“Upsodown,” a wild exhibition at the New Art Center, revels in the sensuality of Carnival. In the Christian calendar, Carnival comes right before people buckle down for Lent, so it’s an opportunity for indulgence and exploding social norms.

Pushing the party to the edge, curators AJ Liberto and Kate True invite Summer Wheat, who seems to be everywhere lately, to make paint into flesh with canvases that are so built up they look like dessert — except that they’re monstrous portraits. They call in Tara Sellios, whose photos of spent feast tables sodden with goop, detritus, and scooped-out shellfish may make you cry out for an antacid.