10 Art Shows to See in Upstate New York This April

April, dear April, lovely spring arrives with you! While the news cycle discloses an ever-shameful round of alarming updates, we turn to the timeless care of Mother Nature as she ushers in warmth and chilly rains at a whim. Upstate New York is alive with aesthetic delights, including the dynamic group show FREE STYLE – Idiosyncratic/Eclecticism at the interdisciplinary Garner Arts Center in Garnerville. LABspace in Hillsdale features Cathy Wysocki’s bright, fantastical paintings that lift the spirits, while a show at Robin Rice Gallery in Hudson presents soothing cloud-inspired works by Paddy Cohn. I Was Here at SEPTEMBER gallery in Kinderhook includes mixed media artworks as “autobiographical traces” and Familiar/Unfamiliar at Bill Arning Exhibitions in Kinderhook is a fun show of four dynamic artists whose work toggles between the two descriptors in its title. Curator Liz Lorenz presents a dynamic vision of art-as-cure with dismantle at Susan Eley Fine Art in Hudson, and a show at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester explores video gaming as a means for “genre-expanding experimental play.” Despite the utter disaster of world reports, let us rejoice in the healing powers of art this April and beyond! 

FREE STYLE: Idiosyncratic/Eclecticism 

Garner Arts Center, 55 West Railroad Avenue, Garnerville, New York 
Through April 20 

You’ve got to love an exhibition title that aptly captures art’s status as the ultimate arena of expressive freedom — such as FREE STYLE: Idiosyncratic/Eclecticism, at the interdisciplinary Garner Arts Center in Garnerville. Curated by Brett DePalma (himself a seasoned artist active in the 1980s East Village art scene) and featuring 34 artists from the wider region working across a range of media, this exhibition freestyles through sculptures, paintings, digital displays, and works on paper. George Horner’s “Retrospective” (2020) is a playful neon sign in the shape of a thought bubble containing the sentence “I Gave You a Retrospective at The City Dump!,” which got a good chuckle out of me. Nils Karsten’s ink on paper “Tankman” (2024) is a black and white vision of the historical moment when a lone man faced down a line of tanks in Beijing during the student protests in June of 1989. And James Karpowicz’s mixed-media painting “Deer Lord, Please Don’t Forget the Little People” (2020) features a plastic deer with a baby doe protruding from a bright and messy field of blue littered with happy bursts of yellow. As stated by DePalma in the press release, FREE STYLE means to “avoid the commodification of extraction of attention,” thus inviting us to consider attention as the best barometer of intention.

Cathy Wysocki: It has always been the mind

LABspace, 2642 New York Route 23, Hillsdale, New York
Through April 27

Looking at the work of Cathy Wysocki at LABspace this past weekend was among the most powerful artistic experiences I’ve had. At the opening, the artist gracefully explained to a group of us that her extraordinary painting “When the light of your eyes falls to the ground (for Wayne)” (2025) includes the ashes of her deceased husband of 43 years. As our global society endures countless acts of violence that result in tragic deaths, hearing Wysocki speak of her intentional use of her husband’s remains was an unforgettable remembrance of the preciousness of existence. Beyond this central work, the entire show radiates an uplifting and unifying energy that comes to life in colorful sculptures and mixed-media portraits of human-meets-sci-fi figures such as “Looking After” (2021) and “Unconcoctable” (2023). In her artist statement, Wysocki describes her current work as her attempt “to disentangle the topsy-turvy, sense-filled world and its reactive emotions that devour humankind like tigers.” Energetic works such as “Expeller of Erroneous Thought” (2022), composed of paint, sand, beads, and glitter, indeed shine with a raw vitality. 

Paddy Cohn: “Clouds, From All Sides Now” 

Robin Rice Gallery, 234 Warren Street, Hudson, New York 
Through April 27 

One must celebrate the majesty of simple things that bond us across time and culture, and clouds are among the most fleetingly captivating. Paddy Cohn’s Clouds, From All Sides Now at Robin Rice Gallery in Hudson, her first solo show with the gallery, takes inspiration from these protean puffs. Cohn explores a range of mono-color environments — “In The Pink” (2024), in which a lone patch of fog floats in an all-pink universe, is one of my favorites. The all-blue “Hush” (2025) is the perfect complement, while the all-white “After The Rain” (2024) completes this cloudy crew of works. In other paintings, such as “Weightless Reflection” (2024), a stark black color field cuts against mossy green below as a cloud hovers near its own shadow, while “Blushing Sky” (2024) features a fuchsia-colored cloud floating in a swath of blue above and another in a stretch of black below. Cohn’s charming clouds are a pleasant reminder to welcome daydreams as they come. 

