Art I saw last week 9.2025: Shara Hughes, Gabrielle Garland, María Berrío, Celeste Rapone, and Vinna Begin
I live in New York City. One of my favorite things to do is visit galleries after having lunch and coffee with a friend. Recently I visited a handful of art exhibitions with a friend in Chelsea based on another friend’s recommendations (Amelie Mancini, another artist and mother, always has excellent suggestions). While it may seem intimidating to see art at galleries in NYC, or at least it did to me before I made it a regularly activity, it is very easy. You just walk in and look at the art. Sometimes the galleries are hard to find, often purposefully, as mentioned in the book Get the Picture by Bianca Bosker. Galleries all have specific days and hours that they are open so you should always check the website before you head over. It is best to pick a few galleries grouped together in a general area. By doing this you can see a bunch of shows in a short amount of time. If you are a mom like me, you don’t have all day! You have an afternoon on Friday if you are very, very lucky.
I like to use the app See Saw to see what shows are currently up. I also often check Two Coats of Paint or the Brooklyn Rail, but really the best way to know about shows is to ask your friends.
I always get a bit overwhelmed after seeing a bunch of artwork. Sometimes it inspires me to go straight back to my studio and sometimes it makes me a bit down, for a variety of reasons. I generally like to view art alone, but I do really enjoy going with a friend because it takes the edge off a bit. I think it’s important to see contemporary artwork in person and I’m trying to take time to actually digest the work. Hence this blog post. I will attempt to regularly write a tiny bit about art I’m seeing.
Art I saw last week 9.2025: Shara Hughes, Gabrielle Garland, María Berrío, Celeste Rapone, and Vienna Begin
The paintings I saw were huge, some enormous. The colors were bold and bright, sometimes comically childish, but mainly they worked for the paintings. I didn’t love everything, but I did enjoy the experience of finding something I liked at each show, even if it was just a tiny bit of the large canvas.
Detail of Find My Way by Shara Hughes, , 2025, oil, acrylic, and dye on canvas, 110 x 72 1/8 inches
Shara Hughes at David Kordansky
September 4 - october 18, 2025
I really liked how the marks in this detail look like marker. If you saw this painting online you might think a teen did it in her bedroom with thick angry strokes. I’m interested in this bold mark and blending of colors.
Detail of We have enough. You can stop now. —Ava Fontaine, Lord of War (2005) by Gabrielle Garland, 2024, Acrylic, molding paste, glitter and oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, 121.9 x 121.9 cm
Gabrielle Garland at Miles McEnery
September 4 - October 25, 2025
My parents’ house has rocks similar to this in their front house facade. I loved how Garland made these weird 3D details on her A Scanner Darkly paintings (my friend made this observation not me but I am happy to share it). I didn’t really like her use of glitter but it was fun!
Detail of Tabula Rasa by María Berrío, 2025, Collage with Japanese papers and watercolor paint on linen, 49 3/8 x 37 3/8 x 1 1/2 in
María Berrío at Hauser Wirth
September 4 - october 18, 2025
It was María’s show that got me out the door and over to Manhattan. I was so excited to see her collaged masterpieces up close and they did not disappoint. I have no idea how many assistants she has but I hope many because her works were massive and meticulous. The way she power clashes the patterns on this pant and jacket within the clothing item energizes me. I love seeing her fast and slow making play out in an emotional narrative. It’s fascinating.
Detail of Sideline (after Ben Shahn) by Celeste Rapone, 2025, Oil on canvas, 72 1/8 x 90 inches
Celeste Rapone at Marianne Boesky
September 4 - october 18, 2025
Perfect brushstrokes. This show was delicious. There is a lot to dig into. She makes smart references and she also is using a very specific color palette that speaks to me because I am around the same age and dealing with some of the same anxieties about aging and nostalgia. I most appreciated her compositions and the way she references very specific things while still abstracting both space and the things she is referencing. I listened to a Sound a Vision interview with her which I didn’t think much of, so I’m curious to learn more about her more recent work.
Detail of Promise 2025 by Vinna Begin, pigment on canvas, 24 × 24
Vinna Begin at Sears Peyton
September 4 - october 11, 2025
I really liked seeing the way the pigment soaked into the canvas.
The day after I saw the AIR 16 show at Textile Arts Center with another friend. It is hard for me to see textile art shows because they make me think about textiles, which is very alluring to me because it is familiar. But no, I’m painting right now and even though it is hard, I love it. I liked some of the work but mainly I loved seeing my daughter and my friend’s daughter dance around the work.
And that’s it! What art did you you see last week?