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Jessica Silverman is pleased to present “Conversational Spirits,” a two-part summer group show, featuring work that explores “animism,” the belief that animals, plants, places and objects are imbued with spirits.

Animism is a relevant analogy for the agency, intensity and energy embodied by great art. When the trees whisper and birds sing, when abstraction breathes, when a painted portrait questions your sense of self, spirits are not far away.

Associated with the worship of nature and the elevation of subordinated souls, animism is a theme broadly relevant to a moment in which equal rights, …