Presented as part of The Pit’s Frieze Week 2026 program, Sunset: The Jubilation of The Baboons is the first in a series of work entitled The Hours by Stephen Thomas Gallagher, due to premiere in early 2027. The work takes inspiration from The Amduat, an ancient Egyptian funerary text which follows the Sun God’s 12 hour journey through the night, from dusk till dawn.

Sunset: The Jubilation of The Baboons captures the sensation of waning consciousness or ‘hypnagogia’ that we experience as the mind drifts towards sleep and features aerial footage of LA’s immense shipping port captured by Gallagher whilst in California in 2023. At once awesome and uncanny, these scenes, devoid of people, are instead filled with heavy industry and machinery, dreamily juxtaposed against images of the setting sun, crashing waves and screeching baboons.

This special one-off presentation at The Pit on 24 February was the inaugural screening of the film and Gallagher’s international solo debut, as well as the first time he has presented work in the United States. 

A Stephen Thomas Gallagher Film

Produced by SWEAR Studio

Director: Stephen Thomas Gallagher

Video Design: Gemma Yin Taylor

Musical Composition: Tom Demac and Philip Kay

Sound Effects: Salvador Garza Fishburn

Cinematography: Seth Macmillan