as “Urban Abstract Surrealism.” Carey has been fighting the PA Department of Corrections for trans rights and trans healthcare for years. All of Carey’s work was made while incarcerated, serving as a way to cope and process life inside the prison. As Carey puts it, his purpose with his art is “to show that different is also beautiful.”

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