7 Days in December

7 Days in December is a durational performance by artist Jax Neal debuting December 7th, 2025 in John M. O’Quinn Gallery. During this week-long program, Neal will lie down in a running shower for 6 hours each day, from Sunday to Saturday. In the words of Neal:

“The shower is the place we go to take the rain, to be drained of what we know, and what we wear, what we fear, and what we believe, and to see what is left of us when it’s all been washed away.

“The performance is not just the shower, it is also the end of the day, when the faucet turns off, and that lights go away, and the artist gets up, dries off, goes home, and comes back to do it the next day.

“Artists are known to make, to do, and for me, to move. But in this work I want to do the opposite. To sit down, to undo, to remove. And look at what is left.” 

Jax Neal is a multidisciplinary poet, choreographer, and performance artist currently based in Los Angeles, California. Born in Houston, Texas, Neal grew up writing and performing with Meta-Four Houston, an internationally-acclaimed poetry slam collective.​

Neal trained across the United States, Germany, and Brazil studying movement techniques including Capoeira, Wushu, Taekwondo, House, physical theater, and various global folk dance traditions. Neal also participated in the “Cleaning the House” workshop series hosted by the Marina Abramović Institute in Athens, Greece. ​

Neal now creates hybrid Gesamtkunstwerk, incorporating performance art, physical theater, poetry, and dance, often combining vulnerable storytelling with highly physical tests of endurance. 

Funding for Lawndale’s exhibitions is provided by presenting sponsors, John Bradshaw, Sara & Bill Morgan, Scott R. Sparvero, along with sponsors Jereann Chaney, Piper & Adam Faust, Marco Hernandez, Amy Holmes, Mary Catherine & Bailey Jones, Karol Kreymer & Robert J. Card, MD, Emily & Ryan LeVasseur, Jeryn & Walter Mayer, Meghan Miller & Jeff Marin, Adrienne Moeller, Winnie & Nic Phillips, Teresa Porter, Mr. & Mrs. Allison Stasney, Regina & Frem Reggie, Stephanie Roman, Nicole & Joey Romano, Jessica & Blake Seff, Dr. Andre Shaw and generous gifts from the Friends of Lawndale.

This project is funded in partnership with the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts