Kaleidoscopes, Spleen, and Sunlit Swimmers: Small Galleries, Big Shifts in February Art

A shimmering wave of innovation is sweeping through small galleries this February, where ancient printmaking, poetic melancholy, and luminous contemplation all find fresh expression. At CHART in New York, Kiwha Lee reimagines Asian print traditions, layering pastels and bold hues to create canvases that glimmer like ornamental screens—each painting a window between eras and cultures. In Athens, Laure Mary-Couégnias channels Baudelaire’s 19th-century "spleen" into dreamlike scenes: empty rooms, watery floors, and origami boats drift through her palette of dusky blues and pinks, inviting viewers to ponder the fleeting nature of meaning. Meanwhile, in Albuquerque, Nikesha Breeze’s "Black Archive" fuses bronze, bone, and archival photographs, transforming history into tactile memory and honoring Black resilience. Cape Town’s Oda Tungodden paints sunlit swimmers in a vibrant ode to human connection, while Brooklyn’s Carvalho Park hosts a luminous duet where attention itself becomes a spiritual act. In these intimate spaces, art quietly reshapes the familiar, revealing new ways to see and feel. #ContemporaryArt #GalleryExhibitions #CulturalHeritage #Culture