Art Spiel – Page 12 – Contemporary Art and Culture

April 19, 2025April 19, 2025

Beauty is a Blast: a tribute to Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe
by Art Spiel

Featured Exhibition

Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe, installation view, *Beauty is a Blast* at Art Cake

The exhibition Beauty is a Blast, on view at Art Cake in Brooklyn, brings together the work of more than 200 artists in a posthumous examination of the life and influence of Jeremy Gilbert-Rolfe (1945–2024). It documents a network of relationships, of pedagogy, of influence. Conceived by artist and curator Christian Haub in 2021 as a modest acknowledgment of Gilbert-Rolfe’s legacy, the project was paused, then resumed in late 2024 in collaboration with Gilbert-Rolfe’s family and the Art Cake team. As word spread, the exhibition grew, not by design, but by response. The scale—over 250 works—became a measure of the reach of an individual who spent decades thinking through the terms and implications of contemporary abstraction.

April 19, 2025April 19, 2025

Art Spiel Picks: Boston Exhibitions April 2025
by Andrew Fish

Highlights

*If They Told You, Would You Listen?* at Thayer Academy, Braintree, MA

Spring has sprung and many beautiful exhibitions are in full bloom across the city of Boston. Several exhibitions celebrating fiber art are on view along with multiple shows that highlight the season of rebirth. One of my favorite things about Spring in New England is seeing the trees awake from their dormancy and plants sprouting from the earth. The area thaws out and inspires a creative push toward summer. This means a lot of play, or spiel, for artists who experiment with unconventional materials and new media. This is wonderfully evident in the work on view this month as artists and galleries display playful and profound creations for a new season. Here’s some Art Spiel for you.

April 18, 2025April 16, 2025

DUMBO Open Studios 2025 with Kate Teale
by Etty Yaniv

A person standing next to a cart with tools

AI-generated content may be incorrect. — Photo: *Kate in studio M01, 20 Jay St. with the wall drawing “Falls The Shadow” in progress. Photo courtesy of David Henderson*

April 17, 2025April 16, 2025

DUMBO Open Studios 2025 with Davide Cantoni
by Etty Yaniv

Davide Cantoni in studio, photo courtesy of the artist.

April 16, 2025April 15, 2025

DUMBO Open Studios 2025 with Main Window
by Etty Yaniv

A window with a blue and gold art piece

Description automatically generated — *Crossing Spaces* by Winnie Sidharta. On View 24/7 through May 27, 2025

On April 26th and 27th, from 1 to 6 pm, artists in DUMBO will open their doors to the public as part of DUMBO Open Studios, offering a rare look inside the art studios along the Brooklyn waterfront. Since the 1970s, DUMBO has been shaped by its vibrant art community. This interview series highlights a handful of participating artists in 2025. Each response offers a glimpse of what’s waiting behind the studio door. Main Window, situated in the historic Clocktower Building at 1 Main Street, has been a presentation space dedicated to public art in DUMBO since 1980. Their enduring mission is to spotlight the diverse voices of under-represented Brooklyn and New York City artists. Main Window is curated by artist and Dumbo resident Jeff Wallace. @mainwindowdumbo

April 15, 2025April 14, 2025

DUMBO Open Studios 2025 with Anne Neely
by Etty Yaniv

Anne Neely, Eruption (2024). Oil on linen. 22 x 28 in. Photo credit: Kay Hickman, Julia Featheringill

On April 26th and 27th, from 1 to 6 pm, artists in DUMBO will open their doors to the public as part of DUMBO Open Studios, offering a rare look inside the art studios along the Brooklyn waterfront. Since the 1970s, DUMBO has been shaped by its vibrant art community. This interview series highlights a handful of participating artists in 2025. Each response offers a glimpse of what’s waiting behind the studio door.
Anne Neely has been in DUMBO since November 2024 as part of the Sharpe Walentas Studio Program at 20 Jay Street, #720.