What do you think?
- frida@artyardbklyn.org
- 2 days ago
- 9 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
ART YARD BKLYN Artists have been working in the studio, visiting exhibitions at home and while traveling, and reading some excellent books. We have quite a bit to share this week!
Drop us a note below or send an email to share your thoughts, we would love to hear from you.
Art News from the Studio/Work in Progress
Rachael Wren emails: “Love getting these updates and seeing what everyone is up to! I’ve been experimenting with something new — string installations in the woods. Curious to know what AYB thinks?!”
Rachael Wren, String installations in the woods.
Mia Lew started “a project where I’ve been sewing together water colored squares into a form- but not really sure what it is or what to think…”
Adji Ngathe Kebe is working on a new painting inspired by a piece she created in an AYB zoom session, based on a photos taken on what she deemed a day of great happiness and inspiration. She has also been back in the ceramic studio.
Adji Ngathe Kebe painting and ceramics in progress
I (Meridith) have a large-scale Inside Outside Windowphilia underway. I have been enjoying sharing the process with other AYB painters as the piece progresses.
Candy Heiland shares her painting in progress. “This is my most recent piece. This was inspired by a performance on YouTube. I saw of Patti Smith and a congregation in a church and she ended it by exclaiming “use your voice!” everything that’s black is still unpainted.”
Travis Pereira went to a figure drawing class the other day. Here are some drawings he made in the session.
Travis Pereira, Figure drawings
Alex Lopez has “been working on a personal project, which is a series following a man whose raft crashes into an island, and later discovers another man who lives there. The drawing illustrates the moment he makes it to the shore (with seagulls debating on whether to eat him or let him be).”
Vyomika Tewary has a trio of new drawings with paint marker.
Vyomika Tewary, Trio of Drawings
Florian Kiniffo-Neven du Mont shares “I observed Leah do this beautiful observational drawing while we were eating a cheeseburger at JG Melon with Sanjay and friends :)”
Exhibitions and Art to see Near and Far
Cheyenne Rivera and Briana Camacho spent a day at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Cheyenne recounts: “Bri and I went to the Met for a late afternoon visit. We started in the American wing, looking at paintings depicting the American Revolution. One that caught our attention was The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar by John Trumbull. In the detail Bri is pointing to, one figure is looking straight out at the audience instead of focusing on the battle scene, which we found both curious and a little comical.
John Trumbull, The Sortie Made by the Garrison of Gibraltar, 1789, and Briana with same.
Another amusing find, given the story behind it, was a portrait by Sir Thomas Lawrence of Irish actress Elizabeth Farren. The family wasn’t happy with the result, they’d wanted her to look larger than she did in real life, almost like an 18th-century “filter” request. It was funny to realize the struggles of commissioned work are nothing new. We wrapped up having seen a lot of great work, including a few sculptures that caught our eye.
Sir Thomas Lawrence, Elizabeth Farren (Later Countess of Derby), 1790; Francisco Mora, Silver Mine Worker in Pachuca, 1946; Thomas Gainsborough, Cottage Children (The Wood Gatherers), 1787; Diego de Pesquera, The Holy Family with Saints Anne and Joachim, 1567-68
Mia Lew has been getting out to see art in NYC! “I attended the opening for No Place painters from different points within the constellation of the Southeast Asian diaspora, which included the work of a recent RISD painting alumni Raya Simpao at Silverlens Gallery (505 West 24th Street, Chelsea).
Marigold Santos, sibling shroud (platycerium and candlebush), 2026
Daniel Cabrillos Jacobsen, Half dream, half nightmare, 2026
iris yirei hu, Soothsayers, 2024
I also loved an exhibition put together by a group of RISD seniors also called Works On Paper at Plant 486, a little gallery in Carol Gardens and New Voices: Design which examines the historical legacy and contemporary application of pattern across a wide range of printmaking practices.
