{"id":39664,"date":"2025-07-05T02:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T02:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/39664\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T02:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T02:40:14","slug":"5-standout-shows-to-see-at-small-galleries-in-july-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/39664\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Standout Shows to See at Small Galleries in July 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

Art<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Maxwell Rabb<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"Bao<\/p>\n

In this monthly roundup, we spotlight five stellar exhibitions at small and rising galleries.<\/p>\n

Verduyn<\/a>, Moregem, BelgiumThrough Sep. 20\"Bao<\/p>\n

Bao Vuong<\/a> fled Vietnam by sea when he was only one year old, crammed into a boat with his parents and 200 others seeking refuge from the Vietnam War. None of the individuals he traveled with, nor the boats that carried them, appear in his oil paintings on wood and canvas. Instead, the sea and sky\u2014the perilous, indifferent backdrop of his family\u2019s journey\u2014are rendered in thick, meditative layers of black paint. A selection of these paintings, from his \u201cCrossing\u201d series, is the subject of a solo exhibition at Verduyn<\/a>, titled \u201cRetenir<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n

In these works, Vuong uses the titanic nature of the ocean and its sweeping vistas to communicate the feeling of exile at such a young age. Laguna Nera I<\/a> (2023), a grayscale painting of rippling open water, portrays the expanse in nightmarish detail, with a darkening sky. Still, some of these paintings evoke tranquility, such as The Crossing 158<\/a> (2023), where the artist uses gold leaf to portray the sunrise over the horizon.<\/p>\n

In January, the Brussels-based artist mounted another solo exhibition at BAILLY GALLERY<\/a> in Geneva, titled \u201cWave<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARDEN + WHITE GALLERY<\/a>, New Canaan, ConnecticutThrough July 13\"Heath\"Heath<\/p>\n

During a visit to Indonesia, Australian artist Heath Wae<\/a> witnessed firsthand how flowers were used as living offerings. There, he observed how flora played a participatory role in ceremony and functioned, in some cases, as a bridge between humans and nature. That understanding of the flower\u2014as sacred and spiritual\u2014forms the basis of Wae\u2019s debut U.S. solo show. In \u201cSchool of the Flower<\/a>,\u201d on view at ARDEN + WHITE GALLERY<\/a>, his layered compositions depict hazy, color-soaked petals.<\/p>\n

In Bloom 4<\/a> (2025), Wae depicts what appears to be a blooming orchid, with blurred purple petals against an orange background. In many of the works, a ghostly floral form is adorned with a halo of light in the center of the canvas. Golden Deity<\/a> (2025), in particular, features a prominent orange ring circling the pistil of the flower, underscoring Wae\u2019s spiritual engagement with nature. <\/p>\n

Based in Mullumbimby, Australia, Wae graduated with a bachelor\u2019s degree in art from the Sydney College of the Arts. His previous solo exhibition, \u201cDevotions<\/a>,\u201d was staged by The Dot Project<\/a> in London last year. <\/p>\n

TAMARA KREISLER Gallery<\/a>, MadridThrough July 19 \"Saidou<\/p>\n

British photographer Nick Brandt<\/a> shot his series \u201cThe Day May Break\u201d in Zimbabwe and Kenya in late 2020 to explore how climate change impacts the environment and humans alike. He builds on those themes in a group exhibition he curated at TAMARA KREISLER Gallery<\/a>, which showcases four other photographers. \u201cFour Chapters<\/a>\u201d features the work of Lebanese artist Rania Matar<\/a>, Australian photographer Morganna Magee<\/a>, and Lima-based artist Alessandro Cinque<\/a>. A particular highlight is the work of Saidou Dicko<\/a>, a self-taught artist from Burkina Faso who has exhibited across art fairs in the U.S. as well as at the Dakar Biennale in Senegal. Each of these artists brings their distinctive photographic eye to communities and places impacted by our changing planet. <\/p>\n