dismantle

Susan Eley Fine Art, 433 Warren Street, Hudson, New York
Through April 27

As curator Liz Lorenz writes in her press release, she believes “in the power of dismantling to rebuild.” The four-woman show dismantle at Susan Eley Fine Art in Hudson is accordingly a dynamic vision of art as imaginative rebuilder. Upcycled fabric works by Ana Maria Farina include “Histérica #8, Jardim Secreto” (2021), a beautiful jumble of textiles that culminates in a fierce purple eye at the center, and fluffy square fabric works such as “TexTiles 1” (2025). The layered organic imagery of Marianne van Lent’s sensitive mixed media collages, such as “Biological Anthropology: Tree with Mystery Bird” (2024), imbues them with an airy and mystifying atmosphere, while Maria Manhattan’s porcelain busts of female figures with ceramic shards around their heads to resemble halos include “Mother Nature” (2024) and “Queen Under Siege” (2024). “Lips” (c. 2009) by Susan Lisbin features a charming installation of rosy ceramic kissy-face lips that scatter across the wall, a reminder that dismantling fear can be as easy as a reassuring peck on the cheek. 

The Destiny …is to take root among the stars

Ann Street Gallery, 104 Ann Street, Newburgh, New York
Through May 10

Bringing together six BIPOC artists working in Upstate New York, The Destiny … is to take root among the stars presents works on paper, painting, ceramics, video, and installations that speak to “imagined futures” amid a world in flux. Referencing the writing of Octavia Butler in her title, curator Jaime Ransome highlights “an evolving vision of Afro-Futurism” in this exhibition, as she puts it in her curatorial statement. “What’s in the Water” (2024) by Destiny Arianna is a full-scale installation of a cozy domestic scene (complete with a couch and rocking chair) punctuated by nostalgic family photos. Alisa Sikelianos-Carter’s “Afronauts and Ancestors” (2017) includes two stoic characters against a hazy white backdrop, one gold, faceless and seated; the other gray, standing assuredly, with a wild creature for a head. Graffiti-heavy and text-based works by Tony Washington, meanwhile, deliberately give pause, including his deadpan “Black Art is Always Expensive” (2020).

I Was Here 

September, 4 Hudson Street, Kinderhook, New York 
Through May 11

With its strangely flirtatious ambiance and unique assembly of objects, I Was Here at SEPTEMBER gallery in Kinderhook promises “rhythmic reflections of indexical worlds” and “autobiographical traces,” as described in the press release. Indeed, during my visit to this curious show, I felt swept into the private realms of these six artists, each of them seductive in their singular “here”-ness. Odessa Straub’s “grasses” (2024–25) features an elegant goose and an abstract shape made of beads stitched into turquoise silk, giving us a peek into her “here” by way of creative care, while artist kg’s personal poetry can be seen in the small sculptural work “Oasis or What a bunch of assholes” (2018), a weaving with a tan-colored burlap-looking border and blue stitching suspended in the middle. Emma Safir’s small-scale jewel-like metal reliefs are gorgeously precious; Amas Verdâtre’s wool balaclavas are seriously sexy (and meant to be worn); and Jen Simm’s series of yarn self-portraits reflects momentary moods. The large-scale “We Lie Dumb and Deep” (2024) by Kesewa Aboah features the impression of two human bodies slathered in black dry pigment in the fabric-like paper, leaving behind their ghostlike forms and creating a pure vision of the affirmation I Was Here.

