10 Shows to See in Upstate New York This December

December has arrived, with its year-end cheer! Amid the chaos, it brings with it hope and excitement for the year ahead, as galleries in Upstate New York welcome holiday-goers with art abounding across the land. Sex Education at Ethan Cohen Gallery at the KuBe Art Center keeps things spicy, while September presents canine- and feline-themed artworks, with a portion of sales going toward immigrant aid. A show at the Fenimore Art Museum offers insight into Romare Bearden's powerful vision, and one on Kikuo Saito at KinoSaito features older works by the master painter. Yellow Studio is hosting a group exhibition of mixed-media works by 22 women artists, while the Ruffed Grouse Gallery presents four artists from Pennsylvania who celebrate their native state through painting. As we close out these final days of 2025, may art lead the way into ever more inspiration for all!

Abstract Back at Ya 

Jane Street Art, 11 Jane Street, Saugerties, New York
Through December 13

The group show Abstract Back at Ya, featuring mixed-media work by over 20 artists at Jane Street Art, captures the excitement of artistic abstraction in abundance. Ted Dixon’s “Would Three Be Enough” (2025) brings forth bulbous shapes that harmonize amid a golden-yellow sea. “Divinity” by Ali Herrmann is a sumptuous, colorful monoprint with nine perfectly balanced spheres, while “I Will Rise. I Will Return” (2023) by Robin Adler takes the form of a series of erratic Miró-esque painterly gestures against a ruddy background. Each of these artworks is an idiosyncratic take on abstraction, but Yoko Izu’s “Salvaging Sanity” (2024) — an image of a powerful black form in a white expanse — captured my attention the most. 

Sex Education

Ethan Cohen Gallery at the KuBe Art Center, 20 Kent Street, Beacon, New York
Through December 18

Considering we all arrive in the world through the process, it’s only natural that our species is obsessed with sex. Sex Education at Ethan Cohen Gallery presents both humorous and sultry artworks that embody playful sexual dynamics. The fun kicks off with Sucklord’s “Jerry” (2023), featuring a hand-painted nude figurine of art critic Jerry Saltz in Ken Doll-style packaging. Meanwhile, “Madison” (2019) by Yuli Aloni Primor is a provocative sculpture of a woman’s torso, tucked into a glass box and flattened against the pane, while the two women in Katinka Huang’s “Isn’t She Lovely” (2024) appear to melt in erotic bliss. Yet not everything in the show is all fun and sweetness —Dr. Gindi’s “The Fateful Choice” (2021) consists of a bronze sculpture of a woman, her body language demure, holding a sizable blade behind her back. 

Kikuo Saito: Reminiscence in Color 

KinoSaito, 115 7th Street, Verplanck, New York
Through December 21

Kikuo Saito’s dashing explorations in paint seem to play tricks on our eyes. Kikuo Saito: Reminiscence in Color at KinoSaito presents older works by this master of abstraction. “Perugia” (1995) features a grid with letters haphazardly painted within, forming nonsensical words and expressive patterns. In “Blue Sand” (1996), both grid and letters are engulfed by cerulean, while the letters in “Music Room” (2000) appear to pop from their tannish muddy backdrop in contrast. Finally, “Alfabia” (2002) radiates a powerful golden-ochre warmth. 

Dogs & Cats 

September, 4 Hudson Street, Kinderhook, New York
Through December 21

“Dogs & Cats” was the theme of September Gallery’s first open call for submissions, aimed at supporting the Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, and 10% of gallery sales will be donated to this local organization providing aid to immigrants. Across mixed-media artworks by 100 artists, happy-go-lucky canines and felines prevail. Daisy Noyes’s “The Two Daisys” (2025) is a lighthearted image of a woman at a table with a cabbage in front of her face as a dog looks up at her inquisitively, while Allison Schulnik’s “Rickles” (2022) is a loving portrait of a white pooch lying against red tartan. “Plink Plink” (2025) is a bright, graphic scene consisting of a dude, his guitar, and a cozy dog under his feet. Audrey Francis’s “Look Out” (2025) is the dictionary definition of a domestic scene, consisting of a quasi-psychedelic vase of flowers bursting in every direction as a stoic blue cat peers out at a verdant world beyond the window. 