Alex Lopez enthusiastically shouts out two standout exhibitions. The first is Leonora Carrington: The Shape of Dreams at L'Space Gallery (524 W. 19th Street, Chelsea), extended through August 22. Exploring themes of spirituality, surrealism, mythology, and the natural world, the exhibition is a powerful introduction to Carrington's visionary practice. Alex calls it "some of the best work I've ever seen."
Alex's second recommendation is Daniel Correa Mejía's new paintings at PPOW Gallery in Tribeca. His richly symbolic figures embody emotional and psychological states, merging with lush landscapes as contemporary society recedes and sacred, primordial knowledge emerges. As Alex writes, "Daniel Correa Mejía's work also explores spirituality, surrealism, and nature, while embracing themes of homoeroticism, intimacy, and love."
Leonora Carrington: The Shape of Dreams. Photo by Alex Lopez.; Daniel Correa Mejía with paintings. Photo by Diego Alejandro Puerto.
Ajani Russell “visited two stellar venues: Studio Museum in Harlem (144 West 125th Street) and plumbed archives at The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem (135th St and Malcolm X Blvd) to look at art made by black people.” The Schomburg is one of The New York Public Library’s renowned research libraries.
On view at The Studio Museum in Harlem: Romare Bearden, Henry Taylor, The Jury, Chris Ofili, Untitled (with reflection), Wangechi Mutu, painting, and Lola Ayisha Ogbara, Forget Me Knot 1-5. Photos by Ajani Russell.
Images from The Schomburg Photos including Augusta Savage at at work. Photos by Ajani Russell.
Jacob Rath writes: “I walked the Highline on Monday, and was delighted with Tuan Andrew Nguyen sculptures in his exhibition The Light That Shines Through the Universe a monument to cultural loss and enduring spirit. They are well conceptualized and materialized. I found that many of these sculptures interacted with their surroundings in delightful and unexpected ways. I recommend going an hour or two before sunset, since the weather is starting to cool, and the early evening light illuminates the sculptures perfectly.
Highline installation photos by Jacob Rath
Jacob adds “I flew into Minneapolis yesterday. I had a great time wandering around my old neighborhood. Here are some photos. I particularly love the Powderhorn Park mural that has the Statue of Liberty in the middle of the lake. I've booked by that mural countless times, but this trip is the first time I really stopped to look closely at it.”
Minneapolis Public Art (including local Pride Flag.) Photos by Jacob Rath.
Sigrid Dolan was also in Minneapolis this week. Sigrid shares: “I went to the Walker Art Museum with my parents and I was very heartened by their exhibition design. I want to do a research project looking at exhibition design in different galleries and museums looking into their philosophy behind organizing the exhibitions, seeing what choices I like and don’t like because I get angsty in galleries or museums sometimes when I think their exhibition choices are hostile.”
As reported last week, Karla Prickett has work included in the Self-Portrait Show at the Birger Sandzen Memorial Gallery in Lindsborg, KS which opened last Sunday.
Karla sends photos of some of her favorites from the exhibition.
Patrick Duegaw, The Antagonists (or) The Fool, The Idiot, and The Villain, Barbara Waterman, MWS: Boxed Saints (Hungry Ghost), and Randy Regier, Autorretrato. Photos by Karla Prickett.
After a trip to Cummer Garden Museum in Jacksonville, FL, Travis Pereira shares his favorites from the current exhibition Art in Bloom a group exhibition of nature inspired artwork.
Jane Hammond, Korean Vase with Voodoo Lily, Tongue Orchid, and Regent Honeyeater, 2025; Jessica “Ragsy” Ewud, Lego Warhol Flowers, 2018-25; Sarah Ann Weber, Mulberry skins and sugar, 2022; Janet Fish, After a Wedding, 2002. Photos by Travis Pereira.