Cinque\u2019s black-and-white photographs intimately document the lives of Indigenous communities across Latin America. Meanwhile, Magee\u2019s monochrome images take a closer look at life and death in nature, through images of albino peacocks or dying trees under the night sky. Matar\u2019s portraits focus on women in urban and natural spaces, often evoking a sense of strength within lonesome settings. And Dicko\u2019s painted photographs feature silhouetted figures set against vivid, patterned backdrops. These faceless human forms are inspired by his experience tracing the shadows of animals while working as a shepherd. \u201cA shadow makes its objective-self disappear,\u201d he said in an interview<\/a>. \u201cA person\u2019s shadow suggests a human being and nothing else. This is what drew me to shadows.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sorondo<\/a>, BarcelonaThrough July 24\"Luis\"Luis<\/p>\n

As a child, Mexican artist Luis Renteria<\/a> watched his grandmother write a wish on a piece of paper, wrap it around a candle, and tie it with a string. To him, this simple act transformed these household items into \u201cobjects that cease to occupy the space for which they were made and begin to inhabit a symbolic space,\u201d he said<\/a>. This idea\u2014of everyday materials turned into spiritual vessels\u2014inspired \u201cUn pu\u00f1al en un pa\u00f1uelo<\/a>\u201d his solo show at Sorondo<\/a>. The exhibition features a series of textiles stitched from cotton, horsehair, feathers, and metal, all grounded in familial ritual and spiritual intent. <\/p>\n

One standout work is Casa<\/a> (2025), a hanging sculpture made from cochineal-dyed cotton, rabbit hair, feathers, pearls, and wood. Handwoven panels hang like the walls of a house, held together by a curved textile band that loops through the form. The delicate structure evokes a home without a base, capturing the show\u2019s central paradox: how beauty and softness can still carry the trace of danger. The exhibition\u2019s title, which translates to a \u201cdagger in a handkerchief,\u201d takes on further resonance in a series of three works all titled \u201cArmadura.\u201d Here, bands of color and thread are shaped into rectangular forms and framed in wooden boxes, forming quiet, protective enclosures that nod to the work\u2019s title, which translates to \u201carmor.\u201d <\/p>\n

Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, in 1991, Renteria earned his MA in production and artistic research at the University of Barcelona.<\/p>\n

Night Caf\u00e9<\/a>, LondonThrough July 25\"Katrina<\/p>\n

\u201cOuverture<\/a>\u201d is a duet of opposing forces: Katrina Cowling<\/a>\u2019s kinetic sculptures hum and twitch, while Dwayne Coleman<\/a>\u2019s paintings rust and deteriorate. Their materials range from wheat stalks and concrete slabs to rusted steel and discarded clothing. While the artists\u2019 practices are wildly different in approach, they share a theme: Each artwork is meant to symbolize something on the verge of changing. <\/p>\n

In don\u2019t go chasing waterfalls<\/a> (2025), Cowling animates a trembling row of wheat stalks mounted on concrete slabs and powered by a small motor. The kinetic sculpture creates dissonance between its materials: industrial and agrarian, fragile and mechanical. The sculpture\u2019s movements make it appear to be alive, and this connection is emphasized by its resemblance to typical diagrams of DNA. Meanwhile, Coleman\u2019s Surface of a star<\/a> (2025) embeds a painted textile behind a gridded steel frame, allowing only partial glimpses of color through the rusted barrier. In contrast to Cowling\u2019s lively sculptures, Coleman\u2019s works appear tarnished, if not actively aging. <\/p>\n

This is the first time that the two London-based artists are presenting work with Night Caf\u00e9<\/a>. Cowling is currently working on her three-year postgraduate diploma at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. Coleman graduated with a bachelor\u2019s in mixed-media fine art from the University of Westminster in 2011. <\/p>\n

MR<\/p>\n

\"MR\"<\/p>\n

Maxwell Rabb<\/p>\n

Maxwell Rabb is Artsy\u2019s Staff Writer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Art Maxwell Rabb In this monthly roundup, we spotlight five stellar exhibitions at small and rising galleries. Verduyn,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":39665,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[31712,31706,648,1032,31708,1033,171,31707,31709,31715,31714,31711,31710,31713,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-39664","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-alessandro-cinque","9":"tag-artist-list","10":"tag-arts","11":"tag-arts-and-design","12":"tag-bao-vuong","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-exhibition-roundups","16":"tag-heath-wae","17":"tag-katrina-cowling","18":"tag-luis-renteria","19":"tag-morganna-magee","20":"tag-rania-matar","21":"tag-saidou-dicko","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114798318558845301","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39664"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39664\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}