10 Art Shows to See in Upstate New York This February

To my dear readers: With this February installment, we celebrate two years of this monthly round-up of exhibitions in Upstate New York. It is a continued joy to promote the artists and shows in the region, and I thank all of you for your steadfast support of this column and community! This wintry month, the warmth of art coaxes us out of hibernation and into creative plentitude. Kim Tateo presents ethereal paintings at Context Clay, seasoned textile artist Barbara Todd shows politically charged works at Opalka Gallery, and Michael Salomon's stoic photographs of nondescript locales are on view at Delaware Valley Arts Alliance. A group show at Perry Lawson Fine Art celebrates creative courage in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., while the Dorsky presents Hudson Valley artists who explore our use (and overuse) of industrial materials. Meanwhile, the living legend Sita Gómez's joyful paintings of confident women are at Hudson Hall, and Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) presents photography shows by Ocean Vuong and Nona Faustine that reconsider identity and representation. Cheers to more years of art in Upstate New York! 

Kim Tateo: Into the Wellspring

Context Clay, 95 4th Street, Troy, New York 
Through February 21

I first encountered Kim Tateo’s bright, ethereal style in the form of a DayGlo-tinted public mural installation in Troy, and I have been a devotee of her work since. Into the Wellspring at Context Clay presents a series of recent abstract paintings by Tateo, each one an atmospheric chapter within her mystical story. “enigma” (all works 2025) contains blue and purple floral streaks that writhe within a realm of ruddy red, while “miracle” is a graceful ochre-hued field with three dark shapes that anchor a morphing universe. “a fleeting moment” recalls Georgia O’Keeffe’s sensual and cavernous painterly compositions, while the vibrant green energy of “november is always around the corner” reflects the perennial excitement of the warmer seasons ahead. 

Barbara Todd: Undoings

Opalka Gallery, 140 New Scotland Avenue, Albany, New York 
Through February 28

Exploring the dynamic intersection between history, politics, materiality, and minimalism, seasoned Canadian textile artist Barbara Todd employs fabric as both muse and messenger. Undoings at Opalka Gallery, her first major regional solo show, showcases Todd’s devoted use of wool — her primary medium for over 40 years — to reinterpret stories from the past and identify issues of the present. In “Security Blanket” (1988), neat rows of men’s suits in grayscale colors are tucked into uniform-sized squares that feature fighter jets at the corners and border and one stout missile at the top, while “Overkill” (1992) is a barrage of black and gray missiles barreling down against a brown backdrop. “Dark Coffin Quilt” (1993) is a chilling vision of little fabric caskets in patterned rows, and “Speed of Darkness” (1997), with its two stoic skyscraper-like structures, is an uncanny homage to the fallen Twin Towers in Manhattan.

Michael Salomon: Familiar Terrain

Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, 37 Main Street, Narrowsburg, New York
February 7–March 15 

Constant distraction is a hallmark of our digital era, but Michael Salomon redirects our attention to patient observation and the power of place. His solo show Familiar Terrain at Delaware Valley Arts Alliance features a series of arresting photographs that reflect a sense of both isolation and possibility. The eerie nighttime glow of a roadside diner in “Restop, Parksville NY (12/28/24)” (all works 2024) looks like the opening scene of a thriller movie, while the desolate vision of a hotel in “Vacancy, Liberty NY (5/28/24)” could be the backdrop for another scene in the same film. “Smokestacks, Middletown NY (12/21/24)” is a rugged image of an abandoned white house set against a winter sky, its snowy yard filled with collapsed branches, while “St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Port Jervis NY (9/13/24)” is a sober memento mori: white crosses hang on a wire fence in front of suburban houses. 

The Drawing Show

Carrie Haddad Gallery, 622 Warren Street, Hudson, New York 
Through March 22 

It seems that I encounter artistic magic every time I visit Carrie Haddad Gallery. Featuring mixed-media drawings by 10 artists, The Drawing Show is eclectic and curious. David Soman’s “Cordwood II” (all works 2025) is an exquisite hyperrealist charcoal drawing of rounded wood resting in a pile, while Louise Laplante’s “Garden Making and Keeping” is a graceful vision of silhouetted floral stalks and happy hummingbirds on vintage book pages. “Magritte on Buffalo Island” by Glenn Palmer-Smith is a lively scene of the surrealist painter René Magritte standing on the back of the submerged titular animal, as swimmers dive and float about. Kathryn Freeman’s “The Ruby Slipper” is yet another dreamy moment in this dreamy show: A bird arrives through a window to deliver a red slipper to a resting woman, her loyal canine nearby. 

Bending the Arc

Perry Lawson Fine Art, 90 North Broadway, Nyack, New York 
Through March 22

An homage to Martin Luther King, Jr.’s idea that the moral arc of the world “bends toward justice,” this group exhibition celebrates diverse expressions of courage in art. Featuring 25 artists working in a range of media, from sculpture to digital art, their creativity is abundant and bright. “A New Dawn” (2025) by Carol Bouyoucos captures a Willy Wonka-esque world of melting organic shapes and vibrant colors, while James Nazz’s “Golden Egg Molten #1” (c. 1900s) is a cast-iron egg cracked open to reveal its golden guts on a plate. Lili White’s “No Place Like…” (2025) is a mash-up of idiosyncratic imagery, including Dorothy’s glittering ruby shoes, furious flames, and a white stork flapping its wings amid the chaos. And “Kral” (2024) by Ivan Pazlamatchev is a loving portrait of a child wearing a seafoam-colored crown against the backdrop of a faded church interior. 