Between Here and There

Yellow Studio, Yellow Monkey Village, 792 Route 35, Cross River, New York
Through December 21

Exploring themes of identity and place, Between Here and There at Yellow Studio presents a juried member exhibition featuring mixed-media works by 22 women artists. Jessica Porter’s “Morning Sunrise” (2025) is a bright pop-inspired bucolic landscape, while Elizabeth Elder’s “Sculpture Garden Concert” (2025) lives up to its name with a symphony of wild tree-like shapes reaching upward amid an orange backdrop. Julia Berkeley’s “Guitar 22” (2023) is a striking abstract work with a Modernist-Cubist edge, and Carol Paik’s “Aerie” (2024) consists of repurposed textiles among other miscellaneous material. It features a tiny white abode atop a plushy mountain with a little bucket hanging down, a poetic vision that is equally charming for its dollhouse size. 

Pennsylvania Folk

The Ruffed Grouse Gallery, 144 Main Street, Narrowsburg, New York
Through December 28 

An homage to Pennsylvania’s cultural identity, Pennsylvania Folk at the Ruffed Grouse Gallery presents the work of four self-taught artists who hail from that great state. Works by Lilian Kilpatrick Rheuban reflect her sensitive focus on the quotidian, including “My Brass Bed” (1978), a vibrant yellow-hued image of a tidy bedroom that beckons us to stay and rest awhile. Horses seem to be a theme: Charles Dieter’s “Wild Horses” (1985) features a group of faceless pink versions of the animal who gallop furiously in a green field above smiling bunnies, while Jack Savitsky’s “Covered Wagon and Horses” (1965) is an image of four black stallions pulling a caravan against a bright landscape. Pauline Zimmerman’s “Enjoying Quilting” (2019), meanwhile, embodies the “folk” part of the exhibition title — it is a lush watercolor of a woman finding happiness in that simple and sacred activity.

Romare Bearden: Artist-Activist-Visionary

Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 State Highway, Cooperstown, New York
Through December 31

Born in North Carolina and raised in Pittsburgh and New York City, Romare Howard Bearden was among the most influential American artists of the 20th century. His visual art reflects his dramatic sensibilities and lyrical style — he was also an author and songwriter. Romare Bearden: Artist-Activist-Visionary at Fenimore Art Museum celebrates his enduring legacy through mixed-media artworks, including collages, watercolors, prints, and archival materials. Highlights are “Baptism” (1975), which features layers of collaged figures in a jumbled scene, some with African masks for faces, and “Roots (Odyssey)” (1977), a profile of a face against the green shape of the African continent set against a blue background, a large white boat floating in between. 

“Earth Endures, Stars Abide” An Exhibit of Hudson Valley Landscapes

Carrie Haddad Gallery, 622 Warren Street, Hudson, New York
Through January 1 

The natural bounty of the Hudson Valley is especially inspiring for visual artists. Earth Endures, Stars Abide at Carrie Haddad Gallery celebrates the region with recent works by five gallery artists who center the landscape. Robert Moylan’s “Snow Squall” (2025) is a purple-tinted vision of a perfectly gorgeous winter morning, while “The Day of the Blues” (2025) by Tracy Helgeson showcases a blazing red barn against a blue hill and sky. James Bleecker’s “Hudson River at Staatsburg” (2025)is a sultry pigment print on watercolor paper that feels like the moody setting of a gothic novel. 

Workshopping: New Work by Emily Larned

Women’s Studio Workshop, 722 Binnewater Lane, Kingston, New York
Through January 23

Since 1974, Women’s Studio Workshop (WSW) has welcomed artists from around the world to its sturdy stronghold in Kingston. Their current exhibition, curated by Faythe Levine, presents recent work by Emily Larned, including paper materials pulled from WSW’s collection of ephemera. The show features a series of experimental collages created on-site by Larned (all works 2025), including “Aesthetics + Sources,” in which two carefully folded pieces of white grid paper pop against a pumpkin-colored background. “Wishbones and Dream Soup” is a striking abstract work consisting of several pieces of layered, folded, and cut paper, while “Feminist Art Appreciation” is a wild jumble of yellow, black, and gray, with dashes of red.  

Laura Bochet: Intangible Devotions

Distortion Society, 155 Main Street, Beacon, New York
Through January 31 

Intangible Devotions at Distortion Society, consisting of a series of recent oil paintings by Laura Bochet, is an all-out celebration of the nude. All 17 works (all 2025) of sultry women in this solo show are titled “Devotion,” alongside a number. “Devotion 1” is a hazy image of two women leaning together, while “Devotion 2” depicts one alone in a moody moment. In “Devotion 4,” meanwhile, a pair seems to mirror each other, while four women of “Devotion 9” hold hands, reveling in their joyous nudity together. 

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