New York
“Watching Women Give Birth On The Internet And Other Ways Of Looking” by Tanya Merrill
Where: 303 Gallery
When: April 12 - May 18
Why It’s Worth a Look: From a life-sized trompe l’oeil of a 15th-century manuscript depicting a woman’s fertility cycle, to a modern woman sharing her birthing story online, Merrill’s works bridge centuries of female representation. This exhibition is themed around the cyclical nature of life, delving into sexuality, fertility, the environment, and the impacts of technology, sports, and religion on a woman’s experience in today’s world.
Know Before You Go: Amidst the myriad themes Merrill’s work explores, one piece features the North American cecropia moth, a species facing the threat of extinction. This choice is a thoughtful nod to the fragile interdependencies within our ecosystem.
“*****” by Arthur Jafa
Where: Gladstone Gallery
When: April 4 - May 4
Why It’s Worth a Look: Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver had a profound impact on Arthur Jafa during his formative years, as both an alluring work of art and challenging interpretation of the time's race relations. This show is not a tribute to the 1976 classic but a critical examination of its portrayal of New York and its inhabitants. Through the works on view, Jafa confronts the film’s depictions of racial dynamics and character subjectivity while exploring the cinematic visuals, camera movements, and familiar saxophone score.
Know Before You Go: Notably, the late 20th-century classic has fewer than 20 lines of dialogue spoken by Black characters.
"John Graham Comes Home"
Where: 1 Sidney Place, Brooklyn Heights
When: April 2 - April 30
Why It’s Worth a Look: Curated by Glenn Adamson in collaboration with Hollis Taggart Gallery, the show is available by appointment and staged at a Brooklyn Heights townhouse, recently renovated by The Brooklyn Home Company. It explores the legacy of Graham, an often-overlooked catalyst of Abstract Expressionism. Significant works by Graham are showcased alongside those of his proteges and contemporaries, such as Willem and Elaine de Kooning, Richard Pousette-Dart, and John Chamberlain.
Know Before You Go: The Brooklyn Heights townhouse where the exhibition will be held was the residence of Graham in the 1930s, and two of his works—White Fish, 1930, and Poussin m’instruit, 1944—will be on display.
"Roni Horn"
Where: Hauser & Wirth
When: April 4 - June 28
Why It’s Worth a Look: Horn’s latest exhibition is a fresh take on her exploration of identity, perception, and nature. Never-before-exhibited cast-glass sculptures are shown alongside a new series of works on paper. In the “Slarips" watercolor series, the artist plays with the concept of spirals—painting, cutting, and rearranging them into new formations.
Know Before You Go: Beyond her visual artistry, Horn's love for the written and spoken word deeply informs this exhibition. The titles for her pieces often draw from works of literature, film, and radio.
“Exquisite Cuerpo” by Bernadette Despujols
Where: Rachel Uffner Gallery
When: April 26 - June 29
Why It’s Worth a Look: Despujols’s “Exquisite Cuerpo” explores themes of family, womanhood, and ecological consciousness. The title, drawing from the Spanish word for “body,” cues into Despujols’s focus on intimate portraiture, particularly of her matriarchal family and the transformative experience of motherhood.
Know Before You Go: The show takes inspiration from the childhood game “Exquisite Corpse” that Despujols enjoyed, in which participants take turns drawing sections of a body on a piece of paper, folding it, and passing it on to the next artist. When unfolded, the paper reveals a figure composed of disjointed sections.
“Niki de Saint Phalle: Tableaux Éclatés”
Where: Salon 94
When: April 30 - June 22
Why It’s Worth a Look: Salon 94’s second solo exhibition of de Saint Phalle’s work focuses on her “Tableaux Éclatés,” a series of paintings that encapsulate the artist's late-career explorations into landscapes littered with a cast of characters. These paintings feature her iconic “Nanas,” along with a menagerie of animals and still lifes, set on beaches, deserts, and seas.
Know Before You Go: In the 1960s, Saint Phalle shifted her portrayal of women from somber and subdued to vibrant and vivacious figures she termed “Nanas,” a cheeky French nickname for a girl or sultry young woman.
"Les Lalanne: Zoophites"
Where: Kasmin Gallery
When: April 4 - May 9
Why It’s Worth a Look: Marking the 60th anniversary of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne’s first exhibition, “Zoophites” presents the artist couple's fusion of the animal with the botanical, the mythological with the modern. François-Xavier’s Grand Chat polymorphe and Grand Rhinocéros V are displayed alongside Claude's ginkgo leaf designs and electroplated crocodile skin furniture.
Know Before You Go: The exhibition at Kasmin Gallery is drawn entirely from the personal collection of the artists’ daughter, Caroline Hamisky Lalanne.
Los Angeles
“See Saw” by Ella Kruglyanskaya
Where: Jeffrey Deitch
When: April 5 - June 8
Why It’s Worth a Look: Female empowerment, emotional states, and art historical narratives: This exhibition introduces three fresh motifs that prove Kruglyanskaya’s ability to blend humor with critique. Her “see saw” paintings play on the dynamics of relationships and teetering emotional balance. Meanwhile, “street corner” paintings capture women in moments of contemplation or defiance, and “skeleton in the closet” paintings explore the symbolism of vanitas works.
Know Before You Go: The exhibition is set to be immortalized in a forthcoming monograph titled Too Much, published by Pacific, Bortolami, Thomas Dane, and Jeffrey Deitch.
“Now you’re a lake” by Elizabeth Glaessner
Where: François Ghebaly
When: April 6 - May 11
Why It’s Worth a Look: In her Los Angeles debut, Glaessner presents “Now you’re a lake,” an exploration of the fluid boundaries between the conscious and the subconscious, the tangible and the imagined. Her new body of work further tests these boundaries with water acting as a motif to represent both a mirror and a barrier. Likewise, the fluid creations enact a dialogue with the viewers on their own interpretive lenses.
Know Before You Go: Featured works like Becoming a Lake and Head in the Water reimagine mythological tales, presenting figures such as Narcissus and a headless sphinx in an exploration of reflection, identity, and transformation.
London
“Richard Serra: Six Large Drawings”
Where: David Zwirner
When: April 9 - May 18
Why It’s Worth a Look: This exhibition, coming just after Serra’s passing last month, presents an array of works by an artist who revolutionized the interplay of space, mass, and form. The show features pivotal works rendered with black paintstick, including two of his diptychs from the early ‘90s, two works from the “Greenpoint Rounds” series, and two multipanel “Rift” drawings on handmade Japanese paper.
Know Before You Go: In Notes on Drawing, the artist once wrote, "Black is a property, not a quality. In terms of weight, black is heavier, creates a larger volume, holds itself in a more compressed field. It is comparable to forging."
Paris
“One return led to another - Retour Perpétuel” by Shannon T. Lewis
Where: Mariane Ibrahim
When: April 4 - May 25
Why It’s Worth a Look: “One return led to another - Retour Perpétuel” unveils a series of new paintings that explore the fluidity of identity, time, and space. Lewis’s work delves into the nature of existence with figures and body parts emerging from and dissolving into scenes that blend past, present, and future.
Know Before You Go: Before translating her ideas into paint, Lewis uses collage as a preliminary step to map out her hodgepodge of figures and motifs.
