Between all the galleries in Chelsea and the Lower East Side, adding Brooklyn to the mix can seem like a daunting third area to approach in search of art. But it’s become a scene in its own right, and for good reason. Here is a list of the most interesting shows that are closing soon—and that you shouldn’t miss. So get out your handy smartphone and map your way through the borough that will be sure to bring a new perspective to your gallery-hopping days.
1. Kylie Lockwood and Rebecca Gilbert, “Statue Maker” at Cleopatra’s, Greenpoint
Pairing the work of two artists who explore different terrains in their respective practices, this Greenpoint gallery show sees Lockwood and Gilbert exhibiting together for the second time. The works dovetail in that both artists challenge texture, process, and medium, and ultimately question the experience of being human, whether it be the personal or the physical.
On view at 110 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, July 10–August 7, 2016.
On Paper, Installation view, Minus Space, 2016. Courtesy Minus Space.
2. “On Paper” at Minus Space, DUMBO
Featuring the works of 17 artists, this hefty group show brings together a cross-generational selection of artists from the US, Germany, New Zealand, and the UK, including Vincent Como, Kate Shepherd, and Douglas Allsop. The exhibition’s title is fairly self-explanatory: What you see is what you get, and that is works on paper that function at the “intersection of reductive abstraction and paper,” according to the exhibition press release. Don’t worry if you can’t make it by mid-August; the show is on view by appointment through September 5.
On view at 16 Main Street, Brooklyn, July 9–August 13, 2016; on view by appointment through September 5.
Antek Walczak, Films 1998-2000, Installation view, Real Fine Arts, 2016. Courtesy Real Fine Arts.
3. Antek Walczak, “Films, 1998-2000” at Real Fine Arts, Greenpoint
Cycling three times daily for 120 minutes per loop, this show at Real Fine Arts screens four rarely shown films produced by Antek Walczak during an intensive film-making period for the artist that lasted from 1996 until 2003. Functioning alongside the work of Bernadette Corporation, Walczak’s films—Dynasty, Paris from Behind, Run with Zeros, and Les risques du métier (Risky Business)—build upon “the narrative-performative strains of sixties American underground film and the essay-tract forms embedded in postwar European cinema (Warhol x Godard).”
On view at 673 Meeker Avenue, Brooklyn, June 30–August 13, 2016.
FRITTO MISTO, Installation view, C L E A R I N G, 2016. Courtesy C L E A R I N G.
4. “FRITTO MISTO” at C L E A R I N G, Bushwick
By taking its exhibition name from the Italian appetizer that basically translates to “mixed fried things,” the gallery seems to be cheekily pointing a finger at its participation in the summer-group-show trend, willingly acknowledging that the annual group exhibitions mounted by most galleries as the weather heats up are potentially problematic. But as Art in America warmly reviewed it, “in Clearing’s recipe for a group show, as in that for a memorable mixed fry, the odder, the bigger, and the more different the ingredients are, the better.”
On view at 396 Johnson Avenue, Brooklyn, July 14–August 14, 2016.
Happiness and Other Forms of Self-Delusion, Installation View, Pioneer Works, 2016. Courtesy Andy Romer Photography.
5. Genesis Belanger and Nick Doyle, “Happiness and other forms of self-delusion,” at Pioneer Works, Red Hook
The two sculptural (and near-silly or whimsical) practices of Genesis Belanger and Nick Doyle come together at Pioneer Works in an effort to address the inevitable failures in life. The work maintains a sense of humor while also touching on “social injustice and the follies of cognitive bias,” according to the exhibition description. Belanger and Doyle’s works are complementary in style and subject matter, and function in self-described “miraculous un-sophistication.”
On view at 159 Pioneer Street, Brooklyn, June 12–August 14, 2016.
So Much Dirt But Not Enough Soil (Ruin Series), Installation view, Knockdown Center, 2016. Courtesy Knockdown Center.
BONUS: Loney Abrams and Johnny Stanish, “So Much Dirt but Not Enough Soil (Ruin Series)” at Knockdown Center, Maspeth, Queens
Loney Abrams and Johnny Stanish look at the disparities between an object’s physical appearance and that which it is made up of. Featured materials include Miracle Grow, live active culture Lactobacillus acidophilus, liquid THC, the introduction to Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman (shredded and pulped), yellow #5, ginkgo biloba, Flavor Dynamics’ CHEF-ASSIST® Harvest Spice Flavoring, 3-methyl butanoic acid (the smell of body odor), crushed Adderall, and aspartame, among others.
On view at 52-19 Flushing Avenue, Maspeth, Queens, July 9–August 7, 2016.