Hudson Valley Artists 2026: Terrestrial Extra 

The Dorsky at SUNY New Paltz, 1 Hawk Drive, New Paltz, New York
February 8–March 29

Hudson Valley Artists 2026: Terrestrial Extra is another rousing example of the Dorsky’s cerebral shows. Focused on the materiality of Mother Earth’s industrial materials, the show features mixed-media works by 18 Hudson Valley artists. Charlotte Schulz’s “Glass Drawing Collage #5” (2023) is a mechanical-looking charcoal drawing that hides a curious domestic scene within it, while Dan Devine’s sculpture “Tumble” (2025) consists of a leather figure suspended in a steel armature — a contemporary take on the Hanged Man tarot card archetype. Corinne Beardsley transports us to a futuristic beach with the shapely mash-up of crushed rocks, glass, and sand in “Cookie” (2025). Meanwhile, “Houses” (2022) by John Raugalis is a deadpan image of a blue porta-potty set against a blue-covered house under construction, a provocative vision of suburban blahness.

Vito Acconci: Scenes from This Side of the Camp

Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, 124 Raymond Avenue, Poughkeepsie, New York
Through March 29

Among the most unforgettable moments from art school was learning about Vito Acconci’s masturbatory performance “Seedbed” (1972). The Loeb at Vassar College’s exhibition on the artist features archival materials, personal notes, scripts, photographs, and an audio recording that document a performance in Rome in 1973. This archival installation includes framed layers of aging pages full of Acconci’s poetic handwritten notes (some in Italian) and his typed-up subversive commentary on the Vietnam War, where isolated phrases such as “BEFORE MY EVERY EYES” and “STAND UP FOR IT” reflect Acconci’s bravery as a leading conceptual artist of his generation.

Sita Gómez: A Retrospective

Hudson Hall, 327 Warren Street, Hudson, New York
February 7–April 4

Born in 1932 in Paris and raised between Europe, Cuba, and the United States, Sita Gómez is a living legend. Bringing together a robust body of work created during her 75-year career, Sita Gómez: A Retrospective at Hudson Hall, curated by Nancy Cobean of Rose Gallery, is a celebration of women, culture, and love. Each work welcomes us into Gómez’s lush vision of joyous women ruling their private worlds. In “The Collector” (1999), a smiley gal in vintage lingerie and red heels admires several artworks on the wall as she relaxes on a white puffy couch. “Black Mantilla” (1971) is a portrait of a lovely topless lady in an overflowing shawl — a sumptuous modern take on Goya’s famous painting “The Black Duchess” (1797). “Baile Tropical” (1992) is a quintessential image of women living their best lives; it features two mixed-race couples holding each other close as they dance passionately into the night, the women’s whirling skirts revealing their carefree bareness below. 

Ocean Vuong: Sống & Nona Faustine: What My Mother Gave Me

Center for Photography in Woodstock, 25 Dederick Street, Kingston, New York
Through May 10

This season, the Center for Photography in Woodstock presents several poignant photography shows at once, including works by writer Ocean Vuong and visionary images by the late Nona Faustine — the first retrospective of her powerful self-portraiture. Both Vuong and Faustine explore and interrogate notions of representation, history, and place, among other thundering themes. Vuong’s images reveal his dynamic creative sensibilities as a poet, novelist, and photographer; “American Brothers” (2024), for instance, depicts two young Asian men holding an American flag, capturing a moment of seriousness that feels like the opening line of a story. Faustine is utterly fearless in her presentation of her exposed body in locations around New York, highlighting historical atrocities through works such as “From Her Body Came Their Greatest Wealth, Wall Street, NYC” (2013), a candid title that aptly discloses her truth-to-power illumination of the past. 

Modern Women / Modern Vision: Photographs from the Bank of America Collection

Hudson River Museum, 511 Warburton Avenue, Yonkers, New York
Through May 10

Featuring nearly 100 images taken over more than a century, this exhibition is a veritable treasure chest of photographs from the last century. The collection houses some of the most important women photographers and their singular visions of humanity, including Diane Arbus, Barbara Kruger, and Carrie Mae Weems. Among the gems in this show is Dorothea Lange’s iconic “Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936” (printed 1967), a forlorn woman with two unkempt children leaning into each of her shoulders. Graciela Iturbide’s “Fiesta de las velas (Festival of the Candles), Juchitán, Oaxaca, Mexico, 1986” (printed c. 1992) captures two women in oversized flower print dresses atop a celebratory float, while Cindy Sherman’s “Untitled Film Still #50, 1979” (printed 1989) spotlights a lone woman in a black dress with a cocktail in hand. Seated alone in a midcentury modern living room, it's a striking image of the artist in one of her early persona portraits. 

• Guide
• Upstate New York