As we happily weather the extreme East Coast winter, April’s weather is a poignant reminder to stay strong despite mood swings and uncertain times. As the first flowers of spring bloom, promising eternal beauty despite everything, a vibrant exhibition in upstate New York brings the elegance it deserves. The Tait Gallery will feature dynamic mixed media works by three artists, while the exhibition at 68 Prince Street Gallery will be a full-on celebration of abstraction from six leading painters. In a group show at Yellow Studio, Danielle Giordano, Davana Robedi, and Kathy Ruttenberg explore ideas about female representation. The Catskills Art Space presents a magical orchestration of pottery and sculpture, while Caleb Weintraub presents colorful figurative paintings at Perry Lawson Fine Art. Meanwhile, the Raphael Moser Gallery features monochromatic works in a variety of mediums, while the Distortion Society showcases modern expressions of Japan’s ancient stencil dyeing folk art. Spring is always a whimsical tease. Follow the vibrant aura of art this month!
Imaginary reality: pulses and patterns
tight gallery3280 Franklin Avenue, 2nd Floor, Millbrook, New York
Until April 12th
The wild, patterned visuals of this three-person show’s mixed-media artwork convey a light, pulsating energy. Shannon Carroll’s abstract paintings transport us to the feeling of summer, such as the wispy “A Drop in the Ocean III” (2025) and the green “A Drop in the Ocean IV” (2025). “Decompose V” (2025) by Sophie Kitching is a luxury of bright organic shapes in a free-flowing dance of watercolors, while her “Balmy” (2021) is a sensual slice of flowing pastel lines. Sabri Sundos’ hand-embroidered cotton pieces are downright fun, such as “Tatrees Sampler” (2025), in which two threaded creatures play with flowers. “We Played with the Clouds” (2025) also features a community of similar creatures happily grooming each other.
abstract women
68 Prince Street Gallery68 Prince Street, Kingston, New York
Until April 19th
Focusing on 6 talented abstract painters, abstract women The gallery, located at 68 Prince Street, celebrates the dynamic intensity of abstraction. Elizabeth Gilfillen’s Red Velvet (2026) is a crimson painting of bulging shapes that draws us into its velvety warmth, while Kathy Goodell’s Animal Amour (2026) is a field of faint white and light blue, with traces of black calligraphy on all sides. Paula Delucia Poons’ “Messy Poker” (2023) is layered in waves from black to pink, and Claire Seidl’s “How on Earth 2” (2025) is a fun, frenetic jumble of ocher, white, and yellow. Francine Tinto’s “Abstract III” (1985), on the other hand, is a purple-stained stack of flat shapes that appear to be wet with rain, and Gina Werfel’s “Rush” (2025) is a vibrant pile of color that recalls the innocent thrill of candy.
crowd
yellow studioYellow Monkey Village, 792 Route 35, Cross River, New York
Until April 19th
While imagining the power and playfulness of women, crowd at Yellow Studio presents four female artists who consider identity, expression, and recognition in their mixed media practices. Alison Bellorin’s monotype collage “Colonnade” (2026) features rows of women consciously posed in all directions, while Dorian Goldman’s “Textured Torso” (2023) is a sturdy, feminine porcelain torso. In Anne Pollard James’s “The Ledge” (2023), fingers look down at a woman’s crotch, her hips, and her red panties, tugging sexily from either side. Finally, Angela Strassheim’s “Guitar Hero” (2007) pigment print depicts a woman holding a guitar, facing a television, naked except for a pair of white underwear, and looking fierce from behind in a moment of private entertainment.
Daniel Giordano, Davana Robedi, Kathy Ruttenberg
Catskills Art Space48 Main Street, Livingston Manor, New York
Until April 25th
A lively group exhibition by Daniel Giordano, Davana Robedi, and Kathy Ruttenberg perfect for the spring season Catskill Art Space is truly magical. As a long-time fan of both Ruttenberg’s and Giordano’s work, I find this trio of artists to be an attractive curatorial combination. Fun-loving Giordano’s sculptural installation “Pleasure Pipes” (2019-25) features a whimsical collection of phallic parts and other eccentric objects that take up an entire wall with cheerful strangeness. Robedi’s monumental dyed silk tapestries, such as “Single Chromosome Handmirror” (2025) and “Duplicated Chromosome” (2025), are majestic and esoteric works of indigo. Cathy Ruttenberg’s ceramic works have always captivated with poetic charm, and “The Day the Flower Died” (2026) is a mesmerizing vision of a nude body on her knees staring at the face of an oversized flower with long green stems and human legs.