Familiar/Unfamiliar 

Bill Arning Exhibitions, 17 Broad Street, Kinderhook, New York 
Through May 17 

This past weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Familiar/Unfamiliar at Bill Arning Exhibitions in Kinderhook and walking right into the friendly arms of Bill himself. We enjoyed a cheerful chat as the room glowed with the work of the four artists featured. Sue Muskat’s vibrant works on paper such as “Empirical vs Rational” (2022) and “Your Place in the Sun” (2022) include cuddly Disney rabbits surrounded by enigmatic phrases. Animal paintings by Erik Daniel White — including “There’s a Rat in The House” (2025), featuring said foraging creature and “Blue Bird” (2025), a sad vision of a dead fowl — appear almost sculptural in their muscular dimensionality. Matthew Bede Murphy’s series of “gay telenovela” paintings, as Bill put it, illustrate slightly naughty scenes, including the robust “Studio Scene #1” (2024), which features an artist painting a model with a bulge in his blue undies. Kevin Mosca’s series of sultry crimson-hued paintings explores an imaginary realm that centers the outdated milkman concept and a faux Maiden Valley Creamery brand. Works such as “Be Still” (2025) and “Smile!” (2024) feature isolated moments of women’s bodies in a hazy atmosphere that hints at the erotic associations of milk. 

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers 

Perry Lawson Fine Art, 90 North Broadway, Nyack, New York 
Through May 18

Throughout the world, birds inspire diverse insights, from practical understandings about nature via migration to mythological and otherworldly possibilities via symbolism. At Perry Lawson Fine Art in Nyack, the group exhibition Hope Is The Thing With Feathers expands upon the magical energy of birds, featuring feather-themed mixed media works by six artists. Emily Dickinson’s titular poem sets the tone for this show, in which Jackie Shatz’s delightful colorful ceramic “Bird” (2024) sits patiently with Sharon Falk’s “Grace Note 50” (c. 2019), which contains a Fauvist-style hummingbird flapping in full vigor. Hanna von Goeler’s “Atlantic Canary/Serinus canaria” (undated) includes a yellow canary lovingly painted on old Spanish money, while Glenn Goldberg’s chicly retro “The Other Place (71)” (2024) includes three birds painted in dots. “Java” by Mckenna Van Koppen, meanwhile, includes a lone pigeon with funky rainbow accents, and “Red Birds” (c. 2023) by Bryn Jayes features a burst of black birds against a fiery bloodred backdrop, their power unstoppable. 

15 

Hessel Museum of Art, Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York 
April 5–May 25 

Every time I visit the Hessel Museum, I’m impressed, and this month I excitedly anticipate the opening of 15, featuring the graduate thesis exhibitions of the Center for Curatorial Studies class of 2025. Including artworks by nearly 50 international artists, the 15 individual student-curated shows within the exhibition explore a range of topical themes such as digital dystopias, competing histories, and underrepresented artists and archives. dearmuthafuckingdreams, curated by Omar Jason Farah, features nine artists that speak to the “continuity and dynamism of the black queer radical tradition,” while Lovett/Codagnone: Each Man Kills the Thing He Loves, curated by Andrew Suggs, considers the archive of this artist team and the “transmission of queer lineages,” as stated in their respective curatorial blurbs. Sung Hwan Kim: Queer bird faces, curated by Hayoung Chung, focuses on Kim’s ongoing research into early-20th-century Koreans who immigrated to Hawai’i, and The Appearance of Distance, curated by Matthew Lawson Garrett, features three artists who respond to our contemporary media environment. 

SEQUENCEBREAK// Experimental Arcade 

Visual Studies Workshop, 36 King Street, Rochester, New York 
Through June 28 

As the digital sphere becomes increasingly dense with visual iconographies of all varieties, exhibitions such as SEQUENCEBREAK// Experimental Arcade at Visual Studies Workshop in Rochester — a non-profit media arts organization active for more than 55 years — assist in archiving and expanding the conversation. Featuring video games by creators who aim to challenge the medium’s mainstream cultures with their “experimental play” and “counter-capitalist methodologies,” as described in the press release, these artists and one artist-collective present their utopian-cum-dystopian visions through gaming. In these stills, we encounter an intriguing realm of images, including a skeleton falling forward in a slightly familiar cityscape that fades into a pinkish-purple blow-out for a background from Nathalie Lawhead’s “BlueSuburbia” (2024). A still from Philip Mallory Jones’s “Time Machine Bronzeville” (2024) features a young Black family, father and baby resting on a bed and mother looking pensively out a window in a busted room as an image of Jesus on the wall hovers above and a bright blue bird lands on the windowsill below. The still from Cassie McQuater’s “Black Room” (2017) is an imaginative vision with what we might call a “counter-capitalist” edge: a densely populated realm filled with random cyborg-like creatures floating amid beefed-up Sega oil trucks with signs such as “Alamo Guns,” “Foxy Lady,” and “Made The American Way.”