Cate Giordano, The Final Wife
Exhibition on view December 17, 2025 — January 11, 2026

Cate Giordano, The Final Wife is a play and film loosely based on the 1993 Waco Siege of a compound belonging to the Branch Davidians, a religious sect in Waco, Texas. The work presents fictionalized representations of Branch Davidians leader David Koresh that include negotiations with the FBI, passages from the Book of Revelation and the Old Testament, and fantasies between Koresh and then U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.

In The Final Wife, Koresh believes he is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ. After his behavior catches the attention of federal law enforcement, he finds himself, his followers, and his numerous wives and children embattled in an armed stand-off with the FBI. Koresh engages in cat-and-mouse negotiations with an FBI agent named Steve, prolonging the stand-off for weeks. Convinced that his final wife must be Attorney General Janet Reno, Koresh begins to meet with her in dreams and the two develop a dialogue about the overlapping nature of government and faith. In accordance with Koresh's plan, they fall in love, which sets off the apocalypse.

Giordano plays the parts of David Koresh, the FBI agent, and a newscaster. Julianna Schley performs as Janet Reno and a news correspondent.

The Final Wife uses a fictionalized version of a tragic event to explore ideas of control, coercion, and fanaticism. While Koresh finds Biblical justification for his delusions, Reno fervently believes in the righteousness of government in any situation. The Final Wife is an investigation of two hierarchical structures of power and what happens when ideologies collide.

From December 17, 2025 — January 11, 2026, the movie version of The Final Wife, 2024, will show continuously, along with fifty oil paintings based on stills from the movie.

The play and the film are an expansion on a multimedia installation shown in October 2021 at Galerie Christophe Gaillard in Paris, France.

Concurrently, from December 7, 2025 – January 30, 2026, Participant After Dark presents Cate Giordano, early movies