Lisa Kahler: A forest for trees
Garner Arts Center55 West Railroad Avenue, Garnerville, New York
Until April 26th
Interdisciplinary artist Lisa Kahler explains to me via email that she explores the human condition in the digital age and presents her version of “warm technology,” which aims to “reverse posthumanism.” Through immersive community-based installations and diverse mixed media practices such as ceramics, music and performance, Color expresses a deep respect for trees and the environment. forest for trees The Garner Art Center will present a series of her imaginative hand-painted ceramic tree shapes rotating on motorized platens in a mini-forest environment, wall projections, a collaborative audio soundtrack with original compositions, and videos with participants from around the world telling their personal stories about trees. Among these works, “Lupuna Tree” (2025) embodies Color’s radical focus on environmental consciousness through art.
Deirdre O’Connell: New Portrait
Susan Ely Fine Art433 Warren Street, Hudson, New York
Until April 26th
Deirdre O’Connell: New Portrait Susan Ely Fine Art features a series of gilded depictions of the artist’s friends and colleagues, including actors and writers. These images depict the sitters in a loving and honest way. For example, in “Zoom #6: Nicole” (all works 2026), a woman wearing a luxurious floral headpiece with her eyes closed holds up her hands in a “stop” gesture. “Bobby #3″‘s narrowed expression and the cloud of smoke rising from his mouth suggest a personal rift. in and #1-6 In the series, the same character is seen in various theatrical expressions. “Jenna, Banks Mateo, Lucy,” the only painting depicting the artist’s back view, is a collage of two women holding a horned child in their hands and leading them gracefully into the water for a moment of wandering.
Caleb Weintraub: Two sides of the studio mirror
perry lawson fine art90 North Broadway, Nyack, New York
Until April 26th
Combining elements of illustration, cartoons, figurines, and bright color schemes to create imaginative scenes, Caleb Weintraub’s paintings are downright hilarious. Both sides of the studio mirror Perry Lawson Fine Art will exhibit a series of recent paintings that combine the familiar and the unfamiliar. “Rare Birds” (2023) is a musical-style vision of three men set in a futuristic landscape filled with creatures. In “Fanning the Flame” (2024), we encounter domestic fireside scenes and the warmth of a burning hearth. In “Mincing Words” (2024), two figures in fantastical costumes approach each other in a wild, surrealist world of abstract strangeness, while in “Rush Hour” (2024) the figure has his legs severed in two and appears to be floating in an equally strange environment.
Commitment to monochrome in contemporary practice
Raphael Moser Gallery75 Bridge Street, Catskills, New York
Until May 1st
purposeful group show Commitment to monochrome in contemporary practice Presented a series of works with a thorough focus on color. Carlos Carcamo’s “Kase Painting P6″ (2023/26) is a stark vision of dark canvas composed of latex, spray enamel, and collage. Lynne Harlow’s Lumina III (2025) is a tilted piece of glass so shiny that it could be mistaken for leather from a distance. Steve Riedel’s “Folded-Over Painting (Orange)” (2023) is a whimsical three-dimensional canvas that hangs from a wall like a sculpture. Arlene Santana Thornton’s “Fog” (2018) is, as its title suggests, a hazy oil on paper, and Jason Travers’ “Traveller” (2023) is a painting of a white square with some black spots that suggests poetic potential in its grandeur.
Joan Oliver: Inner Passage
Gallery 495495 Main Street, Catskills, New York
Until May 2nd
Veteran artist Joan Oliver explores themes of personal experience, the female figure, and the imaginative use of materials in her solo exhibition. internal passage Gallery 495 exhibits mixed media works. For example, “Full Exposure” (1997) and “Misguided Career” (1995) feature a pensive woman sitting arm in arm with a ruddy naked woman on purple and green backgrounds, respectively. Her collage “Dreamt Recall” (2025) is a layering of miscellaneous images and strips of patterned paper, and “Bereft” (2018) is a misty pink collage with a Medusa-like face in the top right of the composition. Among her delicate depictions of women, “Serena” (1995) is noteworthy, and her expressions are both deliberate and curious.
space between colors
distorted society155 Main Street, Beacon, New York
Until May 3rd
The group exhibition space between colors Distortion Society brings together four artists who employ this traditional dyeing process, which has influenced folk art movements in Japan and abroad, to create a contemporary vision. Curator Elina Pearl’s “Snail Party” (2025) features three muscular flowers and five crawling small snails, framed by a graphic pattern. Natalia Siu Munro’s “Reflection of a Kajarishi” (2025) depicts a mythical lion crouching on the edge of a rushing river, staring at itself in the water, while Chinatsu Chomune’s “letter no. 1” (2025) is a series of overlapping squares and rectangles in various shades of white and blue. Artist mizosasora’s “입추, (First Autumn, Beginning of Autumn)” (2023) is a pigmented still life on Chinese paper that includes a slender black vase with flowers on each side of two small vessels, a thoroughly modern rendition of this classic Japanese art form.
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