Art Spiel Picks: NYC Exhibitions in August 2025

The Gatherers images courtesy of Yasmeen Abdallah

This month’s lineup takes us through Brooklyn, Queens, and Jersey City, where intimate thoughts, melded with the political repercussions we grapple with individually and collectively, are presented to the public in moving forms that are explorations in artistic practice as a means of activation against the norms we must confront to maintain our humanity. Through rejections of subjugation and exploitation, be it patriarchal economies or the fallout of colonialism, these selected exhibitions put artists at the forefront who contend with these issues and make space for constructive discourse.

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DUMBO Open Studios 2025 with Jenny Polak

Mattress 2 (We Who Believe In Freedom Cannot Rest) 2024, detail. Photo courtesy the artist

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. Jenny Polak has been based in DUMBO since February 2025, previously participated in the BRIC residency in 2022, and returned this year to 20 Jay Street—now working from Studio #310B—through the Cultural Space Subsidy Program.

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Artists on Coping: Sonomi Kobayashi

During the Coronavirus pandemic, Art Spiel is reaching out to artists to learn how they are coping.


Beauty of Chaos #1, 2018, Alcohol ink on Synthetic vellum paper cutouts, and collaged, 14 1/4” x 11 1/2”, © Sonomi Kobayashi All rights reserved

Born and raised in Japan, Sonomi Kobayashi, is a New York based artist who is interested in science, physics, stars, nature, and spirituality. Most of her work is symbolic and abstract.  They are based on images that she sees during her meditation.  She also paints symbolic shapes that she finds attractive in nature.

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