What We Are Reading
I (Meridith) have two book recommendations this week. The first is Helen Levitt edited by Joshua Chuang (Thames & Hudson, 2026). Brooklyn-born photographer Helen Levitt's career spanned more than six decades, from the 1930s through the 1990s. Although her work is deeply rooted in New York City street life, she also photographed in Mexico during a pivotal trip in 1941, and later embraced color photography with remarkable results. Best known for her images of children, chalk drawings, and everyday life on New York's sidewalks, Levitt brought extraordinary empathy, wit, and formal innovation to the seemingly ordinary. This beautifully produced coffee-table volume features impeccably printed photographs alongside insightful essays exploring different facets of Levitt's life and practice from her early Leica photographs and Mexico series to her groundbreaking color work and late images.
Helen Levitt book cover and a few favorite images from the book!
My second recommendation is Mighty Real: A History of LGBTQ Music, 1969–2000 by Barry Walters (Viking, 2026). I listened to the audiobook, beautifully read by Walters himself, and loved it. A renowned music journalist whose work has appeared in The Village Voice, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Spin, and NPR Music, Walters writes with warmth, humor, intelligence and deep affection for his subject. Blending cultural history with his own experiences as a fan, club regular, and longtime critic, he tells the story of LGBTQ artists and their profound influence on popular music with clarity, insight, and infectious enthusiasm.
Mighty Real book cover and You Make Me Feel Mighty Real album cover.
As I finish this recap, I'm listening to the official Viking Books Spotify playlist inspired by the book—Lou Reed, Laura Nyro, Joan Armatrading, and, of course, Sylvester.
❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜
Margaret Hardigg texts: “I haven’t finished it yet, but I am reading Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution (Knopf, 2023) by Cat Bohannon. Bohannon writes about female evolution in an accessible way. I’m learning a lot and the facts can be pretty funny. For example, when describing the makeup of the human body she writes: “Most animals are essentially lumpy donuts filled with ocean. If you wanted to describe life on Earth in the simplest terms, you could say we’re energetic bags of highly regulated water.” I do not normally gravitate towards non-fiction books, but a new friend recommended it to me and I’m glad she did!”
Rachel Palmer enthuses: “The Great Wherever, Shannon Sanders’ debut novel, is a ghostly gossipy gag. The protagonist, a floundering dc based young woman, visits the Tennessee family farm she inherited after her father’s passing. She meets the other owners of the farm, a group of cousins she doesn’t know well, and the reader gets to hear about all of the ups and downs through a group of her ancestors who are still “living” on the land - err inhabiting the land as ghosts.
This book is funny (not scary!), heartfelt, and provides real insight into the difficulties Black families face when balancing professional mobility and keeping land their ancestors fought hard to acquire.
I tore through it in a weekend!!"
TJ Edgar writes: “I just started reading Kin (Knopf, 2026) by Tayari Jones. The author a Spelman alumnae, it it’s on Oprah’s book list for 2026, and on Obama’s summer reading list as well. From the promotional copy: “A novel about mothers and daughters, about friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction.”
Evelyn Beliveau “just finished reading The Trouble with Space in Painting: A Critical History by James Hyde, an extraordinary book that examines how painting is talked about (in western culture) from late Medieval to the present, and shows that the language of "space" (pictorial space, illusionistic space, etc) in relation to art is a very recent development despite its pervasiveness in discussions of art today. He traces the origins of the term, from Latin "spatium" (a distance or span, extension) and German "raum" (vacancy, emptiness), and the various realms of thought in which the idea of space developed (philosophy, science, and spirituality) before being applied to art. He argues in favor of taking the pictorial on its own terms, especially when looking at works of art that predate the application of the term "space" to art. I found the book thorough, well-argued (especially in the reading of primary sources) and fascinating, as it illuminates a framework we take for granted and how that framework came to be. Hyde's reframing of the pictorial will certainly stay with me as I go on looking at and making art.”
Openings & Events to Attend
Neah Gray invites us to join her on Sunday August 9 for the unveiling and block party for the mural in Bed Stuy at Make Manifest at 384 Tompkins Avenue. Neah along with other artists will do live painting.
Neah is also helping to start a second mural project in Bushwick. “There will be a community paint day on Monday August 10th from 11am-1pm. Everyone is invited to come and help paint the mural!”
Here's to another art-filled week